Your numbers are irrelevant. My PC is shaped like the TARDIS, thus clearly superior.
Now, in the past whenever I've gotten a new PC, upgraded, re-installed or otherwise fiddled with it there have always been 2 things that I'd immediately do: Install Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds and Diablo 2. However this time was different. One of the things I'd been noting over the last year or so was the remarkable number of really rather awesome looking games in the Diablo mould being quietly developed by various studios. Games that were steadily rendering the notion of ever having to resort to buying Diablo 3 even more irrelevant than Torchlight had already. Grim Dawn looked pretty cool, but was not yet easily accessible. However there was one other that I'd seen some interesting things about that had piqued my interest. And thus I resolved to give Path Of Exile a quick whirl just to test out the new machine.
Normally when I end up writing about a game it's to bemoan a variety of baffling flaws that make no sense to me. Because, let's face it, there's an awful lot of problems for an anal retentive no-life like me to incessantly nit-pick in even the most popular titles. But it's not often that I find a game where I look over the systems and mechanics and think "Hold on.... This is really interesting."
Path Of Exile is a REALLY interesting game.
In broad strokes it's a Diablo type game. I'm not sure if we've ever really settled on a firm terminology for this genre. Some may use Action RPG, but that never really worked for me. Partly because the term can be applied to pretty much anything with a sword and levelling system that it isn't turn based, but mainly because there's not exactly much Roleplaying involved.
This is not character development, just for your information.
No, I've always gone with the term Loot-Em-Up. Because that's really what these games are about. Kill the bad guys and steal their shoes. Not that such games are bereft of story or world building of course. But such things are somewhat secondary to the actual gameplay. And indeed Path Of Exile has a pretty cool setting with all kinds of interesting little details, but it's undoubtedly the gameplay where it really shines.
Essentially I suppose you could say they've taken everything that was great about Diablo 2, turned it up way past 11, turned everything upsidedown (twice) and then sat down and really thought about how to make the game be really cool and interesting.
Perhaps the most obvious example of this is the passive skill tree. Although to just refer to this intimidating behemoth as a tree is something of an understatement. It's perhaps more accurate to call it a web.
Yeah. Like that.
This is an interconnected series of boosts to stats and other buffs such as extra damage, more minions, faster mana regen or stronger effects. And it's shared between all the different character types. They just start at different positions. So whilst the Marauder will start near a whole bunch of Strength and Weapon Buffs and the Witch will start near all the magic stuff there's nothing to stop you branching out in whatever direction you want. Every time you level up you get a point to spend to unlock a new node.
And yes, they have a searchable version on the website to let you plan things out.
But that's only half the equation. To make things even more interesting we have the system in place for Active Skills. There all take the form of gems that fit into coloured sockets on your equipment. You get some as quest rewards, and you can find them as loot. The gems themselves can level up along with your character becoming more powerful as long as you continue to meet the correct prerequisites. Adding to this though are the Support Gems, which when placed in a linked socket add new effects to the skills. So you can have a multi projectile Fireball or life draining melee strike. This all may sound a little complex, but what it really does is give the game remarkable depth. You're evaluating looted equipment not just for effects and stats, but also for socket configuration. After all, you may find something that's slightly weaker but will allow you to try a different combination of gems.
Adding to all that is the currency system. Because there is no gold in Path Of Exile. None at all.
Just let that sink in for a moment.
Rather the game has a series of small, stackable items it refers to as currency, but they all have their own effects. Scrolls Of Town Portal and Identify are considered as currency for example. But so are various orbs that improve items, add magical properties, re-roll sockets and links and generally change things around. Having the whole economy centred around items in this way really get's to the heart of what Loot-Em-Ups are all about. I.E. the loot. You can stockpile upgrade items to try and make something uber, or use them in trade to try and buy something. And if you find some new bit of equipment that's almost what you're looking for you can beef it up. It's all really fun.
Since there's no gold there's no need for cash sinks like potions. And the way they've done potions here is, again, really interesting and well thought out. You get potion bottles which hold so many charges. Using one takes some of those charges, and they recharge by killing stuff or going back to town. And best of all they can be enchanted just like any other item. So you can have a health potion bottle that also unfreezes you or grants extra speed or whatever. It works really well and cuts down on a lot of faffing with inventory.
It's worth mentioning as well that your stash is shared between characters. This is EXTREMELY useful in this sort of game, as you're pretty much always guaranteed to find something awesome for whatever character class you're not playing at the moment. The fact that the Active Skills are all items as well combines with this to really encourage you try out all the different character classes. After all, if you find something that would be cool for one then it's worth giving it a go. And even if you find you don't like that classes play style as much at the very least you'll have gotten a few skill gems out of it which might come in handy for another character later.
Also these systems are encouraging playing through into the harder difficulties. One of the problems I always had with Diablo 2 was that by the time I'd completed it on normal I'd kinda lost interest. I'd have pretty much seen everything that my character was able to do, and from then on it was just a case of doing it with slightly larger numbers involved. By putting the skills into gems and sockets like they have there's always something new that you can be doing and new ways to use your skills.
For example, my main character is a Witch, and I decided to focus on Summoning because, hey, that's what I do.
So when I first found a Spark gem I wasn't all that bothered. Then later on a I found Fork and Pierce support gems. And a shield in which I could link all three. Then it hit me: Spark creates 3 wandering shock damage projectiles. Pierce makes a projectile keep going after it hits an enemy. Fork makes a projectile split into 2 after it hits an enemy. So that all means each Spark will become 3 Sparks after it hits an enemy....
And then if I can find a 4 linked item to put them in along with a Mana Leech gem...
So yeah, you see how that works. It's hilarious in confined spaces.
Anyway, moving on...
I do have to say that I was somewhat hesitant at first to try out Path Of Exile, as it did have one rather large, disturbing cloud hanging over it. One that needs to be addressed. No, not the fact that it's still in Beta. The fact that it's a free to play online game.
We all know what that usually means. Low rent Korean WoW clones that haven't even been fully translated and "games" that consist primarily of paying out the cost of a new Xbox with 3 games every month in order to get anywhere. However, when I actually looked at the sort of thing they were offering here I was,for pretty much the first time ever, largely impressed.
Outside of expanded stash and character slots, everything for sale is purely cosmetic. And despite a few clearly overpriced items it's all largely very well done. The idea of alternate skill effects is staggeringly obvious when you think about it, but not something you see very often. Usually because the stores tend to concentrate on pay to win type stuff. But there's none of that here. And since nobodies trying to force you into buying stuff you're a lot more inclined to consider actually doing it. It saddens me somewhat that the idea of just making a game that's really fun to play and then selling a few cool add ons is so unique, but at least SOMEBODY is trying it.
As for the being online part, that's laregely unobtrusive. All the areas outside of town are instanced, so you don't need to worry about muppets. A couple of clicks to turn off the global chat and you'd never even know, assuming you don't get disconnected. Indeed, despite the game being in beta and everything that implies, the only real problem I have with it is that they're not selling a stand alone offline version. I know that's not their business model, and that part of the reason the games economy has been designed in the way it has is for a multiplayer trade environment. But I'm what you might call somewhat antisocial. So I really couldn't tell you much about that. Although it would be awesome if they could get a proper auction house service set up with full search features. I'm certainly not going to waste any time sitting in town spamming the trade chat when there's so much fun to be had in actually playing the game. But then, as I said, it's still in Beta, so I'm sure such things will come down the pipeline at some point.
So yeah. Whilst it might look a little intimidating at first glance the game is actually fairly straight foward and extremely fun once you get into it. Assuming you like a Loot-Em-Up anyway. Not sure if there's much I can do for you if not.
Well, aside from point out the gratuitous nudity.
At the end of Act 3 you enter the charnel house workshop of the villain, a place strewn with hundreds of naked bodies. I'd seen the promotional materials mention attention to detail in regards to the game a few times, so once I'd dealt with the boss I figured I'd zoom in and have a look at a few things. Know what I found?
WANGS. Full frontal male nudity. Ladies and gentlemen, I think Path Of Exile just won video games.
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