oudeis on 30/6/2008 at 06:47
All the time and resources they poured in this game and they can't come up with something better than a tired retread?
Looking at the HD gameplay movie, I see Blizzard's usual design philosophy: superb art design and sub-par graphical quality. That philosphy has served them well, as evidenced by their unbroken string of multi-million selling games and the Billion-plus-dollars-per-year success of WoW, but they could still expand their horizons, just a little, without throwing away the winning formula.
The graphics and 'physics' are virtually identical to what we saw in the Starcraft 2 clips, which stands to reason since they are almost certainly using the same engine. Not that I'm expecting them to reinvent yet another wheel, but based on the gameplay clip it doesn't look like they've made any customizations to the engine at all. It has the same pseudo/semi-3D environments, the same isometric view, the same ragdoll animations, etc., etc. The textures and lighting are unimpressive, the particle effects are neat but seem pretty far behind the curve. All in all, meh.
The clip makes a point of zooming in on the Barbarian to show what the new engine can do, but where is the 3D camera? Why are we locked into a fixed view? Yes, I know the previous two titles were isometric, but they were also 2D sprite-based games and this one clearly isn't, so that argument doesn't hold water. It would neither break the game design nor gamers' computers, so why not put it in?
I played Diablo but quit at the second level of Hell when I got tired of taking three steps and dying under a barrage of frost bolts or whatever. I played a Necromancer all the way through Diablo 2, and when the Lord of Destruction expansion came out I played through the game again, all the way from the start, both single-player and online with a friend. The improved resolution, extra character classes, and additional chapter made it almost a whole new game. As I pointed out in my post on page one of this thread, I would have loved to see an MMO set in the world of Sanctuary. I bring all this up to emphasize that I'm not a Diablo-hater, just a mediocrity-hater.
Why couldn't they have made the sequel an actual role-playing game, a la The Elder Scrolls series (or Gothic for all you TES haters)? It wouldn't have taken much: A little first-person or over-the-shoulder view, a little choice in NPC interactions and BOOM!- instant RPG. Instead, we get, as I said before, a tired retread; they've prettied things up a tad, but it's basically more of the same. Frankly, it smacks of laziness, creative bankruptcy, and/or appalling greed.
I've had a growing dislike of Blizzard since the release of Burning Crusade. Pricing an expansion pack like a new release is bullshit, especially when the core game is a record-setting success. Throw your fans a fucking bone and shave a few bucks off the price. Give them a discount if they've played since the beginning. Do something other than soak them for as much cash as you can get. I've also read enough about the Warhammer series, both regular and WH40K, to know that Blizzard has essentially stolen most of the ideas behind Warcraft and Starcraft. My reaction to Starcraft 2 has gone from 'eh' to 'hmm...' and back to 'eh'. I'll almost certainly play it, but only because I want to see the final showdown between Marshal Jim Raynor and Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades. I won't rush out to get it though. I was going to say that I'd wait until it dropped in price or buy it used, but now that I think of it I wouldn't be surprised if Blizzard locked the serial key to one user/account like they do for WoW (or, in fairness, what Valve did for Half-Life 2).
All in all, my reaction is one of disappointment tinged with disdain. Blizzard have never been innovators, let alone inventors, but even for them this looks uninspired. You would hope a developer with as much money as they have would have the courage to try something new, or even just expand the horizons on something familiar; sadly, I see no evidence of that here.
june gloom on 30/6/2008 at 08:05
Quote Posted by oudeis
I've also read enough about the Warhammer series, both regular and WH40K, to know that Blizzard has essentially stolen most of the ideas behind Warcraft and Starcraft.
VALIDATION
Koki on 30/6/2008 at 08:13
Retardation.
Thirith on 30/6/2008 at 08:43
Quote Posted by oudeis
All in all, my reaction is one of disappointment tinged with disdain. Blizzard have never been innovators, let alone inventors, but even for them this looks uninspired. You would hope a developer with as much money as they have would have the courage to try something new, or even just expand the horizons on something familiar; sadly, I see no evidence of that here.
The majority of Blizzard's customers don't want innovation. They don't want courageous design. They want Blizzard to do what Blizzard does so well - polish a game's design until it becomes the digital equivalent of crack. However much people poo-poo
Diablo 2 or
World of Warcraft, there's a reason why these games did as well as they did.
Yes, I would also prefer a 'real' RPG. I would prefer innovation. But to be completely honest, I find it extremely self-centred to want Blizzard not to do what a) they do well and b) a majority of people wants them to do. If they produced games that weren't fun, that were full of obvious design flaws, that had mediocre art direction, I'd say it's valid to criticise them. But it strikes me as somewhat silly to look at a restaurant producing the (near-)perfect burger and then be all snobbish about them because they serve burgers rather than eleven-course French cuisine or innovative experimental fusion cuisine.
There are few companies who produce such good burgers to begin with.
Andarthiel on 30/6/2008 at 10:00
I was excited when I heard the news but after seeing the screenshots I became skeptical. It looks like they're just going to emulate WoW and put it into the Diablo world.The whole dark and gothic feel of the old Diablo games is gone.
Oh well I suppose it's still early days so I suppose I can wait and see how it develops. If it turns out be terrible then I'll just go with Guild Wars 2.
Koki on 30/6/2008 at 10:20
So yeah, Important People say Diablo 3 will be out this year, being already in production for four years or something.
fetgalningen on 30/6/2008 at 10:40
Quote Posted by demagogue
I'm sure they can dig up a few more names for Satan. He's already been his own brother twice.
You don´t kill Satan permanently....
Xerxes_101 on 30/6/2008 at 12:26
Quote Posted by Thirith
innovative experimental fusion cuisine.
If I saw a game claiming to contain this, I would purchase it immediately regardless of price.
Spitter on 30/6/2008 at 13:03
Quote Posted by Tonamel
Out of curiosity, how would you have done it? I have a feeling they were talking about using the environment in fights, not EVERYTHING.
I was just joking on the guy talking about new vast interactivity options and at the same time we see the barbarian clicking chests, exactly like in Diablo 1, and breaking some random furniture which is hardly revolutionary.
I mean I don't want them to put in a minigame for opening chests if that's what you thought
