Fun "Diablo Clone" with great graphics and intense gameplay.
Graphics: First off, the graphics are really good and I am so glad that I can finally play a Diablo-esque (please excuse this term- Action- RPG if you prefer but I dont like that one. Theres action in all RPGs so I dont get the point of that) game that actually at least plays on the same level of excitement. Not everyone loved the Diablo Franchise, but it broke ground in its day mostly because it added non turn based gameplay (which I love both types but really jaded me as a player and now I can no longer play turn basing for long periods of time... How I miss thee Fallout) also called real time action, as well as adding the multiplayer content with LAN then eventually WAN playability. Anyway, the graphics in this arent sprited like Diablo but I cant help but question something here. While you can zoom in, why can you not rotate the camera? This is a 3D game right? Oh well I'm nit-picking I know but it seems like it was left out (or else Im being silly again and I missed it.. in which case oops). Big problem with the graphics in this game is the rubberbanding. For no apparent reason this game loves to lag and while it doesnt bother me one bit (its not all the time nor is it rediculous but it really doesnt make sense) it makes it feel like your playing online sometimes even though your not.
Sound: Really fun, immense, intense, action packed music. Has an epic feel like your living a saga (or Myth or Legend or whatever you wanna put there) and really makes you feel like your an important figure in someones Mythos. The sounds are pretty impressive too. Although, harpies are really annoying (hah, they're supposed to be... im kidding i swear. Wow tough crowd)
Controls: Its fairly basic, like all Diablo-Clones. Point and click or hold the button and you move. Assign spells to keys etc etc Its an easy system a monkey could use and keeps my head from exploding.
Spell/Skill system: While not innovative in and of itself (it's the same concept as it was in Diablo2 as well as whats being used in most if not all MMOs these days) its always fun to mention for me as its a concept I really like. I wish someone would do something innovative with this idea, flesh it out more, or change it all together. Unfortunately this game didnt and the plus side to that is you wont be confused by it. I like the class system in this and this expansion added one more (im very sorry but I forgot how many classes there are. I think its 8). The great thing, to me anyway, is you pick these classes in game through leveling up. Eventually you choose your main class then after a short time you get to pick a secondary class. Neither of these has an advantage per say other then the fact that you will have one before the other, but how good one is over the other is really entirely up to you. I really liked it because not only does it give you a huge canvas to work with on creating whatever kind of character you want (the skill trees are fairly big) but you can make some very decent combos that seem completely uncorralated (theres only like 2 or 3 combos that are generally considered extremely unplayable because they just dont go together. But if you want you can play these it will just make the game that much harder for you).
Combat: The combat is simplistic- I cannot deny it. You are by default assigned attack on your left mouse button which you just hold down the button on a monster and you will attack until its dead (with other combinations you can just stand there and slash at everything, all very much like Diablo 2). You can assign one spell to your right mouse button and you can assign 24 to your number keys (there's now two rows instead of just one making it 1 through = twice if you understand). Anyway so that gives you room for all the types of spells you may have at any given time. In my opinoin, though, I wish they added support for 5+ button mouses. I mean I can do like 4 spells on my mouse and I dont understand why I am limited here. Small peaches, though, and I dont want to nitpick. It doesnt detract from anything but does offer a small annoyance for me.
Over "Gamplay"/Fun Factor: I find this game quite enjoyable, but unfortunately, like the Diablo Franchise it expects you to be hooked to it like crack so you have to play it more then once to truly appreciate it. It does however reward you (with more then just loot although the loot is insane as well) for playing it more then once. While some people may be turned off by the idea, it really is just a time sink, the skill system as well as the combat keeps me hooked enough to want to play whenever I feel like busting heads in a mythological sense.
This is definitely one worth trying if you like real time RPGs. Like Diablo, its not for everyone, but its a fun game.