Diablo 3 on PS3/4 – Everything you need to know

The next big push from Blizzard for it’s action packed Diablo 3 is hitting the consoles in just over 2 months. How will the game work on PS3 and Xbox? Here’s all the details you need to know to prepare you for Hell! To get you into the mood, checkout this video of Console game play:

 

We’ve answered some of the questions most gamers have had, Diablo 3 on PS3/4 – Everything you need to know:

 

Launch Date?

Pre-orders are open!! Blizzard has announced that Diablo III will be released on Xbox 360 as well as PlayStation 3, and both versions will be available on September 3. Anyone who gets the pre-order will get the experience-boosting Infernal Helm item to speed up their passage through Sanctuary.

 

How does the game “feel” on PS3?

The lucky few who have been able to play on the PS3 (Demo’s where available for play at PAX earlier this year) version claims that it exactly the same game, with a different rhythm and feel to it. Initial comments was that the game felt slower, and not as “intense”.  We explain this more in our “Issues” section below. Here’s a 10-minute gameplay/interview regarding the gameplay on the PS3:

 

 

Controls: Mouse and Keyboard vs Controller

The PC version is a click-and-move game. Meaning 90% of the action is done through your mouse. You click on the screen where you want to move/run to, click where you want to attack, and click on people you want to interact with.

With the console, you obviously wont be able to click-and-move but use the analogue controllers. How exactly your aiming and interaction will work is still a bit unclear. How will you cast a spell on a specific character a few feet away? This is a point a click game, and when things get tough and you are surrounded by a gold-elite-pack in Inferno we have yet to see how the controller will handle this. Blizzard added the convenient “Evasion Roll” ability for console gamers that will enable you dodge attacks and roll away when things get overwhelming. This is done by flicking the right stick on the controller.

All the UI and inventory screens where completely revamped and build from the ground up for PS3. This will give you a unique and classic console game experience.

The trackpad is demonstrated in the video below, sorting through a player’s inventory in the new radial-style interface. “We really built our inventory screens and the UI system from the ground up”. Another new ability is quick equip – at any time, players can press up on the dpad to cycle through the last few acquired items and equip any of them.

This layout mirrors the PC version’s where each character can have six active skills at any time which need to be unlocked by leveling up. It seems if you’re playing Diablo III on PlayStation 3 or 4, at least four of the face buttons will be assigned to four active skills.

But Diablo 3 has 6 skills that are assigned on PC. For the PS3 this can easily be assigned to the 4 front-buttons on the controller, but what about skills five and six? Diablo III’s combat moves at a very fast pace and the location and severity of threats can change rapidly, so all six skills should ideally be mapped to easy-to-use buttons (not L3 or R3). With potions tied to L1, it seems likely skills five and six will be assigned to L2 and R2. This video takes you through it:

 

You will not be able to use a USB PS3 keyboard to play the PS3 version, or a PS3 controller on your PC version of Diablo 3. They are separate entities people.

 

No Cross-Play

There will be absolutely no interaction between PC gamers and Console gamers. The PS3 version will not be on Battle.net. Battle.net is the online universe for Blizzard that basically allows the entire multi player world for all of it’s games. On PS3 Diablo 3 will use the PS3 Network or on Xbox it will use Xbox Live . So this further solidifies the fact that there will be no interaction at all, not even on a character level between PC (Battle.net) and PS3 (PS3 Network). Naturally this means that you can’t use your PC Character and continue on your Console.

 

Streaming/Sharing

We’ve yet to see this in action, but by simply pressing youe “share” button on your controller, you will be able to share your gameplay with the world. Whether this is actual live streaming or video-uploads is still to be determined.

 

 

The Haters:

It is impossible to escape the continious hard-core haters for Diablo 3, and there’s been a few points raised regarding the whole porting of Diablo 3 to PS3 and Xbox. The theory goes that Diablo 3 was always meant to be a console game, and not a PC game, hence the lack of fulfilled gamer experiences some PC gamers have felt. Personally we’re not reading too much into these allegations, but it’s worth mentioning. Here are the reasons:

• The reason only 4 players are allowed into a game is for 4 controllers.
• The reason the quests make you walk in a linear closed circuit as opposed to big open worlds, is to keep your buds next to you on the same screen.
• The reason for no skill points or complicated number crunching? To make console players happy.
• The reason no runes / complicated item mechanics exists. Simply wouldn’t be fun for console gamers.
• The reason you can’t host a named game? Auto join for console users.
• The reason for achievements in game? It’s popular among console / COD fans.

 

 

The Auction House (AH) and Real Money Auction House (RMAH)

Without a doubt the biggest cause for despair and controversy with the current PC game. How will this work on PS3? Blizzard confirmed that the console version will have no AH or RMAH. This means players are 100% dependant on game-drops to up-gear their characters. Yes you can build weapons with the smith. But unless Blizzard changed game-drop percentages for consoles, this will be a huge issue.

 

 

Issues we think Diablo 3 on PS3 will have

– Slower game pace and easier “boss levels” where set-up to cater for lack of MMO controller ability. This is still to be seen, but we simply can’t see how you get the same accuracy and scalability that you have with the mouse/keyboard with the PS3 controller.

– Lack of  “in-the-action” game-play experience. With PC you are sitting a few inches away from your computer screen, this physically puts you right in front of the action.With PS3 you may be sitting a few feet away from your TV. Blizzard claims that they paid specific attention to this in-game experience and made the camera view closer, but we’re not to optimistic that this will do the trick. We fear that the game will lack it’s intensity and addictiveness due to feeling “disconnected” from the action.

– No AH or RMAH. We can’t believe were saying this, but the lack of an Auction house of any kind may just be the nail in the coffin for the console version. This means console gamers are 100% dependant on inventory/weapon upgrade drops in-game. As we know the drop-rates for PC version where completely crap. I personally managed to pick up only 3 legendaries after my first 6 months of Diablo 3 play. Blizzard may have adjusted the drop-rates for console gamers, but chances are you will be under-geared for way too long. Making the game too difficult on an decent difficulty level.

If you’re looking for a recap on the current state of Diablo 3 PC version, we discussed the topic here. 

Good luck with Inferno Console gamers!