Blizzard unveiled Diablo III today, a long-overdue sequel to its action RPG franchise. The game was unveiled with a cinematic trailer and even gameplay footage during the 2008 Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational in Paris.
Diablo III will pick up the story 20 years after the end of Diablo II. Mephisto, Diablo and Baal have been defeated, but the Worldstone, which once shielded the inhabitants of the world of Sanctuary from the forces of the High Heavens and Burning Hells, has been destroyed, and evil once again stirs in Tristram.
Playing as a hero from one of five distinct character classes, players will acquire powerful items, spells, and abilities as they explore new and familiar areas of Sanctuary and battle hordes of demons to safeguard the world from the horrors that have arisen. The first two characters classes, barbarian and witch doctor, were shown as part of the demonstration today in Paris.
Cooperative and competitive play will both be available online through an upgraded version of Blizzard’s Battle.net online-gaming service.
Diablo III will feature a custom 3D graphics engine and physics-enhanced environments that will be interactive and destructible. The environments will also include traps and obstacles that create pose a threat to players and monsters alike. Diablo III will also include a new quest system and random scripted events, as well as a random-level generator.
Blizzard is developing Diablo III for simultaneous release on the PC and Macintosh. The company did not announce an anticipated release date.