Can Diablo 3 Live Up to the Hype?

As a fan of Diablo 2, I have to admit that when the development studio behind the game, Blizzard North, was shut down I was quite nervous about the future of the series. A little before they were closed, it was rumored that they had been working on Diablo 3, which naturally made a lot of people, including myself, very excited.

After the studio was shut down, Blizzard never made any mention of there being a sequel to a franchise that I dearly loved. However, during 2008’s Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Paris, the game was announced and since that announcement many fans have been anticipating the release of the game.

If you have not played any of the previous games in the franchise you may be asking what is it about the Diablo series that makes it a must play title. Why should you care about it?

Spoiler alert! If you have not played the first two games and you plan on doing so, the story section contains a handful of spoilers.

Action

One of the things that I love about the Diablo franchise and I’m glad to see make a return to Diablo 3 is the fast paced hack and slash fun. Don’t get me wrong, there is some thinking that takes place before you rush in and attack a pack of mobs. However, if you are not one to strategize, then you can most definitely just pick up and play while still having fun with the fast paced action that takes place.

No matter which class you pick (Barbarian, Demon Hunter, Monk, Witch Doctor or Wizard), you will have fun hacking or casting your way through countless demons. The game may seem easy at first, especially with its simple point and click interface, but the game gets harder as both the story and the difficulty  progresses.

Story

I am a huge fan of the story aspect in any game. If it has a good story, then you’ll probably see me playing it. Blizzard is known for crafting great lore and that’s just one of their many talents. The Diablo franchise is no exception to that statement. In an attempt to not go on for hours about the story in Diablo, I’ll give you quick rundown of the history.

Long before the Diablo series began, there was a war between Heaven and Hell. This led to demons, known as great evils, entering the world of heroes, which as you can assume was not good. In total, there were 7 great evils, 3 of them were prime and the other 4 were lesser evils. To control this issue, the angels led by Archangel Tyrael got a group of Magi to imprison the 3 prime evils — Diablo, Mephisto, and Baal — in soulstones and bury each of them in secret prisons throughout sanctuary.

In the first Diablo, one of the prime evils was imprisoned in Tristram. However, at this point he had escaped his prison and possessed a king. This leaves the player to explore all the different catacombs and kill Diablo. After defeating him, you find out that the only way to contain him is to embed this soulstone into your skull. You do this, but it does not give the expected result.

In Diablo II, you find out that the hero you played in the first game has been possessed by Diablo. This game and its expansion, Lord of destruction, revolve around you killing all 3 prime evils. In the end, the Worldstone that you sought to protect is corrupted and must be destroyed. We do not know what the result will be for doing this, as we will learn more about that in Diablo 3.