A week has passed since the BlizzCon event, and we have had a great coverage of news from the pre-alpha Diablo III, with the Wizard class revealed, together with skills and item mysteries revealed. Still, there has actually been coverage from other sites than Diii.net, and in all, it’s actually over a hundred links, from just the sites that we have found! Our massive Media Coverage has been updated, and this is a great place to find anything written, said or filmed about Diablo III so far!
All the links are sorted by dates, and colour coordinated to show what they are about. Here is the latest Diablo 3 news from a few days past, and you can find the rest either in the Media Coverage section, or after the jump! If you have found a link that is not on the Media Coverage page, please add it to the page, or send me an e-mail with the update (leord[AT]incgamers[dot]com).
The Dungeon Crawl that Rules them All by Jonathan Marx
September 24, 2008 - The announcement of the impending release of Diablo III marks the long-awaited return of a classic franchise. For those of you unfamiliar with the Diablo series, it almost single-handedly gave rise to the dungeon crawl/action RPG genre.
The game's combination of interesting, varied, and challenging enemies, random dungeons, gory visuals, unique heroes, loads of loot, a solid set of multiplayer features (almost unheard of at the time), and an interesting, overarching storyline made the Diablo games utterly addictive. In fact, I'm only mildly ashamed to admit that a good portion of my college career was spent around Tristram in Diablo and cooperatively over Battle.net in Diablo II. Nevertheless, they weren't perfect. Constant inventory management and a repetitive combat mechanic eventually made the games tiresome. Thankfully, Blizzard has had more than seven years to iron out the wrinkles and do more than just rehash a tired system and ailing genre.
Those of you pale-faced warriors who slogged through level upon level and quest upon quest in Diablo and Diablo II (and, of course, the Lord of Destruction expansion) don't need a story explanation. However, the rest of you missed out on a rather interesting world. The events in Diablo III occur some twenty years after those of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. Mephisto, Bhaal, and Diablo, the Lords of Hatred, Terror, and Destruction, also known as the Three Prime Evils were defeated by the heroes of the previous games with the help of the sage advice of Deckard Cain and the intervention of the Archangel Tyrael. However, Tyrael ended up destroying the Worldstone, which served as a shield for the mortals of Sanctuary from the immense power of both Heaven and the Hells. The destruction of this great artifact has left the people vulnerable to the resurgence of evil and the machinations of the Prime Evils.
To make matters worse, there are precious few mortals remaining that remember the absolute evil and terror that was wrought upon the lands by Diablo and his brothers. Those who do linger are considered old, insane doomsayers. As such, most consider the stories of Deckard Cain and the heroes of old to be little more than myth, legend, and exaggerated ramblings of demented minds. Needless to say, the return of evil to the world of Sanctuary will be swift, surprising, and terrible.
To help tell the more expansive story of Diablo 3, dialogue and voice acting will be increased and greatly improved. In the original games, dialogues played out much more like monologues. Players would advance the games' story through quests and errands and glean a bit more information by having NPCs talk at them rather than with them. This time around, PCs and NPCs will interact with each other through give and take conversations. This will allow for a PC's personality to be fleshed out much more readily. By greatly expanding the amount of voice acting devoted to them, players will learn all about their character's race, class, civilization, and individual motivations.
In addition to the greatly expanded sound features, the visuals have received a major overhaul. Unfortunately, the more vibrant art style has been a bone of contention for a very vocal minority that feels the mood of the Diablo series will not be appropriately portrayed. Nevertheless, the developers at Blizzard assure us that the visual direction of Diablo III is in fact true to the original. The devs even went so far as to point out that the first two art styles they began working with were thrown out because the extremely dark and brooding atmosphere they were creating was more a figment of their memories rather than what the previous games actually portrayed. Consequently, the folks at Blizzard, despite internet petitions from a few angry fans, have decided to go with a world full of vibrant colors that juxtapose nicely with the ominous environments. Blizzard promises that this art style both reinforces and refreshes the original look, while still maintaining the horror and terror of its predecessors.
Moreover, Blizzard has created an original, proprietary 3D and physics engine for Diablo III. Players can now hack through enemies and watch the parts fly, spurting with blood and detritus, while transitioning from move to move with fluid animation. Plus, environments are now largely destructible, which means players will be able to use their surroundings to slaughter the horde of enemies that await them.
Diablo III will still take advantage of the withdrawn, isometric camera established in the other games, in order to give players a better sense of scale and epic feel. In other words, players will have no control over the camera. Fortunately, the previous games never suffered from camera issues. As such, leaving the camera work in the hands of the CPU shouldn't be a problem.
Combat in Diablo III will be reminiscent of that found in its predecessors, but it will be tweaked just enough to make it far more interesting. The game will still be somewhat of a click-fest, as the controls will focus on the mouse. However, the various powerful skills you will acquire will be activated via a skill panel that is mapped to specific hot keys and even to the mouse wheel. That means the activation and use of abilities will be highly accessible and absolutely integral to the combat system. Interestingly enough, the devs have done away with the potion system that was a hallmark of the series. In other words, players will no longer need to load up on potions and pump the function keys to keep their character healthy in the face of impending doom. Now players will simply have to forge their way through levels and plunge themselves head on into battle, as health orbs are dropped by monsters after death, forcing players to seek out fights rather than avoiding them.
Currently, two of the five classes to be included in Diablo III have already been announced. Fans of the franchise will be happy to know that the barbarian class returns with all its might and duel-wielding glory. The barbarian will also maintain many of his better class skills, such as the leap and whirlwind abilities, with which to decimate foes. The witch doctor is a very distinct character from the barbarian, as they tend to stand a bit back from the fray and allow minions to do the dirty work. In fact, the witch doctor seems to be quite similar to the role the beloved necromancer played in Diablo II, but with a few added bonuses. Like the necromancer, witch doctors have summoning abilities but can also spread disease and plagues, as well as control the battlefield with mind-controlling powers.
All the classes will be able to be customized to allow for gender; however, that's about it. Fortunately, the sheer amount of random, rare, and epic loot drops should begin to distinguish your hero as you progress through the game. Graciously, the developers have not slacked in emphasizing loot collection. The loot feature alone should result in hours of replayability.
Furthermore, each class will have its own set of quests in addition to the standard storyline quests. That means players will be able to play the game several times with different characters and have a unique experience. Add to this the fact that the dungeons, monsters, and even scripted events (yes, different events will occur at well known points) will also be randomly generated, and we've got literally hundreds of hours of gameplay in front of us in the single-player campaign alone.
Outside of the single-player experience, players will also be able to play with each other cooperatively over Battle.net. Not much is known about multiplayer features yet, as Blizzard has kept those details under wraps. However, it appears that four players will likely be able to play co-op. Optimistically, there will also be PvP features too, but that's still just a hope and a prayer.
Diablo III should be a must-have title for both PC and Mac. The game will release for both computing platforms worldwide at a yet to be announced date. You see; the folks at Blizzard don't like to be tethered to an artificial street date that may lead to the hasty release of an unfinished game. However, expect Diablo III to launch around November of 2009, and expect it to be epic!
I don't think their estimated release date is that far off.
Sports Legends: Diablo III Preview & Interview
1UP: Diablo 3 Interview
X-Play All Access Preview: Diablo III
GamesRadar: Diablo III Hands-On
PlayTM Interview: Jay Wilson talks Diablo 3
10 things you DON'T want to see in Diablo III
Diablo 3 Dev Team Does Not Have all Classes and Act 1 Done
Bashiok Wanting : Diablo III Item Affixes & Modifier Brainstorm
Diablo 3 Website: Tyrael is Turning Evil ?
Diablo III - New screenshots
Bashiok: Checkpoints key to Diablo 3 Deathsystem
Diablo Movie Rumour
On the Drawing Board #7: The Barbarian’s Fury
The Unofficial Diablo III F.A.Q
New Diablo 3 Screens and Artwork
Diablo 3 Q&A in the latest BlizzCast 6
Diablo 3 Will Have Several Expansions
Blizzard: StarCraft 2 NOT shelved in favour of Diablo 3
Blizzard Music CD is Out
Talisman: possible key for stats customization?
Tom's Games: Diablo III Hands-On
Diablo III Barbarian & Wizard Interactive Talent Preview
The Best of Blizzard: Echoes of War Arrange Album Tracklist and Interview
GI.Biz Interview: Blizzard's Frank Pearce
Diablo 3 Hands-on Gameplay Report
Nice article summery.
BlizzCon 08: New Battle.Net Will Have Fees
Wired.com Hands On: Diablo III Simplifies Everything
D3 Lore Panel, "Necromancers Will Return in Diablo 3"
BlizzCon 08: New Diablo III Tunes, New Co-Composer Announced
BlizzCon 08: Closing Ceremonies Feature Comedy, Rock ‘n’ Roll, and Video Games Live
Blizzcon: Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 without Direct X 10
In Crafting ‘Diablo 3′ Class, Blizzard Risking Harry Potter Comparisons Instead Of ‘World of Warcraft’ Ones
BlizzCon 2008: In-depth Diablo 3 hands-on - VIDEO -
GamePro: Diablo III Preview
Diablo 3 Itemization and Stat Changes
GameTrailers: Five Diablo Panel Videos From BlizzCon 2008 - VIDEO -
UGO Blizzcon '08-Diablo III Hands-On
Bashiok on Lack of Attribute Spending
1UP: Diablo 3 Preview
Q&A: Blizzard's Executive Vice President of Game Design Rob Pardo
GI.Biz Interview: Blizzard Wizard
Eurogamer: Diablo III Hands-On
RPGamer: Diablo 3 Impressions
GameSpot: Diablo III Video Interview 5 - VIDEO -
GRTV: Diablo III Update W/ Gameplay - VIDEO -
Ten Ton Hammer: Diablo III Hands-On
Gametrailers.com - Diablo III - Blizzcon 2008: Panel: Skills Part 1 HD
Blizzcon 2008: Panel: Skills Part 2
Gametrailers.com - Diablo III - Blizzcon 2008: Panel: Skills Part 2 HD
Blizzcon 2008: Panel: Skills Part 3
Gametrailers.com - Diablo III - Blizzcon 2008: Panel: Skills Part 3 HD
BlizzCon 2008: Panel: Runes
Gametrailers.com - Diablo III - BlizzCon 2008: Panel: Runes HD
BlizzCon 2008: Panel: Death Effects
Gametrailers.com - Diablo III - BlizzCon 2008: Panel: Death Effects HD
Jay Wilson "You will love the next D3 character"
Live from Blizzcon! Rob Pardo Talks Diablo III!
2008 BlizzCon - Saturday Morning Gallery
Diii.net Ray Gresko and Leonard Boyarsky Video Interview
IGN Blizzcon 08: Rob Pardo on Diablo III
IGN BlizzCon 2008: Diablo III Hands-On
GotGame: At BlizzCon Hands on With the Diablo III Witch Doctor Class
Hands On With Diablo III: Everything Old Is New Again
Gamespy:Hands-on with Diablo III's Witch Doctor
Warcry:Blizzcon 08: Diablo III Hands-On
Gamespot BlizzCon 2008: Diablo III Updated Hands-On
2008 BlizzCon - Diablo III Gameplay Impressions
The escapist Blizzcon 08: Hands On - Diablo III
Click on the big pics for the video about the skill.
Diablo 3: The Wizard's Talent Trees Unveiled
Diablo III Gameplay Q&A with Jay Wilson
Diablo III - Wizard and Barbarian Gameplay
Diablo 3 Gameplay Panel
Class Design panel at Blizzcon - VIDEO -
Rumoured Battle.net 2.0 Additions (added 04/10/2008)
AusGamers: Diablo 3 Jay Wilson Interview
No Guns, No Spellbooks, No DX10
New Death Mechanic and Town Portal
I don't think their estimated release date is that far off.