Blizzard Presents Diablo III

[btarunr]

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today revealed Diablo III, the newest entry in its critically acclaimed action role-playing-game franchise. The announcement was made during the 2008 Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational at the Porte de Versailles Convention Centre in Paris, France. A cinematic trailer and an extended gameplay demonstration with commentary from the development team introduced the game to the thousands of players in attendance.

"We've wanted to expand on the epic story and gameplay elements of the Diablo universe for some time now," stated Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We know that players have also been long awaiting a return to the series, so we're very excited to be sharing this announcement with Blizzard gamers here in Paris and around the world today."

Diablo III will pick up the story twenty years after the events of Diablo II. Mephisto, Diablo, and Baal have been defeated, but the Worldstone, which once shielded the inhabitants of the world of Sanctuary from the forces of both the High Heavens and the Burning Hells, has been destroyed, and evil once again stirs in Tristram. Playing as a hero from one of five distinct character classes, players will acquire powerful items, spells, and abilities as they explore new and familiar areas of Sanctuary and battle hordes of demons to safeguard the world from the horrors that have arisen. The first two characters classes -- the barbarian and the witch doctor -- were shown as part of the announcement at the event today in Paris.

Diablo III will feature a custom 3D-graphics engine to render lush indoor and outdoor areas of Sanctuary with a high level of detail and vivid special effects. The game's physics-enhanced environments will be interactive and destructible, offering traps and obstacles that create added danger for players and monsters alike. These elements, along with a new quest system and random scripted events, will be integrated into the game's random-level generator, giving Diablo III the ultimate combination of dynamic gameplay and replayability. Cooperative and competitive play will be available online through an upgraded version of Blizzard Entertainment's renowned online gaming service, Battle.net.

Blizzard Entertainment is developing Diablo III for simultaneous release on the Windows and Macintosh PC platforms. Further information about the game, including details on the other character classes, major new features for the single-player and multiplayer components, system requirements, pricing, and availability, will be announced as development progresses.


Please visit its official website here.

Source: Blizzard

[btarunr]

Many thanks to DonInKansas for sending this in.

[DonInKansas]

The gameplay video presented looks flat out awesome. It looks like they tried to stay true to Diablo's addictive gameplay. I foresee millions of hours wasted worldwide.....

[Jizzler]

w00t! Where can I pre-order?

[Polarman]

Next question is WHEN?

[ChaoticBlankness]

This will be awesome as long as battlenet remains free, and LAN play must still be an option.

[Master_of_Time]

Well, as it seems to me, the game has been in development for some time now, judging from the gameplay footage. Nice graphics engine, gameplay looks a lot better then D2. to Blizz!

[Cold Storm]

Wow, and I thought Starcraft 2 looked good! I gotta get this one also! Man oh man!

[HTC]

Originally Posted by DonInKansas

The gameplay video presented looks flat out awesome. It looks like they tried to stay true to Diablo's addictive gameplay. I foresee millions of hours wasted worldwide.....

If they make this a non pay-to-play game, i'm sold.

[wickerman]

am I the only one let down by this? I was huge D2 player, almost obsessive over it, but this just looks like a wow-mod to be honest... D2 was dark and creepy, this looks way to bright and cartoony

I hope they dont skimp on the game play...and for shit sake they better not charge $20 a month to play

Dont get me wrong.. I am excited...but when I think diablo...i dont think bright and cartoony

[AsRock]

Originally Posted by wickerman

am I the only one let down by this? I was huge D2 player, almost obsessive over it, but this just looks like a wow-mod to be honest... D2 was dark and creepy, this looks way to bright and cartoony

I hope they dont skimp on the game play...and for shit sake they better not charge $20 a month to play

Dont get me wrong.. I am excited...but when I think diablo...i dont think bright and cartoony

D1 was best for dark and creepy i all ways thought. When D2 came out there was less blood and guts to be seen.

There sites a lil slow not not been able see much.

EDIT: Ahh it does not like Mozilla lol.. It looks pretty cool, looks kinda bland in places all though looks like it maybe a blast. but one thing i did not notice was openness kinda how NWN2 turned out one way one path linear, will see as i really hope not.

[Easy Rhino]

haha! anyone having problems connecting to their site?

[DonInKansas]

I didn't have any problems a little over 2 hours ago, but I figure everyone's waking up and hammering the site.

[btarunr]

Is my link alright? You can also reach that site at http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/

There might be heavy traffic ATM. Weekend + Blizzard game release = Interwebz fail.

[Cold Storm]

Originally Posted by HTC

If they make this a non pay-to-play game, i'm sold.

Well... I don't know what to say about that... Battle Net is free... Only WOW is the pay-to-play game... I just hope this game is what it shows! The demo for it was pretty sweet at the site!

[HTC]

Originally Posted by Cold Storm

Well... I don't know what to say about that... Battle Net is free... Only WOW is the pay-to-play game... I just hope this game is what it shows! The demo for it was pretty sweet at the site!

That's the way i see it too, but i don't really know ...

Any word on the resolutions available?

Maybe, if they make the original game in a couple of DVDs, we can have many more resolutions to pick. I mean: the graphics look sweet, from the gameplay video but, if the resolution doesn't increase accordingly, it all goes out the window, no?

[Xolair]

Visually the game's a bit too cartoonish indeed...

... but the rest, judging from the videos is absolutely fantastic. Sadly it appears to come for PC only, maybe it'll come to the consoles later but if not then I'll just get it for the PC. Hopefully my current system could take it in the future if so.

[Cold Storm]

Originally Posted by HTC

That's the way i see it too, but i don't really know ...

Any word on the resolutions available?

Maybe, if they make the original game in a couple of DVDs, we can have many more resolutions to pick. I mean: the graphics look sweet, from the gameplay video but, if the resolution doesn't increase accordingly, it all goes out the window, no?

Your right there. IF the game can't be played on a bigger screen... Then whats the point.. I understand that one!

[DonInKansas]

I can't imagine the game being in production this long and not accomodating higher resolutions.

[Ongaku]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!

The gameplay looks sweet It kinda looks like the graphics from Titan Quest, so maybe it won't be so computer hungry

[Nemesis881]

I think i just crapped a brick! Starcraft 2 AND diablo 3!!! I see within the next year or so, my life will be as wasted as it was when the starcraft 1 and d2 came out

[HTC]

Originally Posted by DonInKansas

I can't imagine the game being in production this long and not accomodating higher resolutions.

The highest resolution in DII is 800 by 600.

If they increase it to only ... say ... 1024 by 768, it will be a disapointment, IMHO.

[Cold Storm]

That is true, IT would be a total waste if to not think that it would accommodate higher res.

[Millenia]

Oh fuck yes.

[DonInKansas]

Originally Posted by HTC

The highest resolution in DII is 800 by 600.

If they increase it to only ... say ... 1024 by 768, it will be a disapointment, IMHO.

Diablo II was also released in 2000, with LoD reseased in 2001. That's a loooooong time ago, tech wise.