Diablo 4 review - Slaughtering the forces of Hell never felt so good

Diablo 4 is almost here, and I’ve been hip-deep in the dead for the past few weeks. The forces of Hell never wait, and I’ve spent time playing multiplayer content, solo, and even hardcore characters. Late nights, early mornings, have all been spent wading through the waves of dead on an assortment of characters. Over the past few months, I’ve played a few iterations of this game, from Alpha to the Server Slam. It’s been interesting to see it evolve since late last year.

In most action RPGs like Diablo 4, the story really takes a backseat to the carnage. I don’t think that’s the case in this instance. There’s something interesting going on, under the surface. I’ll avoid spoilers in this review, but the story has me engaged as much as the non-stop action does.

The conflict never ends in Diablo 4

The world of Sanctuary is under threat once again in Diablo 4. The Eternal Conflict is aptly named, after all. Heaven and Hell's collide, and humans, like always, get caught in the middle. The Prime Material plane was created by two forces - Lilith and Inarius. In the world’s lore, it was created by a group who no longer wished to be a part of the Eternal Conflict.

Unfortunately, that safety did not last for long. Here we are, in the fourth mainline entry to Blizzard’s Diablo franchise, and danger looms on the horizon. The player is tasked with dealing with Lilith and her forces, and stopping whatever her plans happen to be.

Regardless of what character class you pick, you start off in the cold wilderness, desperate to survive. Players will quickly find themselves “blessed” by Lilith (voiced by Caroline Faber), and dealing with her crazed cultists. You, as the player, are quickly treated to a glimpse of the cruelty and horror that this world offers.

There aren’t many good people in the world of Diablo 4. It always seems like the forces of chaos and mistrust wildly outnumber the forces of good. Even the people who march on the good side don’t always have pure intentions. That’s one thing I love about this kind of storytelling. It’s not a good or fair world - but the people in it have to make do with the hand they’re dealt. Or do they?

The gameplay loop is familiar but fresh in Diablo 4

In Diablo 4, people are surely going to expect one thing: brutal, glorious combat. You gain experience, level up, and build a series of skills to combat the forces of evil. You’re going to get that without a doubt. All the character classes start with a decent amount of strength - even if the Necromancer class still feels the most powerful.

You’ll quickly be introduced to the main story, and can easily track your objectives by opening the map. However, one feature I think this is lacking is that you can’t see the previous quests you’ve completed. It’s not a major feature, but it is missing.

You can just play through the main story and not focus on anything else. However, there’s so much to this world! Diablo 4 has side quests - tracked by blue exclamation marks - world events and more. You can grind dungeons to unlock Legendary Aspects, farm ore and herbs, and more.

Sure, the gameplay loop is incredibly familiar - walk or ride through a zone, and slaughter wave after wave of evil entities. That’s just it, though. There’s nothing wrong with that gameplay loop and it’s just as addicting as it was in Diablo 2. Each class has a way to succeed in solo gameplay, or you can group up to stomp your way through Lilith's minions.

It’s worth it to take the time to complete World Events - marked by an orange circle - and those side quests. It’s a solid source of extra experience points. While the game tends to level with you, each Act has a recommended level.

For example, Act V recommends you be at least level 35. You can tackle the content under that, though. I played through Act V as a level 25 druid, and while I succeeded easily enough, that won’t be the case for everyone. I was so under-leveled because I rode around on my horse, which leads to another talking point.

Yes, it’s going to take a while for players to get a horse, and while some are going to be frustrated by that, I spoke to the developers about it. The focal point of the game is exploration - and once you get a mount, you’re likely to just ride to the next objective and skip exploring the world. You miss so much that way. While I was frustrated at first, it makes sense to me now. Thankfully, you only need to unlock riding once and it then unlocks across your entire account.

Just running from main quest to main quest means you miss so much. You won’t have as many Altars of Lilith - which give permanent stats for all characters on the server. In addition, you’ll miss Strongholds, map-completion rewards, and more. You definitely want to spend time exploring this world.

Since this game is connected to your Battle.net account, you have cross-progression and cross-play. There’s no region-locking, so no matter where your friends are, you can play the game together.

How’s gameplay balance in Diablo 4?

During the early tests, a few of the classes frankly felt weak. Druids and Barbarians both felt incredibly squishy and unsatisfying to play, when compared to the others. Thankfully, both classes both felt better compared to what they did, due to buffs.

Sure, Necromancer is still incredibly powerful. It was strong in the early tests, and it’s still powerful now. However, while it has a head-start on other characters, thanks to Summon Skeletons, it tapers off a bit. I was still able to easily solo all content in the game, but I needed smarter, better builds for higher tiers.

I spent most of my downtime playing Druid in Hardcore Mode, and I didn’t feel like I was in any danger. Balance feels better, but this is at a casual level, and it might vary with more intense challenges. But when looking at Tier 1 and 2 gameplay, I felt pretty satisfied with what I played.

Battle Pass/Shop: Is anything in the game pay-to-win?

While we didn’t have access to the shop in the review, we did get to see what will be featured in both. Yes, Diablo 4 will feature a Battle Pass; however, it doesn’t offer pay-to-win advantages. It will offer cosmetics, premium currency, and free Season Boosts instead.

While players can purchase tiers to speed things up a bit, it won’t speed up unlocking the Season Boosts. The Season Journey is how you progress through this, which is free for everyone to play.

There is also a cash shop, where players can use the Premium Currency to unlock a wide variety of transmogs. This is just for cosmetics for your character and horse, and nothing offered should give an advantage in game - direct or indirect.

Audio and visual quality is top-notch

This might be one of my all-time favorite OSTs at this rate. Diablo 4’s soundtrack is a masterpiece. It features so many little tributes to other parts of the franchise, while still very much being unique music pieces. The voice cast is incredible as well, particularly Ralph Ineson’s Lorath, who is one of my favorite lore characters. The artist's voice perfectly captured what I expected.

The visuals in each region of Sanctuary felt unique as well. There are a variety of aesthetics, from horrifying tentacles from hell, to a simple dune-covered desert. It takes a lot to unsettle my nerves, but some of those dungeons genuinely made my stomach turn. I think that’s a compliment, though. Diablo 4 offers unforgettable visuals throughout the gameplay experience.

While there isn’t a huge array of unique enemy types in the main story, that’s not what we come to Diablo 4 expecting. I want spirits, skeletons, zombies, and demons. There is enough variety here, but some might be let down.

In Conclusion

Diablo 4 has been an incredible experience. While I have some thoughts on the story, that has to wait for later. The game's combat felt fantastic, and the visual parity has been quality. However, I have to say that the title feels better on a controller than it does on keyboard and mouse.

Some might disagree with that, but for me, the best way to play is via controller. The only issue I had was with recording footage. For reasons unknown, I had problems recording with both OBS and Shadowplay, but that should be corrected when the game launches.

I’ve beat this game and played several of the classes by now, and I’m still not tired of it. I’m looking forward to the official launch and playing through this story with my friends. Without a doubt, Diablo 4 is a must-play masterpiece. It offers non-stop action, a wide variety of activities, and plenty of ways to explore the game, before and after the story.