Being a hero is hard work. You face off against the most evil thing the darkest, hottest, flame infested pits of hell can throw at you and you come back for more. Diablo, the Lord of Terror, has been imprisoned in a stone, stabbed, shot with ice orbs, set on fire, struck by lightning, beaten with a maul, cursed by a necromancer, and shanked by an assassin, and yet, like that demented goalie from Friday the 13th, he just keeps coming back.

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style="font-style: italic;">Diablo still has a legion of fans despite the long time between games.

I’ll be the first to say that I was pretty excited when I heard they were finally making a new sequel to Diablo, one of the games that really helped turn me into an online gaming addict, but how will this game stack up to its predecessors? If taking your time to get it right is in fact a good thing then Diablo 3 should be one heck of a ride, so let’s take a look at what this game has to offer.

There are many people who will say that a developer needs to take their time and get the game right. Well, Blizzard has certainly taken their time with Diablo 3 and it’s looking gamerlicious. I’m trade marking that. The first Diablo game launched in 1996 when online computer gaming was still in its infancy and Diablo 2 came just a short four years later. Diablo 3, however, has had a long break of close to ten years and fans are still foaming at the mouth in anticipation. That’s a sign of good game making if there ever was one. Three games over a span of 23 years and your player base is still reacting like meth addicts looking for a fix.

A Little History Lesson

The Prime Evils – You can’t have a good game without evil villains and they don’t come any more evil than these guys. The Prime Evils consist of three very evil brothers: Mephisto, the Lord of Hatred, Diablo, the Lord of Terror, and Baal, the Lord of Destruction. These were the main enemies of Diablo 2.

Mephisto – Mephisto is the eldest brother of the three Prime Evils. Considered very strategic and intelligent, Mephisto was once imprisoned beneath the Temple of Light in Kurast, but he managed to influence the priesthood of the Zakarum to free him. In Diablo 2, Mephisto’s Soulstone was destroyed in the Hellforge, banishing him from Sanctuary.

Diablo – Diablo is the youngest of the three Prime Evil brothers, but he is also considered the most powerful. He is the main antagonist of the first and second games. Diablo was once captured and imprisoned beneath the town of Tristram, but over time he was able to corrupt the Soulstone holding him and extend his evil over the land, possessing King Leoric of Tristram. At the end of the first game, the hero that reaches Diablo ends up being the vessel of his escape as Diablo corrupts his spirit, turning him into the Dark Wanderer.

Baal – Baal is the middle brother of the Prime Evils and he was once captured by the Horadrim in the desert beyond Lut Gholein. Unfortunately, the Soulstone that was to be used to imprison Baal was broken and the mage Tal Rasha volunteered to be a human extension of the stone to imprison Baal for all eternity. Tal Rasha was sealed in the tomb with Baal inside him. Baal would eventually prevail over Tal Rasha, but the Soulstone kept him from escaping until the Dark Wanderer came with a man named Marius who inadvertently released Baal. Later, Baal laid siege to Mount Arreat, where he managed to corrupt the Worldstone before his defeat.

 

Classes

Diablo 3 thus far seems to have a different breed of classes than its predecessor Diablo 2. New classes such as the wizard, monk, and witch doctor embody some similar properties from classes in the second game, but they also bring something new to the table. Returning to the series is my personal favorite, the barbarian. Keith Lee, Diablo 3's Lead Producer, also stated in an interview that there will be a 5th class.

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style="font-style: italic;">The monk may not be strong defensively, but with attacks like this who needs to be?

Monk – The monk looks to be a martial arts-style fighter using such attacks as Impenetrable Defense, which looks a lot like he’s playing baseball with enemy attacks, and Seven-Sided Strike, which technically could just be called the pimp slap from hell. The monk isn’t overly strong defensively, but he is agile and very deadly. This is David Carradine’s Kung Fu character Caine on steroids with magic.

Witch Doctor – The Witch Doctor seems to be loosely based off of the Voodoo arts. This class is capable of controlling the minds of its enemies, summoning disease to infect their foes, and even raise the dead when needed. The witch doctor in some ways reminds me of the necromancer from Diablo 2. The ability to summon multiple mongrel pets is similar to the old necromancers Summon Skeletal Minion skills, but the witch doctor can also summon a wall of zombies that looks much like the necromancer Bone Wall skill, but with swords. The witch doctor also possesses the ability to confuse his enemies or scare them into running away, making him a valuable class for both damage and crowd control.



Wizard – The wizard can probably be best compared to the sorceress in Diablo 2 as it embodies some of the same types of skills like Teleport, but it also has some new stuff that will leave many enemies a smoldering pile of sizzling ash. Veteran gamers might remember another classic skill, Magic Missile. These crazy arcane wielders aren’t the most durable, but they can pack a nasty punch and even slow time in a given area, making them not only a valuable as an untamed instrument of destruction, but also a little crowd control.

Barbarian – The barbarian holds a special place in my gaming memories. The people and creatures I slew in PvE and PvP were some good times and It's good to see this class return. The barbarian is traditionally what we could refer to in MMOG terms as the tank. He is strong defensively and very adept at melee combat. The barbarian can cleave his enemies and send them flying with attacks like Seismic Slam, but most importantly, the Tasmanian Devil-style pwnage that is Whirlwind is back.

Gameplay

The gameplay in Diablo 3 looks to be similar in how it played in Diablo 2 with the classic overhead view of the action, but Blizzard has made a few other additions and improvements that should make things much more fun. Dungeons and quests will have a randomization element to them to try and eliminate linear gameplay and allow players to experience different kinds of content.

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style="font-style: italic;">Diablo 3 still uses the familiar overhead view.

The environment of Diablo 3 is much more interactive as you can destroy walls, furniture, and other objects that get in your way. You can even use this to take out enemies at times. Knocking a wall down on a troop of skeletons is not only a quick way to get rid of them, it’s pretty funny too.

Remember how we always had to stock up on potions before heading out into the world? We even looked for belts with more potion slots because some just didn’t hold enough. Enemies in Diablo 3 will drop health that you can grab instead of burning up a potion every few seconds.

One thing that drove many people nuts in the older Diablo games, me included, was the fact that you couldn’t select your gender for a class. Whatever that class was you were stuck with it. In Diablo 2 you could choose from a barbarian, necromancer, druid, or paladin, but all were male. Likewise, you could only play as the preselected female for the sorceress, assassin, and the amazon. Luckily, in Diablo 3, the developers have added the option to choose your gender for any class. The restriction that existed in the old games is no more. Rejoice!

Classes will once again have skill trees to choose from, but the developers are adding a few new juicy options to the mix. For example, Skill Runes drop randomly through the world and can be socketed to boost your skills much like the runes and gems in Diablo 2. Unlike the last game, the runes don’t lock once used, so you can change them out if you want, so experimenting with different combinations will be possible without losing all your runes. Using a Multistrike Rune to enhance a skill can turn a single blasting fireball into a rolling ball of fiery death.

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style="font-style: italic;">Unlike D2, Diablo 3 will allow you to select your gender.

One thing that drove me nuts in Diablo 2 and also probably played a part in my character alt addiction, was building up that character only to learn I had botched my build, forcing me to roll up a new character and try again. Luckily, in Diablo 3, a respec system is being designed to allow those oh so popular talent changes. On a sad note, the stat system is going to be automated, so you won’t be able to choose how to allocate your strength, intelligence, and so on.

The developers are also working on ways to make a fun economy where gold might actually be useful. You know, as opposed to “WTT 25 SoJs (Stone of Jordan) for Stormshield”! And according to game director Jay Wilson, most items in the game will remain tradeable and not bind on equip, except for some of the really good stuff from the high end game.

Loot is certainly one of the best part of the Diablo games and Diablo 3 will be offering up a lot of different shiny stuff. Jay Wilson explained in his Ten Ton Hammer interview that items will be randomly generated, but each will offer varying stats. A unique item may come up with different stats rather than just being static in design. Developers have also learned from the last game and are adjusting the way loot drops. Instead of having a mob pop and players go every man for himself, loot will drop on a per-player basis in Diablo 3. Each person will get their own drops and only they will be able to see them.

Diablo 3 will be played over Battle.net and while not a lot of information is available on how the new Battle.net 2.0 will function with Diablo 3, some things that have been mentioned in relation to Starcraft 2 that that could possibly be added to Diablo if they happen include downloadable content, a way to facilitate trades for players, ladders, and Battle.net will even have a way for players to play online from their work computer if they want without having to transfer any files. Way to cost half America their jobs Blizzard. One thing we do know for sure is that players will be able to come together on Battle.net and group up to kill some enemies or try to kill each other as online play is a big part of the Diablo franchise.

Diablo 3 will be a game of nostalgia and new experiences as the developers are adding more to the game with more involving scripted events and quests. While we haven’t gotten all the information on what’s in the game yet, it’s already shaping up to look like a lot of fun. At times it seems like this game will never get here, but let’s face it, it’s been almost ten years and people never stopped waiting for this game. What’s a little while longer?