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Screen Test: Diablo III

Posted by Cole Stryker

I came home from a weekend holiday to find a buttload of Diablo III info had been released.

Apparently some Blizzard fans are nonplussed, concerned that the series's art direction has taken a turn for the cartoonish. This online petition, which looks like it was composed by someone with a tenuous grip on written English, has gained some traction (nearly 5K signatures as of this writing!). Is Blizzard aiming for WoW's widespread appeal by toning down Diablo's gothier design or does someone need to call a whaaaambulance? Whatever the case, this petition is sure to go nowhere, as Diablo III has been in development for four years now. Making these changes would surely require a massive design overhall. 

Some of the screenshots are darker...

 

than others.

 

But dude has a point. Even the darker imagery is still glowing, colorful, and crisp. Not exactly creepy. I have a distinct memory of being so filled with dread upon entering some sort of spider-filled crypt in Diablo II that I actually had to leave for a while to build up the courage to venture in. Hard to say from a screenshot, but I'm not getting the same vibe here. 

I'm just thrilled that they chose to stick with a top-down perspective, unlike just about every other current-gen RPG. I will admit, though, Diablo definitely set itself apart with its chilling, demonic vibe. I'm seeing a lot of fantasy here, and not a whole lot of hellish imagery that would, say, provoke my fundamentalist mom to literally burn the game out in our backyard's fire pit. I learned how to play unapproved PC games in a window after that little incident. 

Seriously though, where the bloody pentagrams and torches made from disembodied limbs at?


+ DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT

Comments

AbsolutelyNot said:

I agree with you about the current screenshots, but I going to have to go with Not Enough Information.

We haven't seen very much of the game and it might be that the start isn't as gruesome as the rest. Of course, at the beginning of D2, you loot rogue corpses and there doesn't seem to be anything like that so far.

Just to be clear, I do hope that it does become as dark as the previous two, the nature of the game is to be as realistic about what demons do to npcs as possible.

It might be that the hero(s) have started their quest earlier than previous games, because of the meteor. Hopefully there will be a level to match the Palace Cellar.

Something that worried me more than the graphics is that the characters are getting real voice acting. Did anyone notice when the barbarian was talking to Deckard Cain, the barb was actually talking? I think that if they don't get the personalities just right, it will greatly affect the tone. Mostly because Blizzard had perfected the Mute Protagonist in the previous games. Giving the chars voices means that if they don't act like they are killing thousands of demons then the game will lose so much of its atmosphere. If they can get them to go through the same thing that the Dark Wanderer did, that would be the most realistic to me.

Boring post, sorry.

July 1, 2008 9:03 PM

xntricpunk said:

i didn't find anything about the trailers disappointing in the least. the people who are whining just like to have something to bitch about. like AbsolutelyNot said- there's just not enough information at this point to judge the game effectively. my only complaint (and i realize i'm picking nits here) is that i'm not a huge fan of the 'life orb' system replacing a potion system. that being said i will still play the hell out of this game and cannot wait for it to release.

July 1, 2008 9:57 PM

Demaar said:

It does feel more like "generic fantasy" than "DIABLO!", not that I really mind. I mean, worst case scenario it just won't feel like Diablo, but assuming Blizzard still know what the hell they're doing (I haven't played a new game of theirs in years) it should still be a lot of fun.

July 1, 2008 11:06 PM

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about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Hooksexup, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia's prized possession is a certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.


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