Quote fromThat gameplay trailer absolutely oozed Diablo. Deckard Cain was spot on, the fluid animations were incredibly Diablo-esque, but obviously the game isn't going to directly look like D2 - it being a different game for a start, made by a different team and ramped up to 3D.
Even the old D2 art team couldn't make Hellgate look good in 3D.
While I can agree that several aspects of the trailer were very well done, I feel as though the atmosphere behind the game leaves something to be desired. The art director seems to be promoting the use of color to establish a mood, but I feel as though did not translate the appropriate atmosphere for a Diablo game.
One of the things that was established in the last two games was a very specific palette of coloration that conveyed a specific mood. You can even gather a series of images and examine the histogram and see quite clearly that the color profiles for the two games are very different. The reason why so many people are upset is that in their advances to use color as a tool, they've taken a complete departure from what was established in the previous games. It's almost like an emotion or feeling that doesn't associate with what was seen in the video. The problem here is that people feel completely detached from what they knew of the previous games and have to grow accustomed to whatever scheme Blizzard wants to use.
If this is the case, you must really wonder... what was so wrong about the original color scheme that warrants the change? I feel as though they should be able to take at heart, what really made Diablo look the way it did, and involve that along with new ideas and techniques for the artwork.
Blizzard has a fantastic art team, but they're not immune to making mistakes. What they've done with the lighting has much more room for improvement, and they CAN include more color into the game, but they have to do it intelligently. In some cases, I feel as they they've introduced an array of hues just for the sake of adding them. Everything is diffused and has lost it's punctuality, and the scenes generally lack visual conflict. It's not suiting to the type of game everyone knows to be as Diablo. For me, this isn't just about the game looking like WOW, I think that Blizzard can do better this time and develop a visual style that's more suitable for the type of game they're trying to develop.
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http://twitpic.com/6n0i9a
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