14 DAY TRIAL // Blizzard may have broken our hearts when it announced that it wouldn't release Diablo III any time this year, but the recently released update for the monk class tries to make amends. The update features a deep look into the nature of the monk, offering a few details on his nature, the person behind the humble clothes. Blizzard has made this update as a short story, telling the encounter of one Abd al-Hazir with one of the warrior priests, as they share a few words and the scholar even witnesses the holly man in combat.
"I had heard countless fantastic stories about the monks, tales that were surely the beneficiary of significant embellishment. The monks’ skin, the accounts said, was as hard as iron, impenetrable by the blade of any sword or by the point of any arrow, and their fists could break stone as easily as you or I would snap a twig," Abd al-Hazir says. The story continues as an ordinary bar brawl turns into a brutal display of power, and the monk becomes a demonic destroyer.
"The monk was a fluid mass of restrained energy, meeting every attack with hardly a moment's distress." And the tale continues to portray an almost vulgar display of power, as, "The monk was laughing as he fought." But a monk would in no way engage in a simple bar fight, nor would he be an attractive-enough target for a band of thieves, so the fight quickly reveals its hidden truth.
One of the attackers proves to be a demon, but not even he has the strength to stand against the monk, or even hurt him for that matter. "The monk grabbed the demon by the neck, grinning as he pulled his free arm back, crackling energy glowing on his open hand. He shoved his palm forward, and when it struck the demon, its body exploded: muscle, skin and bones tore apart, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air."
The update also features a cinematic trailer, but it's really not what we've come to expect from Blizzard, and it most definitely doesn't live up to the cinematic heritage of Diablo II. The trailer is made with the game's engine, and while the monk's face is pretty well detailed, the rest of the characters and objects in the world look like they've been put together using the same technology as the one employed in World of Warcraft. The cinematic-act trailers of Diablo II, a game that Blizzard launched ten years ago, would put this one to shame. If you want to read the full story, which you really should do, you can find it on the official update page, while the trailer can be viewed here.