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

Diablo 3 Demo: Barbarian

Diablo 3 Demo: Witch Doctor

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.

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

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)

Check out these 29 awesome shots from closed alpha testing.

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.

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.

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.