With Diablo 3 just around the corner, you might be looking for something to fill the void until it gets here, or to get you warmed up! The release of Diablo 1 back in 1996 marked the start of the "point-and-click action RPG" genre. This of course meant that a lot of other people would try to cash in like the highly successful Diablo 1 (which sold 2.5 million copies worldwide). These games are known as "Diablo clones".
Now this doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing, I mean you can never have enough of a good thing right?
I have compiled below a list of games like diablo 3 that you should try out if you love the Diablo series.
Torchlight (Runic Games)
Torchlight is a very fun game that manages to capture the Diablo feel very well. This is no surprise, as Runic Games is made up of people who worked on Fate, Diablo, Diablo 2, and Mythos. The game features cartoon like graphics that are reminiscent of WoW with a basic dungeon crawler system consisting of three classes (Destroyer, Alchemist, Vanquisher). You start the game with a pet/mule and each dungeon is also randomized to increase re playability. The skill system is pretty simple and also includes fishing.
The game received very good ratings from many of the big review companies and is a steal at it's price. Definitely check this one out. Note: Torchlight 2 is also coming out in 2012.
Titan Quest (Iron Lore Entertainment)
Another great one in our games like diablo 3 list, Titan Quest moved away from the usual fantasy concepts of such games and instead immerses the player in the mythology of ancient Greece, Asia, and Egypt. The game features a single player campaign that has great re playability with many difficulty levels and loot that you can acquire, and also has multiplayer for 2-6 players. A very nice feature that I loved while playing this game was it's ragdoll feature, which made monsters more realistic especially when they where killed. The game has one expansion called Immortal Throne which sends you to the underworld to kill Hades.
Titan Quest also has many user released mods that alter the difficulty or add loot to the game. If you want to get both the original game and the expansion, you can look into the gold edition which contains both at a great price.
Path of Exile (Grinding Gear Games)
This entry in our games like diablo 3 should interest many of you as it is both free to play and has the same atmosphere as the Diablo series. This game will feature the usual things you have come to expect from Diablo clones, such as randomly generated levels, randomly generated loot, with a very basic skill system consisting of only Strength, Dexterity and Intelligence. The game will have 6 character classes that you can play.
One feature of the game that is really deep is it's skill trees. All classes in this game can use any skill from any tree but will benefit more from using skills in their main tree. As for passive skills, there are over 750 to choose from!
Path of Exile will feature many different leagues (aka. realms or worlds in other games) such as:
- Hardcore - We all know this one, and as the name implies this is for hardcore players as death is permanent.
- Ironman - Check this out: No NPC vendors and no mana regen! This play mode is meant to encourage group play.
- Cut-throat - This mode allows players to "invade" other player's instances in order to kill them and steal their items.
- Attrition - A ticking time bomb play mode where the lower ranking players are eliminated at regular intervals.
- Paid League - User created play modes with their own rules, for a small fee.
The game is currently in closed beta and more information can be found on their official website.
Fate (WildTangent)
The last entry in our games like diablo 3 list, but definitely not the least. This game is not only a Diablo clone, but also very similar to Torchlight (as mentioned before, one of the developers for Torchlight worked on this game).
Fate has many similar features to Torchlight such as pet/dog pet, fishing for loot, cartoony graphics, etc. This game doesn't have character classes but instead lets the player create their own combination based on which skills they choose. The only drawback to this game is that it has no multiplayer but it more than makes up for it in content from it's three expansion packs.