The ice sheath splash has finally melted, it's now official, and while I'm not exactly barreled over by the announcement because I've always felt a trifle conflicted about the merits of the Diablo series, I'm definitely intrigued.
What I (and plenty of others) speculated might happen came to pass at approximately 12:18 p.m. on June 28th at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Paris, France, where Blizzard finally confirmed that yes, Diablo 3 is in the works, eight prolonged years after Diablo 2, and over a decade after the original gave oceans of relentless finger-tappers a conduit for their compulsion.
Don't believe me? Peep the the Blizzard homepage Flash splash (if you can get it to come up once folks on this side of the pond start to rise and shine).
What else do we know so far? Not much, but Blizzard says it's going to be the biggest Diablo yet, that it's going to retain the series focus on cooperative play, and that it'll feature the return of Deckard Cain (the old dude from the last two who crooned "Stay a while, and listen!" when you clicked him). You'll also get a new class called the Witch Doctor who'll have access to jungle magic and be able to summon animals and insects, inflict diseases, and mind-control enemies.
As the game is now finally fully 3D, you'll be able to zoom in or out on the fly. The interface has been unsurprisingly tweaked with onscreen hotbars for skills as well as the option to swap between them quickly with the tab key or your mousewheel. Instead of quaffing potions like Professor Snape on a bender, you'll roll over red orbs to replenish your health. Environments can be pretty thoroughly pulverized, as well as utilized to effect the destruction of enemies. Certain enemies will be considerably larger, finally filling the screen like proper boss monsters. Armor now relates to class and renders uniquely depending on the character wearing it. And girls, you'll finally have the option to pick female versions of character classes, including the Barbarian and Witch Doctor.
Check out the new official page which has slightly more info, and some of the official story details and features below:
Two decades have passed since the demonic denizens, Diablo, Mephisto, and Baal, wandered the world of Sanctuary in a vicious rampage to shackle humanity into unholy slavery. Yet for those who battled the Prime Evils directly, the memory fades slowly and the wounds of the soul still burn.
When Deckard Cain returns to the ruins of Tristram's Cathedral seeking clues to new stirrings of evil, a comet from the heavens strikes the very ground where Diablo once entered the world. The comet carries a dark omen in its fiery being and it calls the heroes of Sanctuary to defend the mortal world against the rising powers of the Burning Hells--and even the failing luminaries of the High Heavens itself.
- Explore a fully-realized Sanctuary--the living, breathing gothic fantasy world of Diablo III rendered in gorgeous 3D.
- Battle the unholy forces of the Burning Hells with all-new character classes like the otherworldly Witch Doctor, or with re-imagined warriors from Diablo's past: such as the fierce Barbarian.
- Rain Hell on your enemies wielding the interactive environment as a weapon: lay cunning traps, turn destructible objects against your foes, and use environmental obstacles to your advantage--all powered by the Havoc physics system.
- Experience the intensity of multiplayer Diablo III over an all-new, wickedly-enhanced Battle.net platform with numerous enhancements to make connecting with your friends easier--and cooperative gameplay more fun.
And finally, a few screenshots culled from the 30 or so Blizzard just posted:
Matt,
Maybe it's just me but the last Diablo was almost a decade ago... and they just announced this one. II watched both teaser and in play trailers. I was pretty surprised at how much better it is. I get the feeling that you 'just' expected this so you weren't 'surprised' or 'barreled over' or maybe you're just an arse and trying to be cool, thats really my guess. If the game comes out like the aforementioned in play trailer it should prove to be pretty cool.
The trailers don't convey much of anything about the new gameplay mechanics, so I don't see your point, bryhawks.
I said 'conflicted' at the outset and meant it only in the sense that I couldn't stop playing Diablo and Diablo 2 (read: compliment) despite the fact that I despised the basic mechanic, i.e. cut the grass, haul it back, level up, cut some more grass, etc. For the record, I enjoyed Titan Quest a good deal more, but then I never got into Diablo's multiplayer modes, and I know that's where something like 110% percent of the fanbase luv is.
They don't convey anything to you? No offense, but when was the last time you had your eyes checked?
To me it looks like they did a total overhaul on how you interact with the environment and the major gimps in D2's ui. From being able to use the environment to help destroy your enemies, to having a full 3D view, it's all a major improvement. I for one am very excited to see what blizz has for us in full from D3.
Yeah, like I said (and you're confirming) the videos don't tell us much, other than proving Blizzard's caught up to the 21st century with hack-and-slash in full 3D and modestly destructible environments (like everyone else has had for the last half decade or so).
Gauge D3 by an eight year old relic like D2, ignore Titan Quest and Dungeon Siege and Divine Divinity, and those videos look astonishing. Which is precisely why you shouldn't.
I'll curb my enthusiasm until I've played it. But I'm definitely intrigued. After all, Blizzard's almost certainly keeping the biggest changes/improvements under wraps.
I think that this is going to be the second stage to Blizzard's downfall. First, they wait 10 years to capitalize on StarCraft. Then they wait 8 years for the sequel to Diablo II. It must have really hurt them to have a bunch of people go to Flagship Studios.
Diablo 3 looks like it was poorly done. It's as if the company wants to capitalize on their name and put out crappy products. StarCraft 2 doesn't look much better than what this so-called Blizzard title.
Why change something if it's not broken. Diablo 2 was a great game that didn't need any changes. To overhaul this series and make a 3D based Diablo was idiotic. I guarentee that this game and SC2 will cost Blizzard their fanbases.
So sad, so sad. RIP Diablo
Pathetic
This announcement works like viagra. Unfortunately, having had experience with Blizzard, I think it's safe to say that the eight years of waiting was just a precursor to another good, long wait.
Shade, that's simply ridiculous.
As for D3 it looks like fun, I'll be getting a copy when it comes out.
having played Bungie's Myth The Fallen Lords and Myth II: Soulblighter, i am intrigued that Diablo 3 is using the same plot device as a comet, as was seen in Bungie's aforementioned games.
I am a big fan of D2, and am an active online player on the US West server. I am thrilled that Diablo 3 has been announced, it looks great, sounds fantastic, and i do hope they keep the depth that D2 enjoys. By this i mean the crafting aspects of the game, rerolling ilvl99 gcs and scs (if you play D2 online you will understand these terms), and rune words.
I am interested in how Blizzard will attempt to prevent dupes and hacks though.
Their claim that they do attempt to patch dupe methods seems to ring hollow, as anyone who has made a Last Wish phase blade may agree with. 3 x Jah runes,Ber, Mal and Sur runes. The odds of those dropping legitimately ingame are collosal.
I hope D3 brings some new features beyond the game play, choosing male/female variants of characters is an interesting start...
@Shade
"Then they wait 8 years for the sequel to Diablo II."
---yea this game called World of Warcraft was made and HIT HARD! i don't blame them for putting all their resources to it. i'm happy they finally are going back to diablo2 to finish off the series and give us a great finish.
"Diablo 3 looks like it was poorly done. It's as if the company wants to capitalize on their name and put out crappy products."
----your on drugs right? lol the game just started to be developed and not only that, but have you seen the friggen upgrade from d2 to d3? ITS AMAZING!! you spoiled little 10 yr old.
"Why change something if it's not broken. Diablo 2 was a great game that didn't need any changes.To overhaul this series and make a 3D based Diablo was idiotic. I guarentee that this game and SC2 will cost Blizzard their fanbases."
---it wasn't broken and they arent changing anything. gameplay will be the same, same idea behind collecting items, defeating enemies, only diff GFX got updated
What I really liked out of the gameplay trailer was that it looks like they're going to make each class much more balanced. Those of you who played Diablo 2 know that there were only a handfull of classes/specs that were considered effective in farming or dueling. I liked what I saw from the new and improved barbarian, it seems like Blizzard is trying to allow the player to make use of a much larger array of spells, opposed to spamming fireballs, hammers or bone spirits.
Very nice.. Hope they gonna do something with that lightning settings.. Found a interview about Jay Wilson at the Games Convention, he is going to make alot of restrictions at http://www.diablo3x.com