Diablo 3

[Dark0ne]

From Gaming Steve:

 

It looks like the Diablo III rumor mill has started up once again with a seemingly innocent post on the jobs section of the Blizzard web site. A few days ago they posted a job for an art director and various leads to join "the team behind Diablo I and II" for "an unannounced PC project." I have been getting some inquires since then if Blizzard is indeed working on Diablo III and when is it going to come out?

 

Well, before I answer let me mention a few things. First, I don't want to get any of my friends at Blizzard in trouble, so from instead of mentioning "Diablo III" let's call this theoretical game "Beelzebub 3" and instead of "Blizzard" let's call them "Snowstorm". Second, my information is quality stuff, but it is a little old, so take that with a gain of salt. Third, err, well, there is no third, so let's get into what I know!

 

Let's the obvious out of way, "Snowstorm" is indeed working on "Beelzebub 3". Not only are they working on it, but they have been working on this game for no less than the past four years. In fact, "Snowstorm North" nearly completed the game several years ago, but what they developed just "wasn't fun" and been quietly reworked. This was actually one of the key reasons why Snowstorm North was closed and everyone was relocated to Irvine-based Snowstorm, so that the bigwigs in Irvine could better track and follow the development of Beelzebub 3.

 

As for what to expect in to see in Beelzebub 3, believe it or not but those rumors that were floating around a few months ago about the game were fairly accurate (by the way, I have no idea who started these rumors or where they came from). According to the rumors:

 

"Diablo 3 takes place in heaven. Hell is trying to take it over and it is AWESOME looking … Imagine the brightness of heaven being taken over by the darkness of hell … Imagine WoW but in a Diablo world in amount of size and playability … Also, guild housing is available in this game for those of you who know about it."

 

This information was pretty dead-on. It is true that Beelzebub 3 will be done in true 3D and it did indeed look freaking awesome. It is also true that Beelzebub 3 features a story between the conflicts of Heaven and Hell and contains a very cool feature where every single item in the game can change between a "light" version and a "dark" version. However this was also one of the problems with the original version of the game. Other than the ability for any item to visually change from light to dark it didn't affect the actual stats of the item or change the gameplay in any way. So the game has gone through a total rework to inject some "fun" into the gameplay and to make it feel like the Beelzebubs of old.

 

The core gameplay Beelzebub 3 will play pretty much like Beelzebub 1 and 2, but the game world will be much larger and provide a much deeper experience -- many more items, more levels when you go through the game for first time, more skills, more of everything. In addition, the multiplayer aspect will be greatly enhanced from the past installments and don't be surprised to see more than a couple of WoW-based concepts to leak over into the Beelzebub 3 universe ... such as two opposing factions (Alliance and Horde = Heaven and Hell), enhanced guild functionality, and maybe even mounts?!

 

As for when Beelzebub 3 will released, that one is easy to answer ... when it's done. Snowstorm is in no rush to finish this game and will release it only after they feel it's perfect. And after the fiasco of StarCraft: Ghost -- which has been announced for years and is currently going through its second round of redesign and reprogramming -- Snowstorm is in no rush to announce Beelzebub 3. Don't except an announcement until the game is near completion.

 

But there is some good news; that "leak" on the Snowstorm jobs page was no accident. If they are starting to leak information about Beelzebub 3 then they are starting to get closer to a final release. Of course for Snowstorm something "getting close" can mean two years from now.

 

Hopefully that will hold everyone over for the short term. Hopefully Beelzebub 3 will be announced at the next E3, I'll try to find out more before then and give everyone the dirt as I get it.

[VaanicOne]

Whoa!

 

This is great news, Well done Boss!

 

*jumps around in excitement*

 

I can see, from this information, that the Diablo world has come a very long way. This definitely looks like one of those "big jump" games, one of those that heavily improves upon the prequel via different systems and such. Let's just hope that Diablo doesn't lose it unique style...

Edited February 21, 2006 by Vaanic~One

[Switch]

Haha, are you serious? I'd almost given up hope of a Diab... er, Beelzebub 3. :P

 

Well, here's hoping the rumours and leak are true. Of course I won't believe it 'til I see Blizzard say it.

[Peregrine]

Are you sure this is legit? There's been a lot of rumors over the years about Diablo 3, and all of them have ended up being false. But if it is, it's not a surprise. Even so many years later, Diablo 2 still has a lot of players. It's common sense for Blizzard to make another sequel. I'd be really surprised if they never did.

[edstamos1]

That sounds more like satire than anything else...

 

If it were true it wouldn't really matter. I may or may not play it once it comes out. The only game that's been able to keep my attention for more than a few hours is Morrowind, so I'm really only looking forward to Oblivion (and maybe Fallout 3).

 

That said, I wouldn't mind finding time to finish the Zy-el mod...

[loveme4whoiam]

I was too green a gamer to be around for the Diablo 2 wave, so this hasn't got me any more excited than, say, a mild encounter with that girl from Accounting who keeps giving me the eye. Nothing a brisk jog won't sort out.

 

Still, a new game is a new game. Looking forward to it, although I find the prospect of Fallout 3 a little more exciting (lap-dance, then a cold shower); I didn't play that either, but it looks like a game more up my street.

[Morgoth]

And one should not forget that many of the guys behind the earlier games have left Blizzard for good and have founded other studios like ArenaNet (Guild Wars) or Flagship Studios (Hellgate London) - although I did enjoy playing Diablo I & II very much (and still do from time to time), I am not raising my expectations very high until I've seen definite proof that Blizzard can be on par with earlier releases quality-wise.

[Faust870]

A while back I was on IGN and they had something about Diablo III on there... but it was just rumour talking... The only thing I don't want is to have to to pay to play online... saying some WoW aspects will leak onto D3... I hope its not pay per month :P

 

I'd still like to see Starcraft 2 :O

[VaanicOne]

A while back I was on IGN and they had something about Diablo III on there... but it was just rumour talking... The only thing I don't want is to have to to pay to play online... saying some WoW aspects will leak onto D3... I hope its not pay per month :P

 

I'd still like to see Starcraft 2 :O

 

 

Well, if it follows all the norms of the Diablo series, then it should be both single and mulitplayer, with Free access to the multiplayer part.

 

but we'll see...

[Darkh Templar]

I fear that, unfortunately, this is probably just another rumor. There have been so many examples of D3 hysteria that I'm sure that everyone has found at least one post or article saying sth like "OMG! I saw, like this, like, article, on this gaming site, and like, it said that, like, they're making Diablo 3! OMG!"

There was a pretty nifty joke about this in a gaming magazine in my country couple of months ago. They claimed that Blizzard had selected them to pick 40 people for beta testing D3. IIRC, there were tons of applicants. Mass hysteria, mass effect, call it whatever you like. I found it funny. Some people, who applied, however, didn't. :)

Edited March 5, 2006 by Darkh Templar