Diablo 3

    Quote from Jetsetlemming

    If you ignore the outdoor image (seeing as all the D2 images you posted are from dungeons) the only difference in appearance is the result of the move to dynamically lit 3d with a higher def display. There is an added artistic quality that makes the environments have a somewhat hand painted appearance- this is most certainly something WoW does NOT have. Wow looks cartoony and simplistic- as if Insomniac made the environments back when they were making Spyro and Crash Bandicoot games. D3 looks artistic but suitably moody and impressive.

    I couldn't disagree with you more, it's the complete opposite of moody or a brooding atmosphere which diablo 2 captured brilliantly. This looks like all of blizzards new games, WoW, all of it's expansions and Starcraft 2. They all share a smooth, stylised cartoon look which I think couldn't have been a worse choice for something like the Diablo series. Whenever I play Diablo 1 or 2 I always get the sense if being in an environment that is full of absolute evil, littered with tortured corpses, gore, moody lighting, and some rather disturbing iconography that I am not welcome in at all, and I love it! My impression from the videos and screenshots is a rather friendly atmosphere! Come on look at it, it looks like a rather pleasant place I can almost see the fairies dancing. It reminds me more of Dungeon Siege 2's mystical forests than a land full of evil. The environments certainly are not reflecting the type of game Diablo is. I'm a MASSIVE diablo fanboy so of course I'm going to moan about this.

    Oh and by the way, we only saw 2 environments.

    It lacks the evil ambience of some of the previous environments, but heh, wait and see.

    it has a more cartoony feel to it than i had imagined diablo would have, though it's not the wow style..

    i reckon ill have to see more than just a few shots to judge properly though. also, i am not really convinced since most of the diablo team left to establish arena net (guild wars) or that fuzzy company that made hellgate london

    Quote from dux

    I couldn't disagree with you more, it's the complete opposite of moody or a brooding atmosphere which diablo 2 captured brilliantly. This looks like all of blizzards new games, WoW, all of it's expansions and Starcraft 2. They all share a smooth, stylised cartoon look which I think couldn't have been a worse choice for something like the Diablo series. Whenever I play Diablo 1 or 2 I always get the sense if being in an environment that is full of absolute evil, littered with tortured corpses, gore, moody lighting, and some rather disturbing iconography that I am not welcome in at all, and I love it! My impression from the videos and screenshots is a rather friendly atmosphere! Come on look at it, it looks like a rather pleasant place I can almost see the fairies dancing. It reminds me more of Dungeon Siege 2's mystical forests than a land full of evil. The environments certainly are not reflecting the type of game Diablo is. I'm a MASSIVE diablo fanboy so of course I'm going to moan about this.

    It certainly had moody and brooding MUSIC.

    Diablo's environmental design never stuck out to me as anything special. What's shown in the gameplay footage on the other hand, while not amazing, is quite nice, especially being destructible, interactable, and has that drawn quality to the backdrops. The part at the end when they fight the giant monster was very, very reminiscent of the Act 1 finale area, the outdoor parts of it.

    Quote from Taylor

    I personally don’t think the change is necessarily a bad thing, but there's no doubting that it's there.

    Yeah I pretty much agree with this. I was more skeptical when just looking at the screens but after watching the gameplay video it still feels very much like Diablo.

    But, I think the hope for Blizzard to successfully port those hard edged, sprite based graphics from the 90's to 3D is gone. The same sort of thing happened with StarCraft II, you sort of begrudgingly approve of the new style because it does in fact look kick ass, just not the same as it was before.

    Not to derail things, but I think Relic is pulling off that gritty, dark look that, if you took StarCraft or Diablo 10 years ago and imagined them in the future, would look something like this:

    [Blocked Image: http://www.vulomedia.com/images/21599dow2_resize.jpg]

    You can't overstate Blizzard's art direction and talent, but there's a little part of me that wishes things had maybe gone more the direction shown above.

    Now it's time to wait and soak up some D3 media and info for the next 3 years

    I agree, Relic are absolute legends of the RTS aesthetics. They've done a really good job of getting that old 2D feel into a vibrant 3D world, whereas Blizzard are clearly adopting a stylised hand-painted look for essentially everything. I suppose at least it means Blizzard has a signature style, which isn't bad for a developer to have.

    I personally never got into Diablo so I look forward to playing this game on its own merits and not based on how it resembles the predecessors.

    This shot could so be right out of WoW though:

    [Blocked Image: http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/3680/ss9hireshq7.jpg]

    Meh, cartoony Diablo. :/ I think hell has frozen. Not the thing I was expecting. And pretty disappointing that the guys over at Blizzard can't do any different than that.

    I really don't see what the rest of you are complaining about. I've played both games to death, and even though stills look a bit washed out, the gameplay video conveys a dark and gritty atmosphere that's similar to the prequels. Whole lotta fuss about nothing I say. They could've pulled a bethesda on you and made it first person, so count your lucky stars

    Quote from DvS

    I really don't see what the rest of you are complaining about. I've played both games to death, and even though stills look a bit washed out, the gameplay video conveys a dark and gritty atmosphere that's similar to the prequels. Whole lotta fuss about nothing I say. They could've pulled a bethesda on you and made it first person, so count your lucky stars

    People have different opinions?

    Didn't imply anything different, just stating my opinion. I'm watching the gameplay vid again in high-res and coupled with the music and the dark creature design, the fantasy-esque backdrops kind of act like subtle contrasts instead of being all crass about it.

    Quote from DvS

    They could've pulled a bethesda on you and made it first person, so count your lucky stars

    That wouldn't have stopped me from playing it, but I am hella glad they didn't.

    I agree with Minos, the website is ace. Tyreal in the background with his glowing wings looks awesome!

    Anyone come across a release date yet? I couldn't see one on the page (though I didn't look too hard ..).

    Quote from Sindwiller

    Meh, cartoony Diablo. :/ I think hell has frozen. Not the thing I was expecting. And pretty disappointing that the guys over at Blizzard can't do any different than that.

    what did you expect after the original diablo team went and started their own company? i bet that blizzard's art direction and general game play would be much better had it featured those people who made the original series.

    blizzard pisses me off.. it's becoming the apple of game developers.

    Quote from Sentura

    general game play would be much better had it featured those people who made the original series.

    This is a bit of a stretch, no?

    Quote from Erratic

    This is a bit of a stretch, no?

    Not at all, we can all see what a gem of gameplay Hellgate London turned out to be.

    Quote from Nysuatro

    I just saw it on gametrailers, looked awesome. Never played diablo toh

    Me neither D:

    As for you, Bliazzard; "Fool me once, shame on... shame on you. You fool me, you can't get fooled again."

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