By Alec Meer on May 26th, 2009 at 5:41 pm.
Taking a good old crack at making an exciting upcoming videogame game as unexciting as possible is this short, strangely detached look at one of the classic baddies returning in Blizzard’s upcoming Diablo sequel. The Fallen Ones are coming back, as proven by a new video that is, to my mind, very much trying to reassure crazy fans that their treasured murky colour palette isn’t entirely replaced by – oh grud don’t make me say the bad words – ‘WoW gayness’.
More casual Diablo fans will remember the Fallen Ones as the little impy guys who resurrect themselves in huge numbers unless you nobble the Shaman lurking at the back. New (I think) to their first 3D iteration is the splendid Lunatic – a toad-chested chap who, at a guess, stabs himself in the fiery belly to wreak high-temperature havoc on anyone close enough. The video beneath the cut shows concept art and some brief in-engine animations of the various Fallenses – it’s frankly a dull piece of footage, but it’s there to excite the fans, not to sell the game to a new crowd. Two more screenshots to pore over too, which also seem deliberately dark.
Certainly looks a bit more Classic Diablo in tone and colour than the controversial brighter stuff we’ve seen so far. While I was never quite massive enough a Diablo fan to care a whit about the colour scheme of this one, I do find this apparent promise of contrast and variety very appealing. Also, fat mad things are always funny, right?
26/05/2009 at 17:42 ChaosSmurf says:
If it wasn’t for how gay WoW is, this update would have been better.
26/05/2009 at 17:51 sigma83 says:
The more Diablo the better
26/05/2009 at 17:52 There was a point somewhere... says:
Having an aversion to MMO, the first time I saw the screenshot comparisons, I thought they were simply exclaiming “Wow, gayness”. Admittedly, though, the concept art is significantly more menacing than after they’ve been translated into 3D.
26/05/2009 at 17:53 Tei says:
Ooops… I was not ready for a D3 post.
Let me use a stock comment:
GENERIC WOWGAYNESS COMMENT #4431
We are on a world, where everone have a voice, and can make his voice to sound everywhere. And with that, lies the need to try to make your voice something constructive (dinamite is also a construction tool, …but I digress..). The sane, calm, livid, fun, curious, voice of Blizzard is creating for us this awesum game, and we have to wait for it to delivers. And for these who disagree, GOD invented Modding.
26/05/2009 at 17:58 Tek says:
True. Aside from the look of the game being perfectly fine with me, things like lighting or gamma correction of textures seem to be easier to modify by a dedicated group of modders than, say, a core gameplay mechanic. Depending on how accessible the relevant files will be, I think a mod that overhauls the visuals won’t be THAT far off.
26/05/2009 at 18:09 clovus says:
Bleh, that last picture is sooo murky. I hate when I can’t see what the hell is going on. I push up the gamma which then makes everything look foggy. Why are game designers so in love with brown and black! Grumble, grumble, complain…
Why can’t they make it nice and bright like that other game that they made that my grandma enjoys so much…
26/05/2009 at 18:11 Dominic White says:
I’m just hoping for some more Opeth-esque acoustic guitar riffage in the soundtrack. Diablo 1 and Diablo 2′s first act were aided massively because of this.
Gothic guitar strumming, deep and ominous drums, some strings and some synth. That’s all I ask for, music-wise.
26/05/2009 at 18:14 Stupoider says:
Yeah, Clovus. Different shades of brown has become a sort of cliché in games these days. :)
The models didn’t really strike me as menacing when compared to the concept art. Which is sad. :(
26/05/2009 at 18:21 Bhazor says:
Personally I’m afraid the whole “painted” look will just be an excuse for blandness. Just blobs of different colours rather than ornate textures and I don’t think I’ve seen any animated back grounds yet. JRPGs are so much better at art design it’s ridiculous. For effs sake Obsidian/Blizzard/Bioware hire some of Squaresofts guys already. Still, never been a fan of Diablo likes so wasn’t too pumped to start with.
Reply to Clovus
Maybe it’s my eyes or my monitor but I can barely see in 80% of western made games from the past 2 years. It’s kind of funny that we’ve got the best graphics we’ve ever had and yet designers regularly makes things pitch black so you can’t see them.
26/05/2009 at 18:31 Freudian Trip says:
Blizzard could take a dump on my toast and call it Nutella for all I care. It’s going to be bloody brilliant and I know it so I’m trying to ignore as much hype as possible.
26/05/2009 at 18:48 Tei says:
In defense of Western artist:
Is easy to “paint” with light (as in Coronas, Lens Flares and Shadows). But to paint in light, the background as to be black. If everything is white, you can’t use light. Western engines have something called a Lighting System, and Eastern engines moslty ignore. Eastern dev’s have amazing taste for modeling and textures, but a cursed love for anime that taint everything. To me, the western engines feel more like a world. While the eastern engines feel more like a cartoon box, everything feels fake to me, but pretty.
[CORRUPTION ERROR, DATA LOST] …that hate [ERROR] this love of black backgrounds on the western engines, please visit the Prado or The Louvre .. Is something that predates computing. The old artist, Danish, Spanish, French, Italian, Holland… these guys loved to paint over black backgrounds.
Then, on more modern times, we have artist that use white backgrounds. Sorolla, Van Goth, a few usa artist…. but you probably found these guys with a foot outside realism.
caveat: IMHO YMMV, IANartist.
26/05/2009 at 18:56 Serondal says:
Are we suposed to be excited one of the most generic monsters ever created is coming back? Does being in two games in a row make the monster less generic ?:P I mean really they’re just goblins with a diffrent name and I’ve already killed hundreds of thousands of them I dunno if I want to kill more.
26/05/2009 at 19:00 sigma83 says:
“For effs sake Obsidian/Blizzard/Bioware hire some of Squaresofts guys already”
Why, so they can all look generic in the opposite direction?
Amazing art direction is practically what Blizzard is _built on_. I dunno what you’re smokin’ dude.
26/05/2009 at 19:04 sigma83 says:
“Are we suposed to be excited one of the most generic monsters ever created is coming back?”
No, we’re excited cause it’s Diablo, and the Fallen Ones are iconic. Also a close up glimpse at the modeling and animation.
26/05/2009 at 19:10 hoove man says:
Professional fluffing… fluffiness, thats the best. Lets do it again, you devil.
26/05/2009 at 19:16 Phil H says:
Hrm, the Lunatic reminds me of the enemies the old Overseers(I like the new one’s weapon, a pair of swords stabbed through a stick) would lash into suicidally explosive frenzies in the LoD expansion. Hound looks to be completely new though.
26/05/2009 at 19:31 Serondal says:
I wouldn’t call the fallen “iconic” so much as “same monster diffrent name” or “generic filler monster because we couldn’t think of anything else”
26/05/2009 at 19:32 Wow Gayness says:
“JRPGs are so much better at art design it’s ridiculous.”
Ahaha. Sexually ambiguous barbarian would be golden.
26/05/2009 at 19:33 Thomas Lawrence says:
Surely only 13-year olds think that Diablo was really “dark” in anything but the most puerile tits-and-gore sense? And it always had a nice line in vomit greens and lava oranges.
26/05/2009 at 19:42 Jeremy says:
It’s looking pretty good to me, I’ve always been a fan of Blizzard’s art direction. Quality stuff and I refuse to hate it simply because they’re successful :) I appreciate indie, but I also appreciate quality, the 2 are not mutually exclusive no matter what angle you’re coming from.
And come on, the Fallen Ones are incredibly iconic, along with those crazy goats. Can’t have a Diablo game without them!
26/05/2009 at 19:52 ScubaV says:
I agree that the concept art looks much more sinister than the models, but I still have confidence in the overall effect. Also, anyone else like the music? Very subtle, but haunting. I hope it’s a sample of in-game stuff.
26/05/2009 at 19:55 Funky Badger says:
JRPG background design is/can-be marvellous. Character design hasn’t progressed beyond Cloud, has it?
26/05/2009 at 20:09 Jeremy says:
Nah, the heroes are all androgynous rebels that wield a 10 foot tall cleaver.
26/05/2009 at 20:10 A Dead Eldar Guardian says:
Blizzard has an uncanny ability to create amazing concept art that is then translated into lackluster 3d assets.
26/05/2009 at 20:10 Willem says:
“Imp’s Good To Be Back”
That’s horrible, Alec.
26/05/2009 at 20:19 Blast Hardcheese says:
Too bad Blizzard is owned by Activision-Vivendi
They could otherwise get a hint from Valve and do something… exciting? Interesting? Entertaining? Excititing? Worth watching? (Choose your own statement! How fun!)
Of course because they’re owned by Vivendi there is zero chance of them getting a clue of how to make their adverts something people follow other than just following them to proclaim, “WOW, WOW GAYNESS”
I mean Vivendi killed The Incredible Machine. EA at least pretends it still uses the licenses eaten from Westwood and Bullfrog.
So I’d say this disappointed… but honestly I had no hopes to begin with.
Blizzard is dead. Long live Blizzard!
26/05/2009 at 20:36 Serondal says:
The incredible machine killed the incredible machine, each version was just a slightly better version or slightly diffrent version of the last game O.o
26/05/2009 at 20:39 Xercies says:
I have to say that last screenshot is what I want, so moody and murky its great. If they keep on that i would love it. Remember kids if your going to have a dark depressing world to go in the atmosphere has to go for that. otherwise you just shot yourself in the foot.
26/05/2009 at 20:53 Riaktion says:
I can honestly say I had no proboems what-so-ever with the D3 art style, colours, pallete, smell or flavour. I really enjoyed that walkthrough video they released sometime ago, it even inspired me to buy Sacred 2 on budget in some vain hope it would make me feel the same way. Somehow.. it didn’t. Looking forward its release… in the meantime though.. dragon age..
26/05/2009 at 20:59 Rhooke says:
Two things:
1) I’ve always been a big fan of Blizzard’s art direction, and to say that they need help from Sqeenix strikes me as preposterous.
2) I am the only one who found most of the video lacklustre but then watched the logo animation 3-4 times? That’s a badass logo!
26/05/2009 at 21:02 psyk says:
The darkest bit of diablo was tristram.
“each version was just a slightly better version or slightly diffrent version of the last game”
what like every second third fourth version of any game.
26/05/2009 at 21:08 Tei says:
On the other part. The animations feel to me very WoW ish.
The doggie lacks weight. The imp gesture… is a /emote directly from wow. I think Diablo could have use a different style on animation.
The models? stilized…. too. Humm… Uh.. Oh…
26/05/2009 at 21:26 SwiftRanger says:
Looks awesome and there is much more animation/detail in it than with the usual WoW models (or other hack ‘n slashers). Also, we haven’t heard the Fallen Ones’ voices yet, if you ever played the previous Diablo games you’d know that’s just as essential as their looks.
Most promising though is that Blizzard ain’t afraid of expanding the concept of these little buggers:
Diablo 1 had Fallen Ones equipped with sword+small shield and spears (and screeching voices you’ll never forget, still one of the best games ever in terms of moody sound effects/music), Diablo II introduced the Shamans with revive ability and Diablo III will provide the known Fallen Ones with pet hounds, kamikaze units and a new leader type in the Overseer (which will actually buff/reorganise the entire group). Just like everything else about this game so far it all seems made of pure win.
It’s a new dev team but they damn well know what the flaws and gaps in the previous games were or how to expand on the good stuff.
26/05/2009 at 21:33 CPY says:
Time to kick some red demon @sses… man i so loved killing those red imps in diablo2, i cant wait for D3, and it looked so brutal, i hope this wow gayness wont spoil cruel massacre of D2.
26/05/2009 at 21:34 teo says:
Music has a definite Diablo vibe to it, but it’s not up to par yet
26/05/2009 at 21:38 Jeremy says:
Is Blizzard really owned by anyone? I can’t imagine they would sell themselves after making over 100 million a month for a few years. It was actually a merger of interests, and they’re still a separate entity that needs only answer to themselves. So you can’t really blame corporate conspiracy.
26/05/2009 at 21:39 Nick says:
“Is Blizzard really owned by anyone?”
Yes. Check the story of how flagship formed.
26/05/2009 at 21:48 Pijama says:
On an entirely unrelated note, I am looking forward to the soundtrack.
26/05/2009 at 21:48 unclelou says:
JRPGs are so much better at art design it’s ridiculous. For effs sake Obsidian/Blizzard/Bioware hire some of Squaresofts guys already.
Can’t stand most of the art style in JRPGs myself. There’s some top, more stylised stuff like Mother 3, or the Shin Megami Tensei games, but Square’s stuff in particular is just the same thing as your typical D&D game, only tacky and garish instead of gritty and brown.
Two sides of the same coin, really, only I prefer the latter because it’s a lot less obtrusive.
26/05/2009 at 21:49 jalf says:
@Jeremy: They didn’t. They sold themselves *ages* ago. They’ve changed owners a bajillion times by now.
26/05/2009 at 21:52 Psychopomp says:
@Bhazor
http://pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF071-Weeaboo.gif
Seriously, aside from Chrono Cross, Shin Megami Tensei, FFIX and Baten Kaitos, the art design of jRPG’s has stayed the same since FFXII
26/05/2009 at 22:02 Jeremy says:
I meant in terms of Blizzard as an entity, being sold to other entities.
26/05/2009 at 22:14 Zyrusticae says:
The concept art looks great.
Then they had to ruin it by giving the actual models ridiculously large upper bodies and tiny legs.
You bastards.
26/05/2009 at 23:19 DigitalSignalX says:
Gotta agree with Pijama, what struck me most from that vid wasn’t what I was seeing, but hearing.
I enjoyed Diablo for the story, gameplay, and the character development, not any nitpicky art direction. Face it, they’re all just lil half inch high pixels on your screen and I could care less if the palette draws parallels from WOW or not as long as the game is as solid and fun to play as the previous.
26/05/2009 at 23:28 teo says:
“Surely only 13-year olds think that Diablo was really “dark” in anything but the most puerile tits-and-gore sense? And it always had a nice line in vomit greens and lava oranges.”
Dude, the whole world was messed up. Hell had invaded earth, there was abundant cruelty. The hero from the first game sacrifices himself in vain. The visuals have a very dark tone to them and that doesn’t mean there can’t be colour.
Just because someone put it badly (‘WoW gayness’) doesn’t mean there isn’t a valid point. People might be too quick to judge things but people are also too quick to defend video game companies with a certain status. They’re seen as infallible.
26/05/2009 at 23:40 Pod says:
AHEM.
I think that you’ll find that the Fanatic Enslaved were already in D2. They’re the explody dudes in worldstone keep. (Well, I’m not sure if they’re Fanatic Enslaved by then – they’ve upgraded into the hell spawn or whatever, but that’s just a name change)
Anyway, I demand Alec resigns from RPS for clearly benig a wow gay and for not knowing his stuff.
Tut, Tut, Tuttus.
26/05/2009 at 23:54 Dick Nickerson says:
Looks like World of Warcraft with a slightly higher poly count and a darker pallet.
27/05/2009 at 00:10 Pijama says:
ACH.
See, I don’t oppose this debate. Mostly because art is subjective, so for *that* everyone should rightly be allowed to say their opinions.
What makes my eyes roll is the blatantly stupid tug-of-war that goes between “ARRRGH ‘TIS GAY” against “LET IT SHINE” positions. Not that it matters, though. This is the internets after all.
And exactly because it doesn’t matter, I ask you the question, unsatisfied gentlemen:
Are you still going to play it?
27/05/2009 at 00:10 Wow Gayness says:
teo: The visuals aren’t exactly rainbows and unicorns for Diablo 3 (that one T-shirt excluded), either. They’re just not lacking in colour, which seems to be a problem with many. Case in point, ‘WoW gayness’ came from that one screenshot where someone decided the game needed more contrast to be more in line with the originals.
And bringing up the lore of the game has no bearing on any of the major complaints I’ve heard, as I have it on good authority that Diablo 3 still exists in the same universe. The world, no matter how it looks, will still be messed up.
27/05/2009 at 00:35 Wulf says:
I actually have no problem with the art style as it is, it sort of reminds me of a grim fable; by this I mean what would happen if you took a fairy tale (all of which already have worryingly psychopathic undertones) and stuffed it into the head of a stereotypical goth. It’s actually an entertaining look and it doesn’t bother me in the least.
What does bother me is that there’s very little cohesion in the art direction. If you look at the screenshots they’ve released, some of them look like they’re from another game entirely, the quality varies, and some things just don’t look like they fit in the game at all (probably lighting issues). It looks like they just tossed a bunch of stuff together and held it in place with gaffo.
For example, the orange critters on the first two screenshots stick out like sore thumbs, it looks like something someone has added to the scene after the fact, and they don’t obey the light present in the scene at all, not unless they’re radioactive. I don’t mind it being dark, I don’t mind the creatures being very bright and colourful, but don’t try and mix the two in a way that clearly doesn’t work! There’s just no way those creatures belong in that scene, you can make all the claims about alternate realities and the different behaviours of light sources that you like, but to me it’s no less horrid, visually. A real artist wouldn’t stand for it.
Look at the third screenshot, now. This screenshot looks professional, all the elements actually fit within the picture, nothing sticks out like it doesn’t belong there. This is what creates atmosphere, by presenting the the gamer with a scenario that appears real and believable. The first two screenshots shatter my suspension of disbelief, what with the radioactive and obviously misplaced creatures.
To me, Diablo III looks sloppy, very, very sloppy. It doesn’t look “gay” (please stop saying that, it’s moronic), but it does look like it’s been cheaply throw together, it looks less like a passionate sequel, and more like a soulless cash-in. That’s just my opinion, take it or leave it, but before you bitch at me, take a look at all the screenshots they’ve released and see if you can’t see what I’m talking about too.
And I’m sorry if I’ve killed Diablo III for you, it would’ve happened sooner or later, better sooner.
27/05/2009 at 00:38 teo says:
You can’t tell the atmosphere of a game until you play it, but part of of what made Diablo feel so gritty was that it had a very realistic and detailed look. Detail and grittiness isn’t the same thing, but the detail intensifies the grittiness. The world is messed up and it’s shown in great detail.
It’s the difference between saying someone was beaten up versus going into great detail about it. A cartoony, stylized art style conveys different things than what a realistic art style does. You like or dislike the new art style all you want, but there are factual things you can say about it too.
I don’t care how many pentagrams and torture chambers they throw in there, it’s not the same, because it’s different, it’s inarguable. They took out the corpses and persistent blood anyway, which is too bad.
I was having worried discussions about Diablo III’s art style in 2007, before the game was even announced! Lots of people want it to look a certain way. The new art style won’t make the game bad, it won’t stop people from buying it, but you can still have valid complaints about it.
And that field you filled in, it’s a name field and not a topic field…
@ Wulf, nobody uses ‘gay’. Someone did a long time ago and people are just referencing it
27/05/2009 at 00:40 Zyrusticae says:
@Wulf
I think you’re kinda looking over the fact that these are screenshots of a very, very early alpha build of the game. Compare the screenshots of Starcraft 2 released recently to its very first screens and you’ll find a massive increase in quality and visual cohesion.
That said, I’m still totally miffed that the game’s graphics technology is already dated compared to the likes of Titan Quest (released 3 years ago, no less) and Sacred 2, and even their own Starcraft 2. Why, Blizzard…? Why…?!
27/05/2009 at 00:51 a says:
Diablo 2 wasn’t even good back when it was grimdark.
27/05/2009 at 01:02 Serondal says:
Wow my last comment was removed, didn’t think it was THAT bad but will keep that mind. Still I’d like to make the suggestion that it would have been interesting if they’d created a new interesting cell shader technology that made the game look more like a grim gothic nightmare/noir. Realistic has been done as has the kind of cartoony way their going now, I’d be interesting to see a really detailed engine that makes the game feel like you’re in a nightmare you can’t escape without going to far over board. Sadly me saying this will make no difference, they’re gonna do what they’re gonna do. Fact is they’re going to be successful when they release this game because they ARE Blizzard and it is Diablo 3. Those two facts will sell the game no matter how it looks.
27/05/2009 at 01:06 BobbyBob says:
I am strongly disappointed that this article is not entitled “It’s Hard Out Here for an Imp.”
27/05/2009 at 01:06 Mechazawa says:
Honestly, all the “OMG IT’S LIEK WOW AGAIN !!§§111″ is amusing to read.
Anyway, there’s one thing i’d like to see back from Diablo 1, the randomized quest part. Sometime, you had to kill the Butcher, other time it was King Leoric, or the Hall of the Blind.
That was awesome, and gave many more reasons to go back into the old church from the start, seeing new locals and .. stuff.
Also, randomized dungeons / landscape. That’s the thing that killed Titan Quest for me. You couldn’t replay it without having the exact same layout for every part of the map, every little dungeon. It was awfully boring.
I really hope they’ll tell us more things about D3 at the next Blizzcon, and not just the random crap from the (awesome) gameplay video from the WWI in Paris. Seriously, rewatch that video. The first thing they’re excited to tell us abous ? Shortcuts for skills.
Seriously.
Wtf.
27/05/2009 at 01:30 Logo says:
“What does bother me is that there’s very little cohesion in the art direction. ”
Maybe that’s my problem with the art direction. I’ve had a ton of trouble talking about my dislike of the Diablo 3 art (except their animations which are amazing). Either people call me a goth-dark-wanting idiot or they are one themselves. It’s not that I don’t like the cartoony look but I think it’s the lack of cohesion like you say. The game looks less like a single scene and more like a bunch of elements tossed in together.
27/05/2009 at 02:46 psyk says:
“And I’m sorry if I’ve killed Diablo III”
Yes you have killed diablo 3 for everyone who was looking forward to it by your post you have the power. WTF are you thinking
27/05/2009 at 03:54 That Guy says:
If you don’t like it, no Diablo III for you. Simple, yes?
Also,
“For effs sake Obsidian/Blizzard/Bioware hire some of Squaresofts guys already”
Because throwing a bunch of belts and making everyone have blue hair helps!
27/05/2009 at 07:56 SwiftRanger says:
“I think that you’ll find that the Fanatic Enslaved were already in D2. They’re the explody dudes in worldstone keep. (Well, I’m not sure if they’re Fanatic Enslaved by then – they’ve upgraded into the hell spawn or whatever, but that’s just a name change)”
True, they were even in that first siege area near Harrogath but that wasn’t a Fallen One and didn’t look nearly as funny as this incarnation of the kamikaze concept. Just look at that fatty run! :)
27/05/2009 at 08:06 Lorc says:
Yeah, those critters in act 5 were a different base monster type. So it looks like they’ve added that ability to a good old staple monster. Though I did like the interaction between the “totally not orcs” and the slavers in act 5.
For all that they’re basically red goblins, I’m fond of diablo’s fallen ones diablo. Their predictable cowardice made them more interesting to fight than most monsters. Combined with the ever-resurrecting shaman and (now) the leader-types, there’s even more potential for interesting tactics and behaviour. Well; interesting by diablo standards anyway.
27/05/2009 at 08:45 ShardPhoenix says:
I think the graphics look ok for the most part but I hate the heavy use of purple and green colored lighting. That’s by far the most “WoW-ish” (or heck, late-90′s-FPS-ish) part of the graphics for me and it seems like it would be easy to change it to white/red/yellow/orange lighting that would make for a more Diablo-ish atmosphere.
27/05/2009 at 09:16 Super Bladesman says:
I really like the look, and despite not having played either of the previous Diablos, I can’t wait for Diablo 3.
@ Wolf – I’m hoping that by the time the game comes out of development the engine will be a bit more cohesive – I guess they are still tweaking a lot, especially now that they’ll be getting all this lovely feedback about stupid “gayness” etc and so forth.
27/05/2009 at 10:59 Srejv says:
Whit.
27/05/2009 at 12:53 Melf_Himself says:
I can’t believe they spent actual time and money putting that video together. No wonder it costs $50m to make a video game these days.
27/05/2009 at 12:56 DK says:
“Amazing art direction is practically what Blizzard is _built on_. I dunno what you’re smokin’ dude.”
Was built on. Was.
By now, they only have one art style and one storyline, both of which are recycled over and over. They have great concept artists, and the concepts are translated into samey, bland in-game assets with none of the punch of the concepts.
Look at their new Protoss – they’re Draenei.
Look at any of their new games – what is up with the ridiculous shoulder pads.
Blizzard’s simply gone stale and samey.
27/05/2009 at 14:12 Taill4f4r says:
In game, Diablo does a bad job of conveying the true horror of what’s happening and I don’t think I’d blame the art alone. When you see the concept art, watch the cut scenes, read the lore, all these terrible acts and things seem detached from the actual game.
For example, the palace in the desert in Diablo 2. The prince casually explains how they had to lock the palace down because it’s overrun. That’s all these helpless women being trapped in the dark as demons overrun the harem and tear them to pieces or eat them alive. And there’s just no sense of this horror, nothing to immerse you in the events. Nothing really subtle or clever to what they do. Death is represented by yet another big pile of bodies, the occult is represented by yet another candle-lit pentagram drawn in blood. These things may as well be furniture for the amount of impact they have.
It doesn’t affect the actual fun and addictiveness, of course. But the whole presentation, from graphics to sound (apart from the music) doesn’t do much for the game.
(Opinion away!)
27/05/2009 at 14:23 TailsHb says:
This looks like a cool game and I may want to try it. When does this game come out and how much does it cost?
27/05/2009 at 16:21 Gorgeras says:
I support what DK says and raise him one clear comparison: when the ‘WoW gayness’ broke out, those touched-up versions were produced showing visuals more in tone with Diablo were circulated. Despite what people claim, that “oh these people just want shades of brown and grey”, the edited pictures were very colourful. If anything they had considerably more depth and use of colour than Blizzard’s WoW-ised art direction.
Yes, the way it is being done IS bland, it is WoW-like and it’s a distraction. The 80s called: they want their shoulder-pads back.
27/05/2009 at 19:49 Tei says:
It will not be the wow people want, but It will be a good wow. OOOPSS!!!.. Diablo!… I DID SAY WOW!?? FORGET THAT, IS DIABLOE, DIOABLO!!!.. DIAOBLE!!!!! curse u, my tongue, you are a liar, bad liar.
27/05/2009 at 20:45 DK says:
“Despite what people claim, that “oh these people just want shades of brown and grey”, the edited pictures were very colourful.”
Infact, many of the touched up recolours only changed some RBG values. More red and blue mostly, less of the rest.
There’s two blizzard defending reactions I’ve heard the most:
“It’s not like Diablo2 had so little colour! (spelleffects, monsters, etc.)” – To that I reply, Then what’s your issue with staying with the old art direction.
“You just want brown and grey/pitch black!” – to that I say, look at the retouched screenshots. They are colourful – it’s simply a more moody colour palette. And the old style had a distinct, atmosphere building gameplay element – light radius.
27/05/2009 at 21:12 Gorgeras says:
May I also point out that Left 4 Dead makes extensive use of an artificial artistic light radius and ‘stylised darkness’ to achieve the effect Diablo 2 had: the feeling of a horror scenario.
27/05/2009 at 21:15 jalf says:
OMG, L4D is WOW GAYNESS!
28/05/2009 at 00:02 DK says:
@jalf, actually, the point is the opposite. L4D uses the lighting techniques of the old Diablos.
28/05/2009 at 16:54 Scarves says:
The real point is that Diablo 3 could look like a plateful of vomit in a cave and it would still sell a million billion copies and people would play it for years and years.
The main thing Blizzard has as a running theme in their games is not the look or the play style.
The secret ingredient is that they are all stinkingly addictive.
28/05/2009 at 19:23 Gorgeras says:
Again to draw attention back to the whole point which is that there is now a running theme in their games centred on the art: ‘WoW gayness’.
Just think, fifteen years from now ‘WoW gayness’ could become the new thing in architecture if Blizzard keeps playing this same tune long enough. Our corridors and hallways will be lit by purple-green lights, with plasterboards painted luminous stone-colour. Instancing will make them bigger on the inside. Buildings will be made wider at the top to make them look taller when viewed from above, at an isometric angle.
29/05/2009 at 21:29 elan says:
i like the classics why ruin a good thing i hope they bring back the cow mobs from cow lvl and some other classics. the big thing for me is that the specs can have very broad trees that all work well i hate when all the mages will be fire since time will be weak i want a good balance and broadined tree field with good options :)
30/05/2009 at 11:07 Z says:
Awesome game!
We travelled together. east… always to the east!!!
god, I loved the video scenes so much.