I'll throw in my 2 cents here:
I got my hands on a copy of the retail package yesterday and spent a few hours with it. I played a Summoner in the beta (I'm a sucker for pets!) and had a pretty good time with it. But for the retail, I decided to start a new class that I had not touched in the beta but was interested in--The Marksmen.
I wanted to play through the game in a first person perspective (since that's my favorite genre) and also wanted to check out the skill tree this class had to offer.
First, I want to add that I think the skill tree in HG, in a post Titan Quest era, is a little bit of a let down. I really liked where TQ went with their hybrid class/skill system and found it really interesting. It was actually kind of a refreshing spin on how a skill trees can work. So, going in to HG and seeing that the skill trees have not changed much from D2; if at all, was a little disappointing. I figured by the time retail hit that there would be some kind of modification made there--but there wasnt. But, it does work as well as it should and it is fun crawling up the skill tree.
So, anyway, back to the game.
When I first started I went right in to the SP game (we didnt have access to this in the beta) it ran like crap on my new system (
http://playedpodcast.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1193763754) that runs Crysis really well. So, I was kind of shocked. But, I decided to log into the MP and check for patches and lo and behold--there were a lot.
Once everything was done DL and installing, I kicked the game off and there was deffinitly a performance improvement made as well as gameplay additions. My system specs are:
- ASUS P5K
- Q6600 OC @ 3Ghz/per core
- 2GB DDR2 800
- EVGA 8800GT 512MB
Game settings are:
- 1680x1050
- AA x2
- DX10
- All settings maxed except for AA x 2, no ansio, and shadows on medium.
The game looks good so far, but not amazing. Granted this is coming off of spending hours playing Crysis and MoH:Airborn (surprisingly, looks amazing on new hardware) the day before. Still, looking forward to seeing the later levels and art direction.
This game is really all about the loot. Loot, loot, loot! Tons and tons of it. Some of the first bosses you kill will drop (what seems like) a ton of stuff and it will have your internal dialog screaming, "OMFG I have to get all that colorful crap quick! I need I need!". I'm into it. I like this part about the game and playing SP on the MP servers is great because you get to see other people walking around with their cool stuff on.
I really do like the randomness of the levels. It does help break things up and keeps you guessing whats around the corner (although despite this, some levels do look strangely familiar).
I did have several server disconnects last night (I imagine if I played the SP game this wouldnt have been an issue), making me restart whatever level/dungeon all over again. It was a little bit frustrating but the randomness of the level generation did ease the pain and to be honest, I was kind of expecting some crashes at launch.
Overall, the game does have its technical issues but I think the potentiol is there. If you're into the whole loot thing, this game is for you. Give it a few months if you wish. I think in 3-4 months the game will be pretty solid.