Diablo III Preview

The folks over at GamePron have slapped up a hands-on preview of Diablo III after checking out Blizzard’s demon-infested threequel firsthand at this year’s BlizzCon. A bit on the game’s increased focus on story and PvP arena:

One noticeable difference between Diablo II and III is the increased focus on the story. Diablo II didn’t seem to have much of one to me, and my character certainly never felt a part of it. In Diablo III you interact with characters outside of the town. There are short dialogue scenes where your character actually talks. Not only that, but during gameplay your character will comment on the going-ons around them. This gives the game a narrative voice and makes it so you feel connected to the other characters and even other players, as you thank them for healing you. There are also lore books scattered about that can be read to you while you bash through monsters, telling the story without interrupting the flow of the gameplay which is always a huge plus.

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Diablo III’s PvP arena was fast and frenetic. The 4v4 Team Deathmatch felt much more like an FPS than an RPG. You pick a class that comes with preset abilities that I assume was max level from their armor (my computer lost network connection and the game had to reboot, so I missed the first few minutes of play). Before the match started, everyone got practice time where kills didn’t count, allowing them time to get an understanding of their class. The large arena had plenty of cover to run around. After each death, there was a short respawn timer and then we were back in the fray. The fast-paced action seemed to favor ranged classes, although an enraged Barbarian could make short work of anyone he could get close to.