Saturday, June 28, 2008

Yawn

Its Diablo III. I feel sorry for anyone that believed different. After the Starcraft 2 announcement in Korea, I gave up all faith that Blizzard was out to shock anyone with their future games. Blizzard will stick to their IPs and make really good games with them.

Diablo III is hack and slash. Really good looking hack and slash. The classes look fun and insanely overpowered, which goes a long way towards making hack and slash something players can enjoy for more than a couple hours.

I'm really on the fence with Diablo III. I know it will be a good game and fun, but is it worth my time? I've tried enough mediocre hack and slash games over the years, avoided Diablo II due to Diablo I burnout, and with little time to play, I don't know what to think of Diablo III.

The one thing that I am curious about is what everyone else thinks. How long can Blizzard live off of these franchises if all we're going to get is well done updates? The last big move, going from RTS to MMO with World of Warcraft, by Blizzard came at the hands of the old-school designers which have long ago left the company.

Don't get me wrong. Blizzard makes great games and I enjoy most of them, but I just wish they could take that great development process and put into something new and a bit more exciting than another Diablo.

21 comments:

  1. There's still that un-announced Next-Gen MMO they're making... perhaps that will be something new.

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  2. Anonymous5:27 PM

    I think they can survive off this for a bit. WotLK will buy them a few more months but I don't see WoW keeping attention in 2010 but it should last thru 2009 well enough. Late '09 will be D3, maybe middle, who knows. I'm not interested in the Starcraft really but a Starcraft MMO in 2010/11 would be a nice time for them.

    I'll definately play D3, looked fun. I imagine it will be good for about 2-3 months. I never enjoyed the D series on ther .net and will prob only play the single player but who knows, maybe they will make it easy to group and have fun.

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  3. Anonymous5:31 PM

    as the only hardcore gamer in this solar system to not like diablo i am extra "yawny"

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  4. What are you talking about?? Diablo 2 was one of the best LAN party games ever. How could you have avoided it?? Diablo 3 has raised my hopes of another era of awesome LAN parties. Online games are great, but it's tough to beat having all your mates in the one room fighting together against billions of hellspawn... good times.

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  5. Crimson, any game is fun at a LAN party... or at least that has always been my experience.

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  6. You AVOIDED Diablo 2?
    OMG!

    You simply must go get a copy of Diablo 2 AND the expansion (it raises resolution up to 800x600)

    The atmosphere... the storyline... the awesome feeling of power you get killing things... the awesome feeling you get when a really cool piece of loot drops.

    If you loved Diablo, Diablo 2 is even better.

    Come on! Go buy it already!

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  7. "Crimson, any game is fun at a LAN party...". Agreed, but Diablo 2 just happens to be one of the best (in my opinion anyway). That's why I'm so pumped for D3. I could understand why you've yawned at D3 if you haven't played D2. I recommend you grab a copy and have a few mates over. It will make for a good weekend, even though the game is eight years old (exactly to this day).

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  8. i still can't believe people is actually excited about Diablo 3. In a time where the average person has at least 2 console systems, is another casual game what the world really needs?

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  9. The only Blizzard could do right now to astound me would be to announce that D3 is going to be released for the Xbox360 and the PS3 along with the PC and support cross platform play.

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  10. You assume Blizzard is the only game company in the world and must innovate for the whole platform. They are not and they don't have to.

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  11. Heartless, Diablo II was the root of the loot systems we see in these MMO's now in my opinion, with the blue, yellow, orange purple scheme etc etc

    Diablo is an instant gratification game much like gambling, and you keep playing and playing and making boss runs and never knowing what precious little piece of wonderful fun will drop off each boss. IT IS THE game that got me started in MMO's

    Its one of the only games that you can log into, party up in seconds with friends, and JUST OWN FACE IN. But Blizzard has to do it. Other companies have tried to capture the spirit, and just failed. Titan Quest is the closest, but it just isn't "Blizzard Fresh".

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  12. Anonymous4:40 PM

    Blizzard can live off their current IP's for several more DECADES. Whether or not they will though... remains to be seen.

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  13. I never got that into the Diablo series though I know it remains very popular with all types of gamers. I'm more interested in Blizzard's next generation MMO and hoping they announce it at Blizzcon. Still I might have to track down an old copy of Diablo 2 since I've never played it. Based on the comments here there was a big improvement between the original and the sequel.

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  14. Anonymous12:11 PM

    I can't believe you skipped D2... that's almost like a hate crime against gaming.

    Seriously, even today, I would recommend getting D2 and playing it (in window mode). Worth it even with shit graphics.

    As for D3, it will be like D2, which was like D1, which was fun. Not mind blowing, not game changing, but fun. And a lot of fun at that.

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  15. Blizzard has never been about innovation but refinement. Each of their IP's are based off of ideas that came before it. I'm not saying that cannibalizing and improving ideas are bad mind you, just that I think you're looking in the wrong direction if you're really looking for something new and different.

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  16. Askander I fully understand and agree that Blizzard is not the way to look if you want innovation, but that doesn't mean I'm content with that fact. I dream of the day where market leaders can survive with innovation.

    Also, I find it funny for people to tell me to go back and play Diablo 2. I could easily as just wait for Diablo 3 and get an updated version that is the "new hotness", instead of the old funky version 2.

    The more I look at Diablo III, the more I will probably come off the fence. We'll see how the details work out.

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  17. I would say Blizz probably has at least 10 years left to enjoy the IPs that have kept them in business. Starcraft 2 will be a smash hit, as will Diablo 3, but very few franchises that I am aware of can pull off a successful version 8, except the EA Madden franchise that even my die hard Madden fanboy co-worker didn't purchase this year. Diablo 4? Maybe, Diablo 8? I highly doubt it.

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  18. Anonymous1:45 PM

    I'm with you on the Diablo III thing. Diablo II was a terrific game, but the idea of playing another one leaves a sour taste in my mouth, and I cannot imagine that Blizzard (Blizzard!) is going to offer anything substantively new or interesting in it, aside from upgraded graphics.

    I'm sure it will be well-done. I am equally sure that I will not be buying it or playing it. Maybe Blizzard will surprise me, but I doubt it.

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  19. Diablo 2 can still be enjoyed today by fresh players, but you have to be willing to excuse the outdated graphics.

    I agree that it'd be great to see a new IP from Blizzard, but they're definitely not just rehashing Diablo 2. I'm a D2 fanatic, and I've noticed several changes for the better in Blizzard's interviews and demonstrations. For example, there are cool traps, camouflaged enemies that ambush the player, potions have been replaced with health orbs that encourage players to keep moving (keep the pace and difficulty up), and there seems to be even greater difference between enemy types. Diablo 3 isn't just more of the same. It's an old, great concept made even better in a fresh adventure.... or so it looks now, of course.

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  20. Anonymous5:24 PM

    Innovation rarely sells. And not as reliably as rehashes of popular IPs.

    Look only to Madden

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  21. Try Diablo II with the "Median 2008" mod (just Google it). It's like playing a new expansion pack. Still same graphics though, but hell, it's fun, even today.

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