14 DAY TRIAL // Diablo III is finally here and we can drop the excitement facade and put together all the facts we know about this game. I, for one, was really surprised to see them stick to the initial recipe, an isometric game focused on action and especially hack and slash. We will analyze it from three different perspectives: technical, gameplay and story.
Technical Blizzard Entertainment was a little shy in revealing the name of the engine or any other major details about its intricacies but we've managed to gather around some pieces from here and there. First of all, Diablo III will not require DirectX 10 to run, which means that anyone with a decent video card will be able to run it. There are no specifications on any other requirements but we have to keep in mind that it relies heavily on the HAVOK physics engine which in turn means two things: it's a software solution, therefore, it will drain down the power of the processor and, on the other hand, HAVOK has recently entered a partnership with ATI, so this could be an indication that Diablo III will probably perform better on ATI cards.
As far as we can see from the demo and the other released trailers, the camera appears to be fixed with a small zoom function. I certainly hope this will not be the case in the final version of the game because we will really need a full 3D working gameplay camera. The demo also featured full screen antialising and probably large textures. My personal impression is that it either relies on the Starcraft 2 engine or it actually is the Starcraft 2 engine. Either way, the game looks nice but not impressive. The reason is simple: Blizzard is trying to make the title as compatible as possible with older systems that couldn't run it otherwise.
Gameplay In this category, the producers made some substantial modifications to the original concept of the game by enlisting a couple of strategic modifications. The most important of all are the red orbs some enemies leave floating on the ground after being killed. They work pretty much like med-kits in a shooter, replenishing the life of your character as well as everyone's in the party. The lead designer, Jay Wilson even said that they were initially considering a Halo-like approach with regenerative health but they soon discovered that players wander in the middle of a fight to find cover and recuperate some life. In this new fashion, players can stay longer in the battlefield and sustain more damage than usual. I think we can safely assume that there will be some blue orbs as well.
The second feature is the quick access toolbar which had to be modified, primarily because of the new health system I've mentioned above. The potions are no longer a focus point for the player, so it's a lot more compact encompassing primarily skill to be used in battle. Other interesting stuff that we could observe was the effect of physics on the gameplay, players being able to use the environment to dispatch hordes of enemies, like a tumbling unstable wall or the awesomeness of the final bosses.
Related to gameplay, Jay Wilson also stated that there would be some profound changes to be made on the role playing elements. To be completely honest, the Diablo series can be portrayed in tons of ways but calling it a RPG is a stretch. Apparently, Blizzard is working to enhance this particular aspect and I certainly hope it does. People can only take so much blood and gore (not).
Another cool feature that's making a comeback is that nifty random dungeon generator they had in previous versions, only this time, I hope technology has evolved enough so that Blizzard will be able to provide an unlimited replay value and if they maintain the same amount of items, I'm sure we'll be hearing of Diablo III and its add-on for years to come. Still, this feature will have some limitations because of the scripted nature of the game (unless they found a way to randomly place scripted events like collapsing walls and bridges). And you can also kiss goodbye any kind of mods / map editor because it would be almost impossible due to the random nature of the levels.
Diablo III will feature only five classes and we already know two of them: Barbarian and The Witch Doctor. They refused to give any more details on other classes but I imagine there's going to be at least one new character. The Witch Doctor is a surprising appearance and many people have seen in him a kind of necromancer, being able to summon pets and diseases. Blizzard has been very careful to point out that he is NOT a replacement for necromancer but I find it hard to believe that we will have such closely related classes in the final version. Jay Wilson also let it slip that on Battle.net, there probably won't be parties greater than five, saying that more than five characters on the screen would prove to be too hectic; it's not a done deal but they are seriously thinking about it. Battle.net will also see some serious upgrades making life very hard for cheaters.
Story There isn't much that can be said about the story at this point except that it takes place 20 years after the last event. Players will be returning to Sanctuary and to some other known locations like Tristram. Diablo, Mephisto, and Baal have been defeated and the old heroes have all gone insane. New ones will have to rise and defend the land once more. A comet falls in Sanctuary (I would have moved by now) from High Heavens and stirs again the minions of evil. From what I can gather, this time the player will have to battle not only the forces of hell but also the fallen luminaries from Heaven. We don't really know what the exact meaning of luminaries is in this context but, apparently, they refer to the Sun and the Moon. Here is a quote from the Bible: "And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth. And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good." On the other hand, it may be referring to Lucifer (Satan before being cast out of Heaven), the Light-Bringer. We'll know for sure but I think that once again humanity will be in the middle of a conflict (or alliance) that will have us overpowered and decimated. It's time to kick their asses again as they quite simply don't learn that in a war between good and evil, the humans always win.