Diablo III is currently under development by Blizzard!!
I was totally excited when I first read about the news on Gundamaniac. I'm a big fan of the Diablo series (along with WarCraft and StarCraft). Diablo I was actually the first PC game I played back in 1997, when my father bought the first computer for my family. Its expansion pack, Hellfire, Diablo II and the subsequent expansion pack, the Lord of Destruction were of course my favorite games for a certain period of time in the past as well.
The sequel of the series, Diablo III has finally being announced not long ago, and the official website is already showing two character classes, many conceptual artworks and scene shots. Even the game play demo is up. Looks really awesome to me so far. ^^
In Diablo III, the world called 'Sanctuary' is under the threat of the Burning Hell again. Although Diablo and his two Prime Evil brothers, Mephisto and Baal were defeated in Diablo II, they seem to be resurrected in Diablo III, as they continue to haunt the world two decades after the story of Diablo II. Heroes will be needed again to defend the mortal realm. Deckard Cain is still the bridge between the three games. The story mapped out on the official website seems to be following the entries from his journal.
Some of the conceptual artworks for the game:
Mordor's attack on Minas Tirith? XD
The combo of Diablo, WarCraft, Narnia and Lord of the Rings? ^^
As for the characters, two classes out of five have been announced so far: Barbarian and Witch Doctor. Barbarian shouldn't be new to Diablo fans, as he's the favorite player for many I believe. However, he's a bit different this time: older. ^^ Still looks very strong and vicious, some of his skills are the same as seen in Diablo II. The Witch Doctor's design seems to be quite similar to the Orcish unit of the same name and Shadow Hunter from WarCraft III.
A very interesting point about the characters is that player can actually choose the gender of the player class, meaning you can actually choose a female Barbarian or Witch Doctor. A huge difference from Diablo II, where the gender of the character is fixed. So for the five classes of player, you'll have to have 10 characters to see all the designs. I wonder if there's any difference between their skills.
A very Diablo II-styled intro to the character page on the official site ^^
Predator-styled Wrist Blades? ^^
A female Barbarian and the Witch Doctor.
Personally, I like range units. Rogue and Amazon are my picks in the previous two Diablos. Being quite familiar with these two female players, I wonder if there's going to be male equivalences for them in Diablo III XD
The game play is a major improvement as compared to Diablo II. In the past, the terrains were all flat, with occasional boulders, trees, cracks and other objects sticking out of them to add the level of details. But in Diablo III,you can clearly see higher and lower grounds, far more realistic rivers, and my favorite, awesome lighting. Not to mention the details of them all, like the leaves on the ground, steam rising from the river and even rainbow over them! O_O
Also, the gore is a lot more realistic as well. ^^; Plenty of blood-spilling action as Barbarian whacks through a bunch of Undeads. Not enough with blood splashing everywhere and bodies (and body parts) being tossed here and there, you can deliver attacks so powerful the enemies can go flying straight into the river, with splashes some more! XD Just watch the game play demo to see for yourself.
I don't think I'm going to rush through the tasks this time. I'll pause to admire the scenery XD
Cinematic teaser from Youtube. Follow this link to Youtube if you can't see anything.
Barbarian game play demo from Youtube. Follow this link to Youtube if you can't see anything.
Super awesome stuff is very, very awesome indeed. Can't wait for more updates. ^^
All images are from the official website.
