On a stage that looks like an altar to Diablo, Blizzard revealed Diablo 4 at BlizzCon today. It showed off an ill-fated group of adventurers as they made their way through a dimly lit dungeon, followed by dark, unseen monsters. One of them doesn’t make it. Bye, Beric Dondarrion’s doppelganger. Check out the announcement trailer and the gameplay trailer below.
A new big bad
Three adventurers make it into an enclosed chamber. To summon something? An ominous voice echoes through the dark temple. The trailer repeats “by three they come, by three the way opens.” A dark sorcerer appears, looking the part of a demonic cult leader. Some blood magic comes into play and forms a bloody portal, likely to Hell, revealing Diablo 4’s villain.
Lilith, the creator of Sanctuary, looks like the next big bad.
If you know anything about your Diablo lore, an angel copulated with a demon to create the Nephilim (the playable characters in Diablo 2 and 3.) Lilith, the daughter of Mephisto, was the lover of the archangel Inarius. This was a big no-no among angels and demons. Lilith and Inarius took refuge on Sanctuary and protected it with the Worldstone. But you know how that turned out.
Gameplay and classes
Luis Barriga, Diablo 4’s game director, came on stage after the trailer to address BlizzCon. He stated that Diablo 4 will be going back to the franchise’s dark and gores, and will mean “Blood and gore… occult symbols and rituals… and victories will be neither clean nor guaranteed.”
He emphasized that the world is how you will experience the game. There will be friendly towns and enemy camps, as well as other players. The combat is described as visceral and fluid. Barriga said that they are approaching the series with complete reverence.
Barrig1 introduced three classes: the barbarian, the sorceress, and the druid.
The gameplay featured a desolate, ashen wasteland. We even get a grim voiceover from Ralph Ineson (The Witch). Skeletons, giant tentacles, and ghouls are some of the enemies shown. It still has that fluid Diablo combat. Dual-wielding, leaping barbarians. A bulky druid wielding an electric staff before he transforms into a bear. A sorceress using ice magic. The standard Diablo stuff you’ve come to expect.
It looks like you might be able to customize your characters since we saw a wide variety of hairstyles, genders, and skin colors. There are even unique combat animations when you are fighting bosses.
No mention on a release date for Diablo 4, but it has been confirmed to be coming to PC.
