The minions of Hell descend upon us all tomorrow and while you’re waiting eagerly until hell freezes over for Diablo 3, here’s the lowdown on what you can expect from what is seemingly Blizzard’s sellout pre-order of the year. The game officially launches worldwide on Tuesday ( Dubai’s geared up for a midnight launch here) and to sweeten the deal with their loyal customers, Blizzard has given all World of Warcraft Annual Pass subscribers instant access to the game. (Lucky fella’s) . Client files can be downloaded now if you have pre-ordered the game so you can avoid the long line.
After 12 years of anticipation, Diablo 3 brings about the same crazy slaying and item hunting with a huge graphics overhaul and much needed improvisations to the game. Blizzard has gone the extra mile in making sure that level design doesn’t get too familiar and of course players will always find a touch and heal orb after an intense battle which makes things easier for the novices. New classes that are totally unique in the series come as a welcome sight and will be very handy especially during Multiplayer runs when your friends/clan play differently which allows you to pull off some much needed strategy against the demonic forces as they are balanced accordingly to the full strength of all the players in a level.
Global servers are finally available for the game so you don’t need to login to a specific area to play. This feature does however only come after the game launches in all regions. until then it’s best you create your account in the correct region so your login won’t be denied. This has been verified by Blizzard’s community manager, Bashiok
For those who were given closed beta access prior to the game’s launch, Congratulations. You just unlocked the commemorative Feat of Strength, “One of the Chosen” achievement. Blizzard’s been nice to identify the hard work of the beta players by giving them this and players who were lucky enough to get a key cab unlock a unique sigil that can be used on character banners. Earning Achievements in the game unlocks banner and Sigil designs which will be displayed for all to see especially if your keen to have bragging rights.
Now if they only made a “Feat of Patience” achievement for the amount of hours I waited just to login to play the beta.
When I played the Beta, I noticed, and unless I’m mistaken, apart from armor options, there wasn’t any difference among the character I played. Take for example, all male wizards looked alike. While this may seem a bit perplexing as to why Blizzard hasn’t given that customization option, it’s best to be noted that how you play your class is determined by the items you will wield as you scavenge and find rare items that will make you stand out among the fray. If you don’t fancy the time you spend item hunting, head down to the auction house and be prepared to empty your wallet as you make purchases. It seems that Diablo is going with the age old rule of “Whoever showed up with the bigger stick, wins”
Finally, Do update your hardware graphic cards to their latest drivers. ATI has sent out a hotfix that addresses an issue cause by the game not working properly on some ATI GPU’s.
Suit up folks, welcome to Hell.
