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In
case you missed it (although
with all the hullabaloo, we don‘t know how you could have),
Diablo III, one of the most anticipated games of 2012 has launched with
much fanfare. Gamers from around the world waited with baited breath
for the second they could log into the world of Sanctuary and hack and
slash their way through hordes of ravaging demons. Many of those gamers
came fresh from other Blizzard games, especially World of Warcraft.
If you are a WoW player and
find yourself wondering if you two should take up the banner of
Sanctuary and assist in the battle between Heaven and Hell, the answer
is most likely a resounding yes. However, there are a few things you
should take into consideration before you make the decision to fork out
60 big ones on this game. Read onward to see five things every WoW
player should know about Diablo III.
Five Things Every WoW Players
Need to Know for Diablo III
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Diablo III is NOT WoW 2012
Despite the fact that Diablo
III and World of Warcraft both share a parent company in Blizzard,
Diablo III is not and never will be World of Warcraft. While there are
some similarities, the universes of Diablo and WoW are totally
different animals. Where WoW is bright and beautiful, Diablo is dark
and gritty. The bad guys in Diablo are badder and the storyline is far
more sinister. Not to mention that in typical hack and slash style,
Diablo III is filled with blood and gore, something that is largely
glossed over inside WoW. So if you are looking for an updated version
of World of Warcraft in Diablo, this is probably not going ot be the
game for you.
width="245">The
universe of Diablo III is dark and not for the
faint of heart.
-
Diablo III is a Fledgling
Game
Even though Blizzard as a
company is tried and true and the latest Diablo is the third in the
franchise, it is still a brand new game. What this means is
don’t go into Diablo III expecting everything to run
smoothly. While Blizzard has become pretty adept at foreseeing
problems, they simply cannot prepare for everything. Things will go
wrong, servers will go down, and game play won’t be perfect
right away. There is no need to break out the nerd rage though, as
these things are part and parcel of taking on any newly released game
in the industry. If the game in a years time still has tons of annoying
problems, then we can get a little upset but as for now, Diablo III has
yet to have a chance to really spread its wings.
-
In Diablo III the Story is
Everything
In WoW, it is easy to find
yourself skipping quest text and moving through the game rather unaware
of the storyline surrounding you. Diablo III is totally the opposite.
Diablo III is entirely about the story. When you enter the world of
Sanctuary, you will find yourself enthralled with the story telling, so
much so that you will play not to advance in levels, but to find out
what happens next. As the story progresses you will find yourself
introduced to tons of characters both big and small that you will learn
to love and hate with a passion that most don’t experience
inside a game.
While it is entirely possible
to walk into Diablo III without playing any of the other games, or
understanding the storyline behind them you are doing yourself a great
disservice. If you want to play Diablo III, read up on the story of
Sanctuary thus far, and walk into the game understanding what is going
on in this war torn world. You won’t
regret it.
width="245">Being
a new game, the launch of Diablo III
hasen't been a totally smooth process.
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Diablo III is Not an MMO
MMOs or massively multiplayer
online games are games like World of Warcraft that can support hundreds
or thousands of players simultaneously playing together. WoW players
are familiar with this model as they experience it firsthand as they
encounter unlimited amounts of players on their servers throughout game
play. While there are literally millions of users playing Diablo III at
any given time, for the most part you will not be playing together.
That is not to say that multiplayer is not possible in Diablo III, it
just happens in a slightly different way.
Players will log onto
Battle.net and find that they will have the option to either join a
game or create their own. Each game is limited to four unique players
and when all players have left the game the game world will
“close”. This is vastly different from WoW, where
players can log in to a server and interact with thousands of different
players in a game world that is constantly open and evolving. This
difference in multiplayer style could either be a perk or a total
downer for any WoW player considering Diablo III.
-
Diablo III is
for the Casual Player
I’ve found that while
talking to many gamers considering the purchase of Diablo III, that
they are a bit intimidated by the game. They have this image of Diablo
being this set of games that is hardcore to the max and something that
the average player cannot simply pick up and play. While this may have
been somewhat true in the first two games in the serious, Diablo III
has been revamped and updated into a form that even a person brand new
to the gaming world could play with ease. The controls are simple, game
play is fast paced but not overwhelming, and the game basically moves
itself along so the player is never left wondering exactly what they
are supposed to do. The best part of Diablo III is that, while it can
be insanely hard, the game scales itself to the number of players
playing. This means that completing the game totally on your own is
entirely possible, which should be very appealing to the casual player.
What do you feel every WoW
player should know about Diablo III? Share your thoughts with us in the
comments section below!
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