Diablo III at PAX 2009 Coverage

As per the former news announcement (see Blizzard Entertainment at PAX - Diablo 3 will be there too!), Blizzard was participating in the PAX convention in Seattle, Washington this early September. Guests were able to play a Diablo III demo, presumably the same as, or very similar to, the one available for play at the BlizzCon (see our extensive coverage: A Look at the BlizzCon 2009 Floor Plan., A Recap of Blizzard's 2009 Fansite Summit!, New HD Art!, [BlizzCon 09] Diablo III Heroes and Monsters panel recap!, BlizzCon's Saturday Diablo III Art Panel Coverage, BlizzCon: Saturday's Diablo III Q and A Coverage, Diablo 3 Players Discover "BlizzCon Artifact" In Game, Fansite Press Conference for Diablo 3 and WoW (Saturday), New Environment: The Borderlands, New Diablo 3 Character Class: The Monk!, and Photos From BlizzCon 2009!).

Most of what was reviewed probably comes as no new shock to most, since this is basically what we all saw from the BlizzCon, but Jordan Fehr at TheVideoGameBlog.com had a bit to say on the feeling of battle gameplay:

Quote from name="Jordan Fehr »
The first thing to notice as different is that the pace of the fighting is a bit slower than that of its predecessor. However, Diablo III responds in kind because everything has an extra weighty badass-ness to it. What I mean by that is that when you pull of a large skill, the ground or the screen might shake, and the audio gives you very satisfying feedback to go along with it. The result is that you really feel like you are fighting these deadly things off as they try to surround you.

He goes on to discuss two important things that were new or revisited in the Diablo franchise, checkpoints and reviving fallen comrades, two things which were mentioned passingly at the BlizzCon:

Quote from name="Jordan Fehr »
Two things that are very different that I noticed in the small demo were checkpoints, and reviving teamates. When I died in the demo, the game waited to see if a teammate was ready to revive me with a skill or potion and when no one did, I was resurrected at the last checkpoint which was close by.

This is obviously different from Diablo II, where, if a player died, he or she could not be revived on the spot by any skill or item (whether of him/herself or another player) and when defeated, would instantly return to the town of the act after pressing the ESC button, as opposed to the new system where after death, if you are not revived, you return, instead, to the last checkpoint passed in whatever area you are in.

He went on to mention some marked gameplay changes of this new system:

Quote from name="Jordan Fehr »
I had all my equipment and did not need to worry about whether I dropped a portal or had to walk to my body from town, I just got right back into the action.

And since that is a primary attribute of the Diablo franchise, instant-immersion and fast-paced gameplay, I would say that this change makes sense, rather than the needless and most often not fun process of running naked (or poorly geared) back to your dead body. It also increases cooperation among team mates when in a party. Whether or not any of you think this is a good or a bad change- well, that's what discussion is for!

Over at TopTenReviews.com, Dan Hope had this much to say in response to his personal game play experience with the Diablo III demo at PAX 2009:

Quote from name="Dan Hope" »
Fans will be delighted to know that the game looks and plays much like the first, obviously with better graphics, new foes and new classes. But the heart of the first Diablo games is still there and it all feels very familiar.

Further reassurance of what we heard from demo players at the BlizzCon aside in regards to its feeling similarity to its predecessors, he ended with a slight insight to the success of the previous games that we have not, as of yet, heard much of:

Quote from name="Dan Hope" »
Overall, the game looks fun and the mechanics have had a nice update and polish. But that won't be enough to make it a great game. The story is going to be the big selling point. If Blizzard can create an epic story and some compelling quests (and let's face it, we know they can), then Diablo III will be a supremely entertaining and memorable game.

Although I would never say that any of the storylines of the preceding games were in any way revolutionary or stunning, they were entertaining and interesting, and this is, at least, what I am hoping of in Diablo III. It might be, however, for the best if they leave as much of the storyline as possible (or, maybe even better yet, all of it) for until we actually play the game, ourselves, so that we all have the fun of experiencing each plot twist as the story unfolds.

Here is a gameplay video exclusive to the event, pretty much the same from the BlizzCon:




Maybe not the most thrilling coverage, since not much of anything new was shown at the PAX 2009, hopefully it will re-whet your appetite for Diablo III news as it unfolds.

And, to whomever may be celebrating it, a good Labor Day and Holiday to every one of our members :hammy:

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