Back in 1996 Diablo was released, I first played it not too long after that, it was my introduction to RPG's and it was also one of the first PC games I ever played. Almost 16 years later the game I loved so much when I was a kid has its third installment, Diablo III. Diablo III was so popular in the first few weeks that many shops sold out entirely and had back orders for weeks, but has it lived up to the hype?

From the word go, you are thrown into Sanctuary(the world that diablo is set in) where the dead are rising from their graves. New Tristram is smack bang in the middle of the undead hordes, here you meet Leah, the adopted niece of Deckard Cain. Leah was with her uncle in the Cathedral when a falling star hits and Deckard was lost into the depths of the catacombs beneath the cathedral, apparently although she is quite capable of fighting it ends up being your job to save the old geezer, who I'll be honest I'm surprised was still alive after being hit by a bloody asteroid. The appearance of this star is also the reason that the dead are reanimating.

People that are new to Diablo need not to worry as the story doesn't really require any prior knowledge of the story of Diablo. To those of us who have fought the armies of hell in the previous games, Diablo 3 brings back memories of the amazing games that preceded it.

The single player game of Diablo 3 is every part a Diablo game, epic loot that makes you want to keep it, giant monsters and a story that drags you in and makes you want more. I played through the first time as a Monk, the Monk class is agile, strong and incredibly fun to play, hitting multiple times with one attack or hitting with an attack that does crazy amounts of damage to all enemies around you as well as knocking them back. I am currently playing through the game for the second time as a Witch Doctor, the two classes are very different but I am having no trouble in adapting my playing style to suit the Witch doctor.

The classes are very easy to get used to and this makes starting a new class character much easier, as apposed to other RPG's where the classes have many different kinds of skill trees or secondary classes, where there is not as many choices as some RPG's the much simpler system makes it a bit easier for those of us who play way too many games to have to get used to.

Every class has weapons and other equipment that is unique to them which can be frustrating when you are playing a Monk and get a Barbarian only item, the only benefit from this is you can put them in storage and use them on your own Barbarian class, if a friend is playing a Barbarian you can give it to them or if you think its worth it you could sell it on the auction house.

The only drawback I found with Diablo 3's single player game is that you must be connected to the internet to play it.

The multiplayer system in Diablo 3 is great, the individual loot system means there's no arguing about who gets what loot and no people ninjaing(stealing) loot from other players. The mobs get stronger when there is more players in the game too, not so strong as to make the point of getting someone else to help pointless but enough to still make it a challenge.

Up to 3 extra players can drop into the game to help or even if you don't need the help, just so you don't have to be completely anti-social. You can also join a random game if someone has their game open to all players, this can be annoying if you have no idea that people can do this and 3 randoms suddenly join your game when you just wanted to play alone. Apart from having other players in the game the multiplayer is basically just the single player game that other people have joined, like playing a co-op game over Xbox live or playstation network.

There is currently no PVP system in Diablo 3 but it is apparently in development and will be released in a patch for the game.

Diablo 3 lived up to my expectations and then some, it delivered on epic battles, an awesome story and brilliantly done multiplayer. The cutscenes were great, every part a Blizzard cutscene that you get with any of their games, Diablo 3 rekindled my faith in a company that had basically lost me.

A lot of people were really upset in the first few days due to the servers not being able to cope with the influx of players, realistically yes blizzard should have been better prepared due to all the hype and the anticipation that such a popular game series had created. I for one didn't have that problem as due to a credit card issue my copy of Diablo 3 was stuck in Sydney waiting for the funds to transfer.

I for one hope they release an expansion for the game and will await it eagerly when it is announced.

Overall it scores 5/5 by me.