Diablo III Previews
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The presentation continues as the fighter spins like a death-dealing dervish to the cheers of the crowd. It's settled, then: this is the Barbarian using a Whirlwind ability, a fan favorite making a return appearance. As Wilson continues speaking and the game demonstration moves on, it becomes clear that there are some new -- and hopefully welcome -- differences. The new "hotbar" making its way over from World of Warcraft is part of a conscious decision to make the game's combat more tactical (though just as fast-paced) and each of the game's classes distinct. While there will still be health potions in the game, new "health orbs" that drop from creatures along with ready access to skills mean that combat is no longer a game of attrition (and clicking, clicking, clicking!) but more a matter of the ability to read the combat terrain, understand the enemies who have spawned and utilize tactics really fast to pound opponents into goo.
On-screen, Wilson is demonstrating this with a variety of new enemies. There are skeletons that carry shields that can take a lot of damage along with arrow-shooting skeletons that can dish it out. The trick, of course, is for the Barbarian to use some sort of shockwave-like attack to get the skeletons to drop their shield so the more dangerous (and fragile) bow-wielding skeletons can get pounded into motes of dust. Another battle has the player facing down human cultists who are slow, weak and don't do much damage. They do, however, have the ability to summon a demon who shares none of those characteristics. The trick of this encounter is to kill the cultists before they summon enough demons to overwhelm the player.
And an excerpt from Gaming Age's article, which looks to be based on the handful of trailers that have been released:
Walls crumble in a scripted way, and some even fall down when hit. Doors are not simply kicked open, but beaten down and shattered. The Barbarian leaps across chasms with a certain machismo and confidence that makes him feel all the more convincing. Even character interactions are a small bit deeper, with the player character talking to characters that are scattered throughout the levels. Instead of only talking to people in towns, they're spread throughout the world in the gameplay clip in a way that's somewhat more realistic.
