Diablo III Preview

The editors at EDGE have put together an in-depth four-page preview of Blizzard’s long-awaited Diablo III, based on some hands-on time with the closed beta and some additional comments from members of the development team, and they seem quite pleased with the level of depth and polish already offered by the game. Sampling ahead:

Furthering the distinction between classes, each comes with its own resource, some, like the Barbarian’s Fury, requiring damage to top up, while others, such as the Wizard’s Arcane Power, regenerate quickly over time. If that wasn’t enough of a balancing challenge for the design team, the Demon Hunter heads into battle with two meters: a fast-building Hatred for powering offensive skills, and a slower Discipline, for defensives.

It’s a system that points towards a wider cross-class trend: attack skills built around specific situations. (Diablo has always had a very simple combat model that tends to focus on a single attack that you just use over and over again,) Wilson admits, unconsciously clicking as he speaks. (One of the things we wanted to do with Diablo III was create a little more depth in combat and give the player a little more to do. So we’ve still got spammable attacks, but we also have this concept of breakout abilities, which can’t be used as often but really change up what the player’s doing. Lastly, there’s escape abilities. One of the things we focused on here is making sure the player’s a little more threatened than they were before. In previous Diablo games you could out-run, out-potion or Town Portal your way to safety. We’re tending to focus away from those mechanics, so now each class has a different way of dealing with threats.)

Abilities that aid an easy getaway may not sound like much fun, but in Blizzard’s hands they’ve become colourful and ingenious. Wizards can create little bubbles of slowed time, allowing them to control fights better once the projectiles start firing, Monks can lay down sanctuaries that enemies can’t pass through, while the Witch Doctor can summon a floating Shaman that turns foes into chickens. It’s escape, in other words, of the ACME Corporation variety.