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Diablo III cooks up a reveal for the Witch Doctor
As the release grows closer, Diablo III continues to serve up new reveals for the game's classes. But the latest revelation is still bringing a lot of secrets along with it. After all, would you really expect the Witch Doctor not to have a few more tricks up his sleeve? Like previous classes, the good doctor gets a video showing off the class style as well as a short story and a more specific class overview. While he's fully capable of dealing straight damage, the Witch Doctor's true talents lie in subtlety and misdirection via curses, confusion, and fear. He also possesses the ability to summon creatures to act as ersatz allies, with giant toads and swarms of flaming bats compensating for his own lack of physical might. If all of this sounds like just your style, you might want to take a look at the video... but even if that's not the case, all Diablo III fans will want to take note of the first announced launch event for the game, with more to follow.
Drakensang Online compares itself to Diablo III and Torchlight II
Bigpoint Games is painting Drakensang Online as the Rocky Balboa of isometric hack-'n'-slash MMOs, and it's stepping into the ring with the upcoming title contenders and swinging away. The company released a comparison chart to show how its scrappy underdog is actually head and shoulders above the developing competition. According to the comparison chart, Drakensang takes the lead by offering all that its competition has and more. When you've got a game that was developed in less than two years, is free-to-play, and is a full-fledged MMO, why would you ever want to sample the fruits of Blizzard's and Runic Games' trees? Will Drakensang nip hard enough at Diablo III's heels to hobble the mighty demon as it releases next month? Time will tell, but you can check out our impressions of Drakensang when Mike plays it for you live on Massively TV this Wednesday evening! [Source: Bigpoint Games press release]
Diablo III roars into an open beta weekend
Flex those mouse-clicking fingers, compadres -- it's demon-hunting time! This weekend, Blizzard is blowing the doors off Diablo III's beta, allowing any and all (well, those with a Battle.net account, that is) to come try out this upcoming action RPG. The open beta weekend begins at 3:00 p.m. EDT today and lasts until 1:00 p.m. on Monday, April 23rd. During the beta, all five classes will be available, but players will be limited to a level 13 cap as they give the game a whirl. To access the Diablo III open beta, you'll need a valid Battle.net account and a BattleTag. Despite playing in the open beta, participants won't be able to post in the beta forums and won't receive Beta Bucks to spend. Asian players in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau will be part of not this stress test but rather a separate invitation-only closed beta test starting on April 23rd.
Diablo III punches things up with a new Monk video and the end of beta
Diablo III is still putting together more previews as the game ramps up for its launch on May 15th. The latest reveal is for the Monk, a melee class that takes a very different approach from the already revealed Barbarian. Rather than attacking with massive weapons and overpowering rage, the Monk uses careful combo attacks, swift movements, and inner energy. Unleashing a Monk's spiritual power after a long chain of melee attacks can produce all sorts of effects, from area damage to dashing out of combat quickly. This reveal coincides with the announcement that the Diablo III beta will be coming to a close on Tuesday, May 1st. Character information will be wiped at that time, and players will be able to post on the official forums only in the event that they have pre-purchased the game or they have an active account for another Blizzard game. If the Monk reveal makes you anxious to play one and you're in the beta, you'd better get on that quickly or be prepared to wait for launch.
Blizzard highlights the Barbarian in Diablo III's newest video
There are some classes in every game meant to explore arcane mysteries, to sneak through trials with subtlety and focus upon finesse and careful action. The Barbarian of Diablo III is not one of those classes. No, the Barbarian is the class for when you want to just smash everything until it stands no taller than dust, and then smash yourself some dust for good measure. It's the latest reveal for the game, and as expected, it comes with an accompanying video. In lore terms, as a Barbarian you play one of the last members of a proud nomadic people whose tireless defense of Mount Arreat ultimately failed, leaving the Barbarians to wander disillusioned and hopeless. Meanwhile, in game terms, you'll focus on savage melee attacks, thundering war shouts, and a variety of extremely powerful weapons and armor. So go ahead and pound on your mouse until you get past the break to view the Barbarian in all his bloody, savage, not-quite-housebroken glory.
New Diablo III launch site collapses under the weight of fans
With just over a month left until Diablo III is released, Blizzard launched its new Darkness Falls, Heroes Rise minisite to get people excited. Fans can enter an art contest with some big prizes or create a banner to unlock an exclusive in-game banner sigil that will never be given away outside this event. The site is one big social media campaign, with exclusive content that unlocks when players share enough contest entries on Facebook and Twitter. Fansite DiabloFans revealed that the unlocks will include developer diaries, wallpapers and more. Once the share meter reaches 100%, a final epic unveiling will occur that Blizzard's Bashiok says "is going to melt people's brain meats." When the site first launched, fans reported everything from PHP errors to lost connections and 404 pages. The site has since been stabilised but doesn't appear to be working as intended. The galleries are no longer updating, confirmation emails are not being sent for entries, and the unlock level hasn't budged from 0%. As we'll need just under 3% per day to meet the 100% goal, players are concerned that if the meter isn't broken, then expectations may have been set too high.
Resistance: Burning Skies multiplayer page revealed, removed
What's that, PlayStation Vita owner? You want to know more about multiplayer in Resistance: Burning Skies? Unfortunately, it seems that Sony isn't ready to share that info quite yet. After updating its game page with scant details on the game mode – Wi-fi-based "8-player online multiplayer across six unique maps and three modes" – Sony later removed said info.Presumably the details were meant for a coordinated marketing push ahead of the game's May 29 launch date, but, uh, well, here they are! We've reached out to Sony for more info, but don't expect to hear much until the stars align (and Sony is good and ready to say its piece).[Thanks, Knives Chau!]
Mari0 is getting six-player online multi mode; you don't need friends anyway
Mari0, the Super Mario Bros./Portal platformer crossover, has been ruining friendships from a few couch cushions away since launching last month, but now its scope for poisoning even the truest of bffs is broadening. Developer Stab Yourself is working on an online multiplayer mode for Mari0, with a brief taste of the inevitable frustration, angry words, broken screens and even more irreparable relationships to come in the demo video above.No word yet on an expected release date or details, but the video shows six whole friendships come to a grinding, chiptuned halt -- that's six players and 12 possible portals, folks. We hope you meet new people easily.
Be vewy vewy quiet; we're hunting demons: A look at Diablo III's Demon Hunter
The world of Diablo III is a dark and dismal one indeed. Between the whole hell-leaking-into-earth thing and the utterly ludicrous number of undead monstrosities roaming the land, the denizens of Sanctuary have it rough. Thankfully, a number of survivors have risen up and established themselves as Demon Hunters who utilize grace, agility, and lots of explosives to rid the world of its demonic taint. For players planning to join the ranks of these Demon Hunters, Blizzard has released a brand-new video highlighting the many skills available to the class. If flurries of crossbow bolts, flaming shuriken boomerangs, and the dexterity of a lynx on crack appeal to you at all, then the Demon Hunter is probably right up your alley. But hey, you don't have to take our word for it; go check out the full video and decide for yourselves.
Diablo III launches May 15th [Updated]
At long last we have a release date for the third entry in Blizzard's unholy trinity. Yes, kids, Diablo III will be yours on May 15th, and even though there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the title of late, we're pretty sure that it's still going to sell like hotcakes. According to our fine friends at Joystiq, you can pre-purchase the game immediately via Battle.net, and doing so will ensure that you're "ready to play the minute the servers go live." Blizzard would also like to bribe remind its fans that Diablo III can be had for free by signing up for an annual World of Warcraft pass (and that deal lasts through May 1st). [Update: On this news, analysts are now predicting that the game will sell 5 million units in its first year.]
Diablo III shelves PvP to make launch
When a release date is nearing and a crucial game feature is falling behind, what is a studio to do? If you're Blizzard and you're looking at the fate of one of the biggest titles of the year, you yank the offending feature from the game so as to not delay the entire product. Blizzard announced today that Diablo III's PvP is not living up to the studio's standards and that it will be removing it for now in order to keep the game on track for launch. So why not just hold back the game until it's completely ready? In the words of the studio, "We ultimately felt that delaying the whole game purely for PvP would just be punishing to everyone who's waiting to enjoy the campaign and core solo/co-op content, all of which is just about complete." Diablo III's PvP functionality will be restored at an unspecified later date with multiple Arena maps, achievements, personal progression, and a matchmaking system. [Thanks to Marc for the tip!]
Rumor: Diablo III releasing April 17th
The rumor mill is churning fast and furious today as heavy speculation is swirling about a possible release date for Diablo III: April 17th. This comes from Italian website mmorpgitalia, which reports that retailers are clearing space for their shelves on the 17th after a tip from Activision Italy. Blizzard, of course, is declining to comment on the rumor, although Game Director Jay Wilson says that an "all-important announcement" -- most likely the release date -- is imminent. When asked on Twitter how soon the announcement would arrive (on a scale of 1-10), Wilson replied with a simple "9." Tomorrow begins the CeBIT 2012 trade show in Europe, and Blizzard will be present to show off the Diablo III beta. If an announcement is to be made, this event might make a good a platform as any from which to tell the gaming world which day it's going to need to take off from work.
Diablo III will see you in hell... mode
If you were among the players put out because Diablo III seems too pretty to be hardcore, you'll be happy to know that Blizzard hopes to re-earn your love, not with art but with gameplay. The company has released a video in which key DIII devs talk up the game's nightmare, hell, and inferno difficulty modes. They promise a veritable ass-kicking complete with hours of wiping and mounting repair costs. Quoth the devs: "Normal mode was pretty casual. It's very fun -- you're one-clicking and you're having laughs. Once you get into Nightmare mode, it starts turning into all business. [...] The game really starts [...] at Nightmare. [...] The way the game is tuned right now, people have no idea what they're getting themselves into." Perhaps not coincidentally, the Battle.net World of Warcraft blog is now daring gamers to join a community-driven Iron Man WoW Challenge. Participants eschew luxuries like buffs, talents, and grouping and charge into the world to see just how high they can level. Death, of course, means game over for the hardest of the hardcore. The Diablo III vid is embedded just behind the break!
Play the MMO that never dies with Mythos Global's open beta
Mythos is the MMO that almost wasn't, then was, then wasn't, and then was again. The free-to-play Diablo-esque MMO was in playable beta as far back as November 2007, but its release was plagued by problems you wouldn't wish on your worst enemies. Mythos has somehow survived its entire original development team being fired, legal battles over the intellectual property rights to the game, and being kicked from publisher to publisher. Now in its third incarnation as Mythos Global, the game will soon relaunch to excited fans, and to curious gamers who didn't play it while it was live. If you didn't snag one of Massively's keys for the closed beta back in December, your chance to play the game starts now! Mythos Global officially entered open beta today, with free registration available via its new publisher T3Fun.
Xbox Marketplace: RE6 features 6-player online co-op, 8-player online multi [update]
The Xbox Marketplace listing for Resident Evil 6 appears to contain some exceedingly juicy and entirely unannounced secrets about Capcom's upcoming thriller. If the listing is to be believed, Leon and Chris' latest adventure will include 2-player couch co-op, 6-player online co-op and 8-player "online multiplayer," which we're assuming will be some sort of group Mercenaries exercise.What's even more astounding is all of this information is just out there, floating around the Internet. We didn't have to collect masks or unlock a blood-filled casket or find key cards or anything. For now, we're cautiously taking everything we read with a grain of salt, even if it is the Xbox Marketplace. We've also reached out to Capcom for confirmation of these features.Update: We have received a missive from Capcom: "We'll have further clarification in the coming weeks." Tantalizing!
Here's what Ninja Gaiden 3's multiplayer looks like
We know, we know -- the gallery below isn't quite a trailer showing off Ninja Gaiden 3's new multiplayer mode, but it is the first we've seen of the four vs four competitive slicer. Head past the break -- carefully -- to take a peek.
Saints Row: The Third online co-op campaign and 'Whored Mode' gated with online pass
If you're considering postponing your purchase of Saints Row: The Third until sometime after next Tuesday in hopes of snagging a less expensive used copy, but also yearn for online cooperative mayhem, beware: an online pass is required before taking to the Information Superhighway. Included in new copies of both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Saints Row: The Third are one-time use codes for redemption upon initial launch of any online multiplayer, prompting users to otherwise purchase a pass for an undisclosed amount (we've asked THQ for clarification). Unfortunately, despite having both 360 and PS3 copies available for review at Joystiq, the 360 pass won't activate until launch and very few reviewers have PS3 code. Rest assured, we'll have our own review of Saints Row: The Third -- co-op or not -- by early next week.
NBA Jam on PS3 and Xbox getting day-one online multiplayer patch
NBA Jam ballers on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 need not worry about online functionality -- aside from "Classic Mode" being available out of the box, the patch adding online versus and co-op to the rest of the modes will be available at launch. Get an early look at what it'll add after the break.
Ex-Free Radical (Crytek UK) working solely on Crysis 2 multiplayer
Despite earlier claims that Haze developer Free Radical (now Crytek UK) were working on an "original FPS" for its new overlord Crytek Studios, it appears that the UK-based studio is actually hard at work on Crysis 2's multiplayer component. In an interview with VG247, CEO Cevat Yerli revealed "several online functionalities" for the game, as well as the team behind said functionalities. "That is all they [Crytek UK] are doing, with a full team on it, and they are blasting forward at full speed with more focus and dedication than I've ever had before at Crytek." Jeez you two, get a room! Yerli unfortunately couldn't expand on the various types of multiplayer we'll find in Crysis 2 when it arrives later this year, though he did note that the team at Crytek UK will be "making the gameplay unique to both the console and PC versions." Presumably he means that in a sense greater than "The PC version has way, way prettier graphics."
DICE explains Battlefield Bad Company 2 dedicated server rentals
One of the many volleys in DICE's Battlefield Bad Company 2 marketing campaign meant to sway Modern Warfare 2 loyalists towards its upcoming shooter was the promise of dedicated servers for PC players. That said, when the Swedish game development house recently announced a rental service for those interested in using said dedicated servers, some folks were less than thrilled. According to producer Gordon Van Dyke in an interview with Eurogamer, the reasoning doesn't have to do with profits so much as protecting "the game's integrity on PC." Van Dyke also indicates that DICE's "authorized hosts" have already been chosen worldwide, though he notes that the studio "will see where the game goes and support it post-launch." At very least, PC gamers will get a chance to find out if the rental fee is worth it when the game goes into PC beta on January 28. %Gallery-43916%
