Diablo 3 Review - Reactions To The Official D3 Announcement

Within minutes of the official announcement, blogs and gaming portals alike were littered with information, screenshots and videos of the
announcement. After nine years of waiting and constant hassling, the fans had their trinity, albeit not what they expected. Indeed, the Diablo III announcement has been one of the most anticipated launches of a PC game yet and it was met with instant megabytes, and then
gigabytes, of blog and forum traffic.

However, the discussion was not what Blizzard may have expected. These posts weren't in awe of Blizzard but were instead complaints about the misguided art direction.

Fans are demanding Blizzard change Diablo's art direction to bring the game in line with the original Diablo games. They want the dark colours, a small light radius and, above all, no rainbows. Petitions to boycott the game have begun to receive tens of thousands of votes. But put those votes into perspective. Diablo II sold four million copies, over nine years ago, in a much smaller gaming market.

Do ten thousand or so votes constitute an art direction overhaul? Blizzard has stood strong on its decision to display Diablo III as a vibrant and much more colourful world than its predecessors. Regardless of what Blizzard decides, fans are ensuring their opinions are clear by making a mockery of Diablo's art direction, already editing several Blizzard screenshots to include pictures of unicorns, bunnies and Care Bears.

Art direction aside, the game features some fabulous new ideas which build on Diablo's already popular style of addicting gameplay and innovative design. Potion spamming is now a thing of the past. No longer will a character be able to load themselves up with endless potions and wade their way through the hordes of undead.

Instead, Diablo III has opted for a faster pace of gameplay, which means players will have to be more aware of their surroundings and act accordingly. The new health system relies on slain enemies dropping coloured (red, blue and purple) orbs. The orbs are collected by walking within their vicinity, regenerating a percentage of the player's health or mana.

Thanks to the new 3D engine (designed entirely by Blizzard), Diablo III is the first Diablo game to incorporate 3D graphics. Screenshots are already depicting bosses six or seven times bigger than the player, making for some hopefully challenging and epic boss
battles (not to mention visually satisfying). The new engine also allows for some stunning skill effects; killing enemies has never looked so good (or gory). 3D isn't the only engine update Diablo III will feature.

With the recent advances in PhsyX, realistic game physics and interactive environments are now possible and Diablo III takes full advantage of this."We want players to be able to interact." Diablo III will allow players to topple walls on enemies (or your friends, for some fun TKing). Most Diablo fans cringe at the sound of TKing, but don't fret! Unlike previous Diablo games where TKing was incredibly common and often annoying (not to mention satisfying for the TKer).

Diablo III has taken a page from Left 4 Dead's recent success, integrating more co-operative play into its design, rather than the PvP emphasis of previous Diablo installments.

Diablo III also features numerous other gameplay improvements, including customised equipment for every class, allowing Diablo III's characters to be unique and easily identifiable, a big change from Diablo II which featured standard (and often boring) equipment for every class. The inventory system has also received a massive overhaul, being tweaked graphically and now providing a fixed inventory size. Each inventory space can now hold one item. The days of inventory micro management are gone, definitely something to rejoice
about.

Previous character classes have so far been scrapped. The only character returning to the line up is the Barbarian, most likely chosen for his simplicity (giving new players a great starting character) and storyline adaption. So far only one other character has been
announced, the Witch Doctor, a tribal sorcerer who uses the powers of nature to dispatch his (or her) enemies.

Will our beloved Necromancer return? Will we see another Secret Cow Level? Blizzard has so far refused to comment. One thing is for sure, hell is indeed amassing their armies for a strike against the mortal plane. Sanctuary needs a new hero, a hero with the courage to not only slay the spawns of evil but also daring enough to face all the colours of the rainbow.