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 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.

Diablo 3 Class Information

With the recent announcement of Blizzard’s newest project, Diablo 3, lots of information has been pouring in from forums, insider sources, and Blizzard announcements. So far only two classes have been officially confirmed, the Barbarian and Witch Doctor.

Diablo 3 Barbarian
If you played Diablo 2 then you should be fairly familiar with the Barbarian. The archetype is similar to that of the warrior / solider class found in many other RPGs. We’re talking about a two hand or dual wielding melee power house.

Diablo 3 Barbarian Skills and Abilities
Cleave – The barbarian deals large amounts of damage in a frontal cone (aprx. 150 degrees).
Ground Stomp – The barbarian stomps the crowd dealing damage and dazing enemies in a 360 degree range around the barbarian.
Leap – Similar to the leap from Diablo 2, the barbarian launches himself into the air aimed at a point of impact. At the chosen point enemies are damaged and knocked back in a 360 degree range around the Barbarian.
Seismic Slam – The barbarian slams the ground, sending a shockwave in a line directly in front of the Barbarian, dealing damage and killing enemies.
Whirlwind - The barbarian spins continuously dealing damage in a 360 degree range, you may move while spinning.

Diablo 3 Witch Doctor
The witch doctor is very similar to the necromancer from Diablo 2. The doctor has powerful debuffs, damage casted spells, and the ability to raise the dead to fight by their side.

Diablo 3 Witch Doctor Spells and Abilities
Firebomb - The witch doctor launches a fire bomb at a group of enemies, dealing heavy fire damage, knocking them back, and setting the ground on fire.
Horrify - The witch doctor sends enemies running with a horrifying scream.
Locust Swarm – The witch doctor launches a locust at a nearby enemy. After hitting an initial monster the locust will spread to nearby enemies, creating a swarm of devastation.
Mass Confusion - The witch doctor afflicts a large group of monsters with a confusing hex. The hex causes the monsters to swing wildly and wander around confused, allowing the witch doctor and party members to kill with easy or simply walk past the monsters.
Soul Harvest - The witch doctor creates a pulse of energy, killing nearby enemies and harvesting their souls. While nothing has been confirmed yet, it’s presumed that these harvested souls will be used in future unreleased spells.

Diablo 3 Announced

After months of speculation and intrigue all the rumors were finally put to a rest. It’s official, Diablo 3 is on the way! Blizzard entertainment revealed it’s newest project June 26th, 2008, and while many of the videos and screenshots look live ready don’t expect D3 to be released any time soon.

Old school Diablo fans will be happy to hear that this newest iteration of the series will not be an MMORPG. Instead, the old arcade style RPG will remain intact, providing fast action, awesome graphics, and a playability that will allow players of all time capacities to enjoy the game.

So the more important questions…

What’s New In Diablo 3?

Well, for starters there will be five classes in the game. Two of which have already been reveled, the Barbarian and the Witch Doctor. While classes that appeared in Diablo I and II may be included in the five, the team designing these classes is completely re-doing the class.

In addition, players will be able to customize their class like never before. New specialization of talents, skills, and other aspects will allow for truly unique characters.

When will Diablo 3 release?

So far the only word from Blizzard is…

It’s too early to estimate Diablo III’s release date.

However, based on previous Blizzard game release experience, I’d estimate a release date of 8-12 months.