Blizzard Has Announced Diablo III is in the Works!

Diablo III has been under fan speculation for many years and rightfully so after the success of Diablo and Diablo II along with their expansion packs and upgrades. Diablo III remained a rumor until 2008 when Blizzard finally announced that they had begun work and in their usual vague fashion, released very little real information.

Blizzard could win awards for leading on their fans, giving out tidbits of information, contriving cinematic trailers and artwork without ever once feeding them any meaningful information on a game. Diablo II is a great example of excitement building and they learned well that craft, leading Diablo III into the gaming foray with masterful use of all the delaying tactics in hand.

There will be five character classes in Diablo III, but Blizzard has announced only three of the five, the barbarian, the wizard and the witch doctor. They did let slip that we can choose the gender of our characters, something new for D III as it was set in the other two games and could not be changed.

The barbarian remains a two handed fighter, able to wield dual weapons as in Diablo II, but has been retooled with some new skills as well. Cleave will come in handy I'm sure as will ground storm, leap (more aptly leap attack), seismic slam and not new but the ever useful whirlwind.

The wizard uses elemental forces as usual, yet new spells are here as well. Disintegrate looks interesting and useful, as does electrocute, and slow time which could be the biggest new skill of them all. Teleport and magic missile should prove endearing as well, even though teleport isn't new it does appear to have been changed at least in the graphics department.

The witch doctor is an all new character for Diablo III, he or she will have summoning abilities to raze minions from the undead and have some useful items in the way of mental magic as well. Firebomb, horrify, locust swarm, mass confusion and soul harvest all have spectacular visuals as well as devastating affect.

Not to be out done, the bestiary has been renewed as well, adding a host of new bad guys to carve one's way through in quest of treasure fulfillment or a heroic epic to be retold at the campfires. The list is Blizzardly short as yet, but will grow no doubt. There is the scavenger and the dune thresher burrowing critters and capable of inflicting serious damage, of course the undead zombies, ghouls and skeletons, but with a new twist called a shield skeleton that can reanimate other skeletons and that is tougher to begin with. Also the khazra, or goat men, the dark cultists who judging by the artwork should prove fun to dismember, and the gnarled walker, which resembles a tree, round out the known nasty inhabitants of the world of Diablo III.

Blizzard has released no information to date on the graphics engine, system requirements or last but not least a release date. My best guess would put it at a very hope filled December 2009, but that is speculation on my part, mine and mine alone.

Diablo III will be fantastic as all Blizzard games, the graphics and artwork on the Blizzard Website are proof of that, as are the movies and trailers Blizzard supplies on site.

Blizzard has even put out a press kit for web sites and blogs, including concept art, all paper, site design tips, borders, fonts, style sheets, forum avatars, messenger images, a fact sheet and FAQ sheet, sample game text and site building tips. It comes in a 35 MB package for those who intend to indulge. They even have ringtones for your cell. It makes one wonder how much faster the game would arrive if they concentrated on the game instead of the tricks....

The news about Battle.net is vague as well and says only that it will receive upgrades while Blizzard is at it. That they intend to concentrate on cooperative playing was stated but no word on whether they will find a way to route the advertising bots that nearly ruin gaming for Diablo II. Advertising a storefront on Battle.net should get them banned at the very least.

The best way to experience the coming game of Diablo III is to visit the Blizzard web site at www.blizzard.com/diablo3/ . Within their website Blizzard has cinematic trailer movies, screenshots, wallpaper, and artwork from Diablo III. The movies may not be a good idea if you are on dial up as they are graphics intense, the cinematic trailer is 50 MB alone.

Blizzard also has the official forum where you can rant away about the time it takes to get a new game produced, speculate on new characters and game play, or post ideas you might like to see in the future.

All things considered, Diablo III looks like it will be everything I had hoped it would, but until it hits the shelves I can only wait impatiently for it to arrive and dream of battles to come on Battle.net just like in the days of old on Diablo, Hellfire, Diablo II, and Lord of Destruction Expansion.