As a hooded Rogue, I leap backwards and spray a sheet of caltrops in front of me. With the skeletal figures caught on them, I dash forward like lightning and kill the stragglers from behind. I lock eyes with the enemy standing off to the side, aiming at me from range. Before it can land a blow, I detach the crossbow from my back and fire an arrow. It’s a critical shot.
“Hey, this is pretty fun, you know”, I say.
This was my first experience with Diablo 4, the next upcoming instalment in the Diablo series by Blizzard Entertainment. With the open beta being the talk of every gaming community back in March, I decided to risk it all (and my PC storage) by trying it. My hesitation came from never having played the previous Diablo titles. Despite the series’ mass following, the dungeon-crawler has never looked like my cup of tea. However, with 2023 being the year where I try new things, I decided to bite the bullet.
After praying to the internet gods, my download was finally complete and I could then spend the next few hours picking between one of the game’s five classes. With the Druid class offering wolf companions, the Necromancer class allowing me to raise the dead, the Rogue class teasing me with the ultimate gaming weapon (bow and arrow, of course), the Sorcerer class offering a chance for me to live my witchy dreams and the Barbarian class letting me play as a very buff woman, I was stumped. Thankfully, Blizzard must have seen this dilemma arising during development and programmed the ability to have multiple characters. So over the course of the first beta weekend, I tried them all.
(The following contains minor spoilers for Act 1 of Diablo 4)
To Shave or Not To Shave
Before I could actually get into the gameplay, I had to conquer the moment I had been preparing for – character creation. Once you have picked your class, your next choice is choosing between a masculine or feminine build. Other than these two body types, the body cannot be changed further. The following customisation allows you to pick between one of four face variations, skin tones (very diverse and even include vitiligo options) and eye colour. Hair style, facial hair and colour options for these is your next big decision before finally ending with the option to decorate your character with tattoos (known as markings), accessories such as piercings and makeup.
Once I’d spent around twenty minutes deciding whether or not I wanted my Rogue to have a shaved eyebrow (I decided on yes), I spent the remaining hour deciding on a name for her. Although Diablo 4 doesn’t have as much customisation as other RPGs (especially when it comes to body types), it still manages to have just enough to create a unique character.
Kidnappings and Queues
As I mentioned before, I have never played a Diablo title before. As a result, I don’t have a clue what the story is about. My only knowledge comes from the announcement trailer for the game featuring a very tall, horned woman sporting a blood cape. Since then, I learned her name is Lilith (or Mommy to the majority of the Internet) and she’s the enemy.
Luckily, this didn’t seem to be a problem for Act 1 of Diablo 4. The game welcomed me with open arms and everything felt straight forward. I enjoyed the opening of the game as you explore a snow-covered environment, get warm in the nearby inn with the locals and then get kidnapped. With the threat of being sacrificed looming within the first ten minutes of the game, my attention was at its peak. Of course, it wouldn’t be much of an experience if the sacrifice was successful so we escape and our journey begins in earnest.
My journey through the Fractured Peaks (the opening area of the game) was a blur of action and even literal blur when the game would lag in populated areas. However, this was to be expected from an open beta and as a Brit, I have trained all my life for long queues. When these issues settled down, I spent the weekend levelling four different classes to the beta’s max of 25. It’s safe to say I was obsessed. With plenty of dungeons to trawl through, story to get your teeth sunk into and the occasional death when the dreaded high-level Butcher randomly spawned, it was an epic introduction to Diablo 4. So much so that after the third ‘PRE-ORDER NOW’ pop up showed on screen, I was happy to oblige.
The Need For More
With a skill tree bigger than my monitor, I have to admit that I was a bit daunted at first. However, thanks to some handy guides online, I was able to find a build that suited my play style. I switched between my Rogue who used the shadows to her advantage, my necromancer who could blow up corpses to cause damage (so much damage that Blizzard swiftly nerfed that ability) and my Barbarian who was 99% muscle, 1% brain. At the time of the first open beta, switching characters would mean you would have to start from the start of the story each time. However, this has since been changed. Despite this, the unique play-styles of each of the characters stopped the gameplay becoming monotonous. Even though I killed the same poor boss around four times, it was still fun. By the fifth time, he had stopped showing up.
Despite only having access to Act 1, the story was still engaging. So much so that finishing the act and being denied the rest of the story was a kick in the teeth. I am excited to see more of Lilith and uncover her plans. I have already planned builds in my head and imagined how they can be carried out in-game. I have planned the names of my characters in advance to chip off an hour from character customisation. All this and more!
End Thoughts
My experience with the hack and slash RPG beta was enough to make me now countdown the days until it fully launches on June 6. Luckily, another open beta known as ‘Server Slam’ is set for the weekend of May 12 – May 14 and gives players another opportunity to get a taste for the game. Despite my reservations, Diablo 4 managed to hook me over the course of a weekend and even made me consider checking out previous titles in the series.
Let’s just hope it isn’t as big of a let down as Blizzard’s Overwatch 2.
