Diablo III: The Devil is in the Details

After the six day splash image and the forums and fan-dedicated websites ablaze with gossip, Blizzard delivered the news many of us have been waiting years to hear, Diablo 3 is the next game announced on Blizzard’s impressive roster. But this press announcement, unlike the Starcraft 2 announcement, was met with a feast of cinematic and gameplay trailers, classes, concept art, and lore.

The cinematic teaser trailer is a treat, while it only spans a little over two minutes, I’m sure gamers have watched it dozens of times already (I know I have). The teaser visits many familiar and new locales and introduces the narrator (potentially the woman called Leah the Barbarian says is looking after Deckard Cain in the game play video), and after introducing the Lord of Terror (reminiscent of the Balrog from LotR) and she utters a perfect finish after gasping to catch her breath, “I don’t think it’s safe here.”

The gameplay trailer provides a lot of the meat and potatoes of the website content as it spans over twenty minutes of action and design discourse. The first things gamers notice are the lush visuals and the physics governing the movement of and interaction with – the characters, environment, objects, and monsters – granted by a new physics engine named Havoc. This physics engine allows for more defined and sleek character movement, destructible environments (with purpose), new traps and obstacles that require quick thinking and monsters that will come for you even from the ceiling or below.

Along with the physics engine the Blizzard narrator showcases a few new features that will make the game more challenging and rewarding. The artificial intelligence of monsters have been reworked as they team up to overwhelm or adopt team tactics to extol defensive or offensive bonuses (Berserkers blocking for cultists so they can summon demon spawn, shield skeletons supporting skeletal archers, etc.). One of the best new features is the now ultra-fast skill adjustment that will allow the player to execute any of their moves only using the mouse.

So now that we’ve salivated at the new technical features what’s new about the story? Twenty years have passed since the defeat of the Lord of Destruction, Hatred, and Terror, and the toll has been taken on the bodies, memories and souls of those who have fought the Prime Evils. While Deckard Cain researches the new resurgence of evil he returns to the cathedral in Tristram, an ominous comet (Diablo?) strikes the ground in the same location where the Lord of Terror entered the world so long ago. This omen acts as a beacon, calling the heroes of sanctuary to do battle once again, defending the mortal world against the Burning Hells – and even the fallen celestials of Heaven.

And we’ll have a number of new adventurers to defend Sanctuary with. Two of them showcased were the Barbarian and the Witch Doctor.

The Barbarian returns as an old favorite, (now looking more seasoned than its D2 counterpart) looking more powerful than ever, he commands unencumbered navigation and dispatches enemies with an animalistic ferocity. The marriage between the motion of his movements and the audio creates an experience that when he swings an ax at a ghoul he really smashed it. His skills have received an immense overhaul.

The Witch Doctor is a new addition to the game, the class appears like a merger between the Necromancer and Sorceress of D2, but whether he’ll replace those classes to give headway to some new ones has yet to be seen. The Witch Doctor really plays a lot like the Necromancer from D2, but with enough flavor to distinguish him from the two. He uses spell casting on a massive scale and excels at controlling and defeating clusters of monsters with area of effect, crowd control, elemental based spells and pets.

Blizzard also promises ‘wicked enhancements’ to Battlenet, so connecting with other players will be easier and cooperative play will be deeper and more satisfying (Keep the cheaters out Blizzard, I’m begging you!).

While all of this information makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside, it leaves so many questions unanswered. Was Tyrael in league with the Prime Evils during the happenings of D2, and has his destruction of the Worldstone ushered a free ticket to Sanctuary for the Heaven and Hells alike? If the soulstones of the Prime Evils were destroyed at the hell-forge in D2, will we be facing Diablo and his brothers again (or the other 4 of the 7 Prime Evils)?

We might be waiting a long time to get these answers as crowds hounding Blizzard employees and executives for a release date were answered, “It’ll be released when it’s done.” I can take solace in an answer that promises the best Diablo ever.