Mortal Kombat (2010) - Review (Xbox 360, PS3, PS Vita)

In April of 2011, Netherealm Studios released a remake/reboot of the immensely popular fighting game, Mortal Kombat for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The game was fairly well received by fans and critics alike and sold approximately 2 million copies in its first month of release. For this reviewer, Mortal Kombat, or MK9 as most people refer to it, the game would become a constant in his Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and now Playstation Vita’s disc drive/card slot.

Diablo III Review

Diablo III

Platform: PC

Retail Price: $60

Release Date: 5/15/2012



Having one of the longest development cycles in gaming history, Blizzard’s third entry in the Diablo franchise was released nearly twelve years after Diablo II. This was due to everything from scraping the entire game at one point, to a ridiculous amount of fine-tuning. This overly long development period was something that has kept fans of the franchise eagerly awaiting its return. It could be said that Diablo III might be the most anticipated videogame of all time.

Honestly, for me, I didn’t really care about the franchise until about two years ago when I was introduced to Torchlight (created by the original guys that did the first 2 Diablo games) on XBLA. Turns out, these, “loot games,” are actually some of the most addictive games I’ve ever played. Playing Torchlight for just a couple of hours was all it took to understand why people were clamoring for Diablo III, and that it had a lot to live up to.

So here’s what you need to know about loot games in order to enjoy them.

1.      Kill monsters.

2.      Monsters explode like a piñata and yield gold, armor, weapons and accessories.

3.      Check the stats of your items and determine whether or not the items are better than what you currently own.

4.      Equip your shiny new gear.

5.      Repeat steps 1-4. Over and over and over again.

While this may not seem enjoyable at all (and it really doesn’t on paper), I can assure you that it absolutely is. The player will find him or herself playing for hours on end to get that awesome rare or legendary helmet that has stats which absolutely trump those of the item currently equipped. The fun can also be shared with up to four friends due to the game’s extraordinary multiplayer functionality.

Now that we have a basic breakdown of what kind of game Diablo III is, here are the specifics:

Graphics – 9/10
Is Diablo a graphically intensive game? Not so much. That’s not to say that it isn’t a pretty game, but it’s not on the same level as a game such as The Witcher 2’s graphics on the highest settings possible. But the thing is, it’s not intended to be. Diablo’s main focus is having tons of enemies on screen at a time, thus sacrificing quality for quantity. This approach also allows nearly anyone with a modern PC to play the game at max settings, something which is a credit to Blizzard as it allows more people to play and enjoy their game without fear of being unable to meet the system requirements.

Sound and music – 7/10
Diablo incorporates full voice acting for all characters including your own. The voice acting is pretty well-done and helps move the limited story along. The music, while good, could perhaps be a bit more epic since the player is, after all, fighting the fictionalized legions of Hell – something that one would think should lend itself to more intense music.

Story – 8/10
To be perfectly honest, not many people are going to play Diablo III for its story. To sum it up: The player is championed with taking out the Devil and his minions. That’s about the gist of it. Not too complicated, not terribly done, but ultimately not the focus of the game. The story only serves as a set up for the environment in which the player lives and breathes.

Playability – 10/10
The game, like most PC games, uses a combination of the mouse and keyboard hotkeys. The depth of the game’s system is not overly complicated and should be pretty simple for new players to pick up immediately.
Overall – 9/10
Was Diablo III worth the twelve year wait? Since this reviewer only waited two, yes it was. The game will go as deep as the player takes it. It can be simplistic, it can be complicated, but it’s ultimately the player’s call. But how can one go wrong with hacking and slashing through huge dungeons with friends while collecting awesome gear? One can’t. Plain and simple. For now, Diablo, as a franchise, reigns supreme as the king of loot games… That is until Torchlight II comes out. But that’s a later review for a later time.

Episode 6 - ReLaunch

The new site is here, and a new Inner Dorkdom podcast is up! Join the proprieters of this little corner of the Internet (Todd, Josh, and Nic) as they discuss why they started The Inner Dorkdom and what they want it to be. Thanks for listening.

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A second test

Getting closer.

Pre-relaunch Test 1

Just testing something folks.

Episode 5 - Back to the Future

The Inner Dorkdom is back! In honor of the 25th anniversary, take a listen as Josh and Nic talk a bit about one of the greatest film series of all time (Josh would say the best): Back to the Future!

P.S. - There might be commentaries on each film in the future.

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Update on Episode 5

Yeah, I know it's been a while since the last episode... faaaaaaaar too long. And really, the main reason is the simple fact that I'm lazy and haven't been editing like I should.
But... That's not the only reason.
Work's been really rough for the last month, and Nic and I have been steadily working on The Clone Cast (which is doing VERY well, btw!).

With that said, I'm hoping to have the 5th episode (which is 3/4 done) up by sometime this weekend. Then, if you have any more late episodes, you can blame it on Nic since he'll be editing the next 4 eps! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

-Josh