Diablo: The Series (Part Three)

Diablo III, as mentioned before, sparked quite the change in my life when it was announced. My good friend Andy to move halfway across the state just to live with me so we could play Diablo II constantly until the III was released. There's a cruel irony in the fact that III was not released for quite some time (YEARS) after the announcement, and the fact that not once did we play Diablo II. Damn. The things you do when you're impassioned.

 

For more information on the ominous release date, see here. Source!

Nevertheless, I was excited about the new entry in the series. The first two adventures were glorious and I couldn't wait to see what the next would bring. Since I was consciously paying attention to the gaming market at this point, my excitement grew at every new announcement of a character, every tiny hint at what you would encounter, and seeing what the gameplay would look like, along with how the game would function.

 

"This isn't where I parked my car." Source!

I was extremely happy when I got beta access and got to experience the look and feel of the game itself. The first impression was as good as it could have been. The game looked beautiful, felt solid, and scratched that itch to go demon hunting. Sadly, my personal computer did not have what it took to run the game (according to Blizzard, anyway) so I could only experience the beta on Rachel's laptop, leaving me frantically devising how I would build up my computer by the anticipated release date.  It was around this time that I discovered Blizzard was considering a console release, something which was done for the first Diablo, but not with much success. There was a lot of confusion and cautious attitude surrounding the idea, but I was quite optimistic. If they could pull off a solid console release, it would save me the trouble of having to deal with 'roiding out my PC. Call me what you will, I still prefer my consoles to a mouse and keyboard, save for a few select titles.

 

What would a preorder be without a perk?

Release day came, and I picked my copy up for my PS3 on my way to work. I could practically feel the fires of Hell emanating from the case, which was locked in the console of my truck at work, in a parking lot about 500 feet away from me. I was burning (heh) to play this game, and I couldn't wait til I was off work to slap it in my PS3, wait an hour for it to install, and eventually give it a shot. Once all of the waiting was over, boy, did it pay off. Funnily enough, the console release was actually better-received than the PC release because it was apparently much more polished. The game was essentially rebuilt to accommodate for a controller instead of a keyboard, and the play experience was drastically different. Certainly a change-up from the PC being the master race in every shape and form. Hell, I would have enjoyed it anyway, but knowing I made a good choice by picking it up for my console made it much sweeter.

Welcome back, couch co-op. Source!

I got to play co-op online with my friend TJ, who also picked it up that day. We stayed up pretty late roaming the lands and leveling our characters, preparing ourselves for whatever onslaught the future would hold. Over the next few days, however, I was busy with other things, leaving TJ to play by himself and complete the game almost twice. This left me in the dust and with almost no hope of catching up, but it certainly didn't deter me from logging in and playing whenever I could.

Here's what TJ was doing while I was stuck at work. Source!

It's a toss-up between fortunate and unfortunate circumstance that I haven't been able to delve into Diablo III nearly as much as I desire to. On the one hand, I have limited experience and love what I have played so far. A lot of people were displeased with Diablo III because they felt it was too short and didn't have enough content. I feel like taking the game at a snail's pace gives more opportunity to really soak in the experience; to appreciate the game and all it has to offer. On the other hand, I'm left behind. I don't know many people who play on the PS3 in the first place, and at this point, most people have already moved on to other titles. Maybe I'll get a bit of a play bump when the expansion comes out later on. Still looking forward!

 

At least I don't have to keep starting over like the guys on Hardcore. Source!

My bottom line about the game is that it is straight up lovely, and I can tell even if I haven't finished it. The graphics are gorgeous, the gameplay is smooth and fun, and the story is fantastic. I wouldn't expect anything else from the brilliant minds at Blizzard. If you have to take something away from here, let it be this: not every game needs to be a speed run. Slow down. Enjoy it more. Take some time to appreciate what you are playing. Quit beating everything before me so I actually have a chance to play with someone.

 

That game came out months ago, loser.

And so, the trio of articles revolving around the dark lord Diablo comes to a close. Hopefully, my writings have been informative or entertaining in some capacity. Have something in particular you liked or didn't like? Something you can relate to? Leave a comment!

-Zach

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Diablo: The Series (Part Two)

Since I didn't pay much attention to the PC realm of gaming until I got a bit older, Diablo II was a complete mystery to me until quite some time after its release. I saw a friend playing it at the first LAN party I ever attended and was once again in awe of Blizzard's work.

[ 

Shtay awhile and lishun! Source

The story picked up right where Diablo left off (SPOILER ALERT) where your hero from the game essentially took Diablo into himself to prevent him from returning and spreading evil, only to incidentally become corrupted by the Diablo's essence in the process. It is at that point that the adventurer just sort of gets high and wanders off.  The new adventure is centered around a new character following the journey of this "Dark Wanderer" and trying to find the origin of the death and destruction he is leaving in his wake.  Maybe you'll pop in to visit the Prime Evils along the way.  Who knows!

 

HeadOn. Apply directly to the forehead! Source

The second entry in the series took everything that made the first title great and expanded upon it to unreal ends. There were now five playable characters.  Every act had huge worlds with plentiful dungeons and side areas to explore and conquer. Your character moved much quicker.  Combat was far smoother and more fierce. Graphically, it was also superior with more depth and animation.

 

So no one told you life was gonna be this waaaaay! Source

Many features in II were added to further differentiate the play experience from the first title.  I think it's safe to say that the first thing one would notice would be the addition of a "Fatigue" stat.  This allowed your character to run, rather than walk, for a period of time.  At a glance, it would seem like a pain to have one more thing to pay attention to during the coming onslaught of enemies, but the fatigue was actually done quite well in terms of how long it lasted and how quickly it recharged.  There was also an awesome amount of item customization in the addition of "socketed" items, which allowed the player to add gems with specific properties to the items. This would modify the item to give specific benefits to the player, whether it was a boost for a certain stat, an elemental attack bonus, or giving the player a little more luck at finding magical items.

 

There is no Cow Level. Source

Hoards of enemies make a relentless return as well, some of them downright terrifying.  Similar to The Butcher in my first entry, we have another contender in the early-in-the-game-and-outstandingly-difficult competition.  On your quest to vanquish the Prime Evils, you come across Duriel, a gigantic grub beast who is insanely fast and powerful.  Duriel is not a Prime Evil, but a Lesser Evil donning the mantle "Lord of Pain," and boy, does he live up to it.  He announces his hellish presence by charging at you and growling under your skin "LOOKING FOR BAAL!?" who you were actually hoping to find.  Damn shame, this mix-up.

 

I am not prepared for this sort of anarchy. Source

As if there wasn't enough content already, the expansion offered up two more playable characters, many more items, and an additional act that provided a new area to explore and another boss to defeat. This presented more challenges for veterans and more to be accomplished by people who would play through the game as a band of heroes.  It serves as a fantastic example of what expansions and downloadable content should aspire to.

 

Move over, Wolverine. Source

I could go on, but there is so much to say and I haven't even begun to scratch the surface with this synopsis.  Diablo II is available for very reasonable prices.  I would definitely recommend picking up a copy, especially if you are a fan of dungeon crawlers and have never given this one a go.

 

"The beast contained herein shall not be set free — not even by you." Source

Once again, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the next entry: "Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Diab'd."

-Zach

Preview and header images courtesy of Diablo Wiki.

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Diablo: The Series (Part One)

Outside of a very small exposure to Warcraft, my first experience with the gaming company Blizzard Entertainment was watching a friend of mine play the original Diablo on his computer in a dimly-lit basement. After being enthralled with the game, even just observing, he installed Diablo Spawn on my PC. For the unaware, Spawn was a sort of ingenious demo that you could install on any number of computers. The program allowed a person to experience a two-level playthrough, either single or multiplayer, to give non-owners a taste of the game. It was a fantastic method employed by the creators, and I was hooked.

 

Multiple character types? Yes please!

I later purchased the original title when I was with my friend and his dad, who masqueraded as my parent at the register since I was not yet old enough to purchase it myself. Sporting the dreaded "Mature" rating, good ol' Diablo was one of the few games that my then-computer could handle, and boy did I play that game to hell and back. Heh. It was an experience that captivated me through story, graphics, music, and overall atmosphere. There were times in the game that were genuinely frightening to me as a young boy, but it was always rewarding to soldier on and conquer the next big beast.

 

Even the town of Tristram seemed dark and foreboding.

The story revolved around a hero (or heroes if you played with friends) trudging through the infested cathedral in the town of Tristram.  The task at hand was to cleanse it of the evil an Archbishop, by the name of Lazarus, brought forth. Each new level of the cathedral in which the game took place brought new challenges as you crawled deeper through catacombs and caves, and closer to the inevitable hell below.

 

In times like these, you would definitely want backup.

There were an insane amount of enemies, both in variety and the quantity in which you encountered them. I can't remember any other game where I would be swarmed by 20 or 30 enemies at once, forcing me to hack with my weapon, cast my spells, maintain defensive ground, and also pay attention to the levels of my health and mana to make sure I didn't fall at the hands of demons.

 

My vote for the most frustrating area would be the caves.

Every few levels, you would come across terrifying beasts who served as "bosses" for certain areas. Most notably to the game is The Butcher, a hulking demon who hefts a gigantic cleaver. The Butcher resides in a room covered wall-to-wall with the mutilated corpses of the soldiers who were led to their end by Lazarus. As a kid, the room alone was terrifying. If the sight weren't enough, as soon as you entered the room, your adversary would boom over the speakers in a deep, gravelly, evil voice: "Ah! Fresh meat!" Ol' Butch was a huge hassle for many players. He was insanely powerful and came relatively early in the game, proving to be a difficult obstacle for many to overcome. Once you finally bested him you could wield his cleaver, which, in terms of rewards, gave you a great preview of things to come. It was also a good indicator that you would encounter many different, unique weapons throughout the game, each with special bonuses, and some with hindrances.  It was unlike any other system I had ever played.

 

Obviously not an individual with any sense of interior decoration.

It wasn't until somewhat recently that I actually killed Diablo for the first time. You know how it is with games, you stop playing for awhile, come back to it, and you have no idea what you're doing. "Might as well start over," I'd say, only for the cycle to repeat. Completing the game came with me discovering the Hellfire expansion, which added a surprising amount of content, including a new playable character, special dungeons, and more items. The only thing that really improved the game (since it was so well done that it didn't need much else) was that you could have your character move at a quicker speed, which made some of the tedious walking areas less... tedious.

"Whoa! You are not gonna see shit like that at a Modest Mouse concert!" -Aziz Ansari

As a whole, the first entry in the Diablo series was done very, very right.

Share your thoughts!  What did you like or dislike about the first Diablo?  Also, keep your eyes open for the next entry in this series, "Diablo: The Series (Part Two-and-One-Half: Diab Harder)" and we'll see you then!

-Zach

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Fond Memories of DOS Games.

As we collectively say good-bye to the year 2012 I want to take this moment to look back, way back, to around 1992 or so.

It was a simpler time of DOS based machines, black screens, and mouseless navigation. The keyboards were chunkier and clunkier, and the floppy disks were actually floppy. I remember being in Kindergarten and having 'lab time', where all of us tiny children walked down the hallways and into the computer lab. The lights were dim, the room was warm, and the computers hummed lightly with anticipation of game time.

At school the game was always Word Muncher, a simple interactive title where a little green man with a giant mouth and legs walked around a grid and ate words or numbers that correlated to the key word or number. For example!

Aww yiss, Word Muncher. Source.

Those were good times, and I like to believe that is where I started my long and storied life as a computer lover.

When I was in second grade my mom bought our first family computer, and I was floored. I thought it was the best thing in the world, and I was so proud to have a computer at the house. MY house. After school I got to run home and play with it. And you know what I played?

Motha 'effin' Mario Teaches Typing. Source.

Mario Teaches Typing is the party responsible for the typist that I am today. In my prime I could do 77 wpm with virtually no errors. It's a fact that I am perhaps too proud of.

We didn't have internet until I was in fifth or sixth grade, and then it was AOL dial up and a nightmare. All years leading up to that were DOS based gaming bliss. Really just Mario Teaches Typing on Windows 95. My mom still has the box and all install items for it, too. The box is enormous and made of the heftiest cardboard that ever existed. It contains two options depending on your needs: five inch floppies, and three and a half inch floppies. Just hysterical.

What are your best DOS based memories?

-MJ

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Technological Disappointments.

Or, how my Christmas morning plans were foiled by PC only titles.

My mother listened to my constant woes and complaints over the past few months regarding my ancient macbook, and ended up getting me a new macbook pro (with retina display!) for Christmas. Sadly(?) I knew about this marvelous gift because my mother lacks sufficient knowledge on what makes a good computer, but also because she didn't know my specific needs. Somewhat indifferent to the lack of a surprise, I ordered it and then sat with my hands in my lap waiting patiently for Christmas morning.

Pictured above: one of the many things that eventually fell into my lap.

I had grand plans for holiday gaming, you see. Until last year I was never much for computer gaming, just Minecraft really, but then I started Fallout 3 and Skyrim files on a friend's computer and, well, I've decided that I like the keyboard and mouse setup quite a bit.

My sister and her family weren't set to arrive until around noon or one o'clock Christmas Day, which left my mother and me with plenty of time to drink mimosas while watching the Doctor Who Christmas special (me, not her), and setting up my new macbook. I decided that the first order of business would be grabbing Steam and installing Fallout 3. Because nothing screams 'Christmas' like a post apocalyptic United States of America.

Something unrelated that screams 'Christmas': a ten week old springer spaniel mutt 

who wants to get his sleep on in your lap. You just say yes.

For some reason I had it in my head that Fallout 3 was PC/Mac, but all signs online point to it being PC only. Color me devastated. I sat melancholy on the couch, sipping my mimosa and watching the snow fall (all the while quite paranoid of sentient snowmen).

I have come to really enjoy the functionality of the macbook, and I have zero desire to switch to a Windows based machine in the near future. Why must companies punish me so? I've considered a Windows desktop to accompany my macbook for the sake of increased ease of access in software scenarios such as this, but no. I don't imagine that will happen.

Perhaps a dual boot is in my future.

In the meantime, I'll cry quietly while clutching my new Dalek plushie to my chest. Isn't that what you'd do with yours?

-MJ

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To Apple, With Confusion. Why Are You Update Blocking Me?

In fall of 2008 I acquired my Macbook and it was rather love at first sight. Fast forward (almost) exactly four years later and the love goggles have worn out. This thing is slow, so slow, and has a passion for locking up during minimal web-surfing sessions. I try to keep very little stored on the hard drive (I use an external for most things) and I've done a RAM upgrade before.

And then my computer was lighting fast! ...if only. [source/source]

While a buggy computer is certainly cause for gripe, it's not exactly a rock and a hard place situation. However, with Apple's insistence on releasing an updated OS about once a year, my basic functionality has gone nearly out the window. The majority of programs that I'd like to use require at least 10.6, and sadly my computer is running 10.5.8. In my Windows user mindset I think, "No problem. Just grab a more recent version of the OS and off I go", but Apple has other plans.

I prefer both Mac and Windows. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, and each offer different types of satisfaction and use. For instance I love being able to dig into a Windows machine to fix a problem. With Macs, I love that all hardware works seamlessly together without various company's incompatibility concerns. I absolutely prefer the price point of a Windows machine, and I cannot ignore the visual appeal of Apple products. Apple haters be damned, they are undeniably visionaries.

So shiny. So sleek. [source]

I find myself quite trapped with my Macbook though, given my "ancient" OSX version. I'd love to pop onto the Apple website, purchase Mountain Lion and solve my program compatibility issues. But, no. Apple doesn't want to make it that simple. Mountain Lion is purchasable online only through the Mac App Store. The Mac App Store does not exist in 10.5.8. I need OSX 10.6.6, an update of Snow Leopard, which cannot be purchased from Apple online. That's right, the software necessary to run Mountain Lion is not available on the Apple website.

Now, I find myself asking, nearly yelling with passion, why Apple would prevent me from obtaining an update. This situation isn't exactly user experience at its finest. Additionally, even if I were to get my anxious hands on a disc version of Mountain Lion (OSX 10.8), it would not install on my system. Why, you ask? Because one of the the requirements of 10.8 is that the computer already be running 10.6. It's a vicious circle.

 This picture should have been a circle graph that I made, but I haven't  reinstalled all 

of my programs since wiping my machine a few days ago, so I'm improvising here!

[source]

I believe that I should be able to get a few more good years out of this laptop, and I also believe that Apple should facilitate that. I'd love to know why Snow Leopard is no longer obtainable through the great wide internets. I'm willing to pay for the update, for goodness sake! And, as evidenced by multiple requests for help via Google search, so are many others who are so out of the loop* as to still be running 10.5.8.

Dear Internet, what would you suggest? Do I simply need to deal with the "Genius" bar at an Apple store? What if they laugh at my early 2008 body? I don't think I can handle the technological humiliation.

-MJ

*This is a joke directed at Apple, not users of 10.5.8. They must think that we're out of the loop or computer challenged for waiting "so long" to upgrade.

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Get Your Intergalactic RTS on with Planetary Annihilation.

One of the newest and more promising games pumping through the Kickstarter veins is Planetary Annihilation from Uber Entertainment. It's an RTS that promises unique and exciting experiences never before offered in a real time strategy through planet domination and maps that are never exactly alike. The company is also boasting a client-server model which benefits the player so that the game runs on the company servers, effectively freeing up the player's machines to run games with less lag.

A screen shot of Planetary Annihilation's planet select screen. Source.

The team at Uber Entertainment has games such as Total Annihilation, Supreme Commander, and other popular RTSs under their collective belts, so gamers can believe that they'll be delivered a seasoned and comprehensive RTS experience. Their Kickstarter has been going since the 16th and has already passed the halfway mark of their $900k goal. It seems likely that they'll achieve their amount by the time September 14th rolls around, and hopefully gamers will be delivered a truly exciting and new RTS experience.

Games such as StarCraft and Dawn of War have the genre fairly well covered, and nearly perfected. While there are plenty of strategy games that take place in space, Planetary Annihilation promises a hectic, planet-hopping good time. Check out their Kickstarter video and saunter over to their Kickstarter page if you'd like to donate. Only $20 gets you the full game on either PC or Mac once it's released!

If you're feeling particularly generous and excited, a $1,000 donation will get you a custom in-game character that only you can play. That's pretty neat! Are there any pumped RTS folk out there?

-MJ

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