Diablo 3 Demo

Of all the game play videos of seen of titles in “development” this Diablo 3 demo looks as close to live as you’re going to get. The two game play videos below feature the first two diablo 3 classes to be announced, the barbarian and witch doctor. Both classes appear to be very advanced in their development and the world environement in general looks well executed.

Looking for more awesome media? Check out these new Diablo 3 Screenshots.

Diablo 3 Demo: Barbarian

Diablo 3 Demo: Witch Doctor

Diablo 3 Preview

So, if you hadn’t already heard, Diablo 3 is in the works, and by the looks of the most recent screenshots and videos things are moving pretty quickly. While we already known a great deal about the game, the biggest question…and most opened ended is still out there, what type of game is diablo 3 going to be like?

For starters, Diablo 3 is NOT an MMO. The game is being developed very similar in play style to the original Diablo 2. While it will have much more polishing, details, and complexity in character development, the simplicity of the game will still allow any type of player (casual or hardcore to enjoy it).

Diablo 3 will not have a monthly free. With the announcement of the game, Blizzard also revealed that the game will be on Blizzard’s legendary network, battle.net. This means the game will be entirely free to play, simply plug and play till your heart’s content.

And now, a few rapid fire comments on what we already know.

1. There will be 5 Diablo 3 Character Classes, 2 of which have already been announced, Witch Doctor and Barbarian.
2. Diabo 3 will retain it’s old random environments and map generation.
3. Players will be able to choose their classes gender, unlike Diablo 2 which forced a gender upon a class.
4. Old friends and foes alike will make an appearance in the game, Deckard Cain has already been announced.
5. While the new world is called “Sanctuary”, players will still venture back to old world locations like Tristam.
6. The game is structured in such a way that you could level up solo, or with a group of friends.

and the big one…when will diablo 3 be released?

Officially, Blizzard is saying nothing, but in my personal opinion (and the backing of multiple insider sources), the game should release sometime between Q2 and Q3 of 2009.

Diablo 3 Beta

While the Diablo 3 beta has yet to be officially announced a good friend of mine who works for the Blizzard entertainment has informed me that the first phases of beta should begin sometime quarter 4 of 2008, or at the very latest, the first of 2009.

This type of launch date for the beta is very reassuring, as it further reinforces the estimated diablo 3 release date of summer / fall of 2009. As in all Blizzard games the beta will go through a variety of phases. First, the family and friends of Blizzard beta (cross fingers that I get one!), second closed beta…now this is where timing on your part will be crucial if you’d like to get in.

Closed beta accounts will be given by invitation only. How do you get this closed beta invitation? Once blizzard finally announces the closed beta sign ups you may only have a week, or two at max to get your name and information sent to blizzard. In these applications make sure you extol your vast gaming experience, the fact that you are a player and do not represent any type of media organization (if you’re associated with another company or media outlet Blizzard will immediately deny your app).

As always make sure to stop back by on occasion, as soon as official announcements are made on beta sign ups I’ll have the full story on how to get yourself one.

Diablo 3 Trailer

Even though we’ve nearly reached the week point since Diablo 3 was officially announced I can still hardly believe it. From all of the videos and screenshots I’ve seen the game looks more a hell of a lot more polished than any other Blizzard upcoming release.

Either way, if you haven’t seen the official Diablo 3 cinematic trailer make sure you check it out. If this doesn’t pump you up then I don’t know what else will. Also, check out the newest Diablo 3 game play videos here.

Diablo 3 Character Video – Barbarian
Diablo 3 Character Video – Witch Doctor

Diablo 3 Video – Witch Doctor

This Diablo 3 game play video features the awesome power of Witch Doctor. The Witch Doctor is a brand new class to the daiblo series. He has a host of diseases, spells, and the ability to summon enemies both from the dead and from the ground.

In addition to showcasing some of the basics associated with the class this video also reveals our first look into party and grouping mechanics of the game. Towards the end of the video a group of 4 (2 barbarians and 2 wtich doctors) engages in a real battle…and I’ve got to say, it looks pretty bad ass.

I really hope this game comes out well ahead of schedule!

Note: Make sure you check out part 1 of this video, Diablo 3 Video – Barbarian (this video starts with a few seconds of Barbarian footage from the end of part one)

Diablo 3 Screenshots Gallery

After the recent announcement of Diablo 3, Blizzard has released loads of great information. Including awesome videos, class information breakdowns…and most importantly game play screenshots! This is the first batch of high resolution screen shots released, but I expect many more, both official and un-official shots to be pouring out as the game’s development progresses even more.

Check out these 29 awesome shots from closed alpha testing.

Diablo 3 Barbarian Video

Since Diablo 3 was official announced game play videos have been pouring in. This video features the completely revamped Barbarian class clearing through a dungeon. Overall the footage just looks amazing, if blizzard had said they were just a couple of weeks from releasing the game I would have believed them.

The video showcases many of the barbarian’s skills and attacks, as well as the destroyable environment, interactive aspects of environment, quests, NPC interaction, gear, use of skills, character movement, as well as a pretty good look at the Diablo III user interface.

More on the interface…while it looks similar to the interface in diablo 2 it’s clear there have been vast improvements in the fluidity and customization of the action bars. You can now seamlessly change what abilities are located in each hotkey, which is presumably bound to a desired key.

Diablo 3 Release Date

While no official release date has been announced yet for Diablo 3, there has been much speculation to a potential “ball park” figure on the launch date for the much anticipated title. Needless to say, it’s going to be a big year with as many releases as blizzard has planned for the near future.

A recent leak from Blizzard’s parent company, Vivendi revealed that the newest World of Warcraft expansion is due sometime in the fall of 2008. In addition, Starcraft II is also due out around Christmas.

So what does this tell us? Well, if anything it reveals a pattern of release timing. After the first announcement of each of these respective games their release dates were scheduled between 8 and 12 months later. I believe this same scenario should hold true for Diabo III.

This would put the game’s release date between March and July of 2009. A release date during this time fame allows Blizzard’s other title releases to soak up all the economic benefit to further bolster the companies revenues for the 2008 fiscal year. With no current releases or expansions scheduled for the 2009 year, it would be a pretty bleak stock outlook for the company to not release a game before Q2, or at the very latest Q3 of 2009.

Of course, all of this is just purely speculation, but with any luck we’ll here of a leaked release date in the coming weeks and months as the rapid development of this much anticipated title continues.