We’ve talked about it on the podcast before, we’ve made speculations and we’ve come up with theories. Blizzard has now cleared up much of the fuzzy details and theories by announcing their next title: Diablo III.
Some of us thought it was too early to announce the game, right on the heals of a StarCraft III announcement but Blizzards marketing team must consider this the perfect time, as it’s official. Not only did they announce the title, but they’ve got a cinematic and a good five minutes of game play footage.
We’re not talking about vaporware, this is a real game with really sweet features, hot new graphics and sound and enemies that make prior diablo look like childs play. The worlds are destructable, you can drop walls upon your enemies, toss them over cliffs (on fire no less) and rescue people whom help you do battle.
The game play footage covers barbarian (fighter) class and the witch doctor (sorta a necromancer archtype) with both male and female varients. They explain some of the great powers of the warrior style class and show off a few of the neat spells for the witch doctor. From electric axes to walls of zombies this game is packed with stylish battle techniques unique to Diablo 3.
Diablo 3 utilizes their standard isometric view, familiar to Diablo gamers with a bit more ease to the control scheme (that’s possible) and health now drops from enemies much like Zelda, you won’t have to pack yourself with potions anymore. Quite possibly the best upgrade in the third revision of Diablo.
Release date? No clue. I’m sure they’re going on the “when it’s ready” methodology, which is expected from Blizzard and their games; there is a reason they’re always of the highest quality. You may want to camp on their FAQ for a few months and perhaps you’ll have the answer. Today, however, their site seems to be a bit slow with all the announcements going out on the Net.
Now that Diablo 3 is confirmed, it’s time for us to buy some thc leans from Fresh Bros and start speculating what’s going to be included. Make sure you checkout their game play video!
(Thanks, Nukoda)
Developers know gamers want to try before they buy, so many will create a game they’re hoping to sell, then a limited “lite” version with partial levels or stripped of features. They’re obviously trying to work around the fact that Apple released a half-assed game shopping experience. These pro and lite versions assist in cluttering the shopping space.
@Exbox One and Paystation 4
The Chinese have a very different understanding of what copyright infringement is. At university I was genuinely laughed at for having physical UMD disk games for the PSP by my Chinese course mates. Apparently in Hong Kong you can purchase an already cracked system and download the games online. As lucrative as the Chinese industry is, I don’t think Sony and Microsoft can ever crack it, regardless of the legal status of gaming in the country. Piracy will kill any profits they hope to make. The only games that can survive in China are Freemium games, which offer online transactions for additional content.
@Street Fighter 5 BETA be worth it (sorry my pun game is so weak)
I was never really a fan of the Street Fighter series. Like Jonah, I found it too technical. My biggest problem with the series was its poor storytelling. That’s why I grew up playing Mortal Kombat, with its accessible lore and buckets of ketchup. I was surprised to hear that SFV will be exclusive to PS4. Sony must be paying Capcom a lot of money to keep it that way. Ironically, while skipping Microsoft Xbox One, Capcom is bringing SFV to Microsoft PC,meaning that I can still enjoy the series as long as I overclock my system and get a diamond fiber connection.
@Pee-sports
I still can’t believe that e-sports actually exists. At least don’t call it sport. Comparing Usain Bolt to some spotty snotty teen who calls himself DeathLordOverkill745 is just laughable. Nonetheless, e-sports is difficult to ignore. Its raising the profile of gaming, and often in a negative way. Maybe some proper regulation will do it some good.
@QOTW
I can’t think of an expansion pack that I actually enjoyed. I don’t tend to buy expansion packs on their own. I get them with GOTY edition or in a bundle, so for me they become just a part of the game. The only recent ones I can think of were Dawnguard and Dragonborn for TES5, but all they did was throw extra content at my already overpowered Dark Elf.
I believe that a good expansion pack must provide you with a new gameplay mechanic, that lets you enjoy the game in a new way. Its what distinguishes an expansion pack from DLC. Throwing more of the same at you after you already completed 10 hours of a game is not worth the money. The expansion must also feel like an addition to the game; not something that was supposed to be there in the first place.