Diablo III is out May 15th. Buy it, it’s really good.

You want more than that? Fine: Here’s what I learned from playing the beta, which is Act I of the game. There won’t be very much in the way of story spoilers.

Back in February 2012, WoWInsider posted a Scattered Shots article entitled What to do in-game when there’s nothing left to do. Having felt bored with my usual World of Warcraft antics, I turned to the article in hopes of finding some idea that I had not considered. It was then that I learned of the existence of a guild on Icecrown-US comprising of nothing but Dwarf Hunters called the Warcraft Hunter’s Union. Brian Wood (a/k/a Frostheim) did a good job enticing readers to join because his description of the guild’s activities had me create my Dwarf Hunter that very same day. While my experience in the guild has been very positive, it was through the leveling of this new character that I became increasingly frustrated with the mechanics surrounding the dungeon finder.

In the past Blizzard has made changes to the default user-interface (UI) or added new features which had been previously part of popular addons. Most recently, it seems Mists of Pandaria will be incorporating the ideas seen in an addon called QuestHubber, which is a fantastic idea. It is very nice to see Blizzard taking ideas from the community and putting them into the retail game. In keeping with this idea, I would like to make two recommendations for features that should become part of the default UI. This is based entirely on my attempt to play my main, a Warlock, in the Mists of Pandaria beta where addons are currently disabled.

Action real-time strategy (ARTS) games are a dime a dozen these days. It’s quite easy—and valid—to say that all ARTS games are the same. Pick one of a gazillion heroes to play as. Escort your bots along lanes toward the enemy base. Push through the enemy bots and destroy their turrets. March into their base and destroy their core. If you’ve played one ARTS game, then you’ve pretty much played them all.

When you think of an ARTS game, what do you think of? I think of boring grind fests and sitting in one of the bot lanes for the entirety of the game. I think of an ongoing balancing nightmare by the developer in an attempt to add new content to appease the voracious appetite of the player base. I do not think of a game that is easy to pick up and play, nor a game that is fun to watch.

And then there’s Awesomenauts by Ronimo Games.

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations is the fourth installment in a popular series of third person sandbox-style games where players take control of an Assassin fighting an old enemy over ancient mysteries. Being a fan of the series from the very beginning, I was very excited to dive head-first into the experience. Join me as I take a critical eye to the game and explore what worked and what could have used a little more tweaking. There are spoilers within. I tried to keep them to a minimum, but you have been warned.