PEER INTO PANDEMONIUM: A “DIABLO IV” FIRST LOOK

Blizzard Entertainment is known for its worldbuilding of epic proportions in online gaming.

Blizzard is responsible for titles such as the massively multiplayer online role-playing game, “World of Warcraft,” the real-time strategy title “StarCraft” and the dungeoncrawling, demon-smashing, loot-grabbing adventure known lovingly to fans as the “Diablo” franchise.

“Diablo” currently has four titles under its belt spanning nearly 30 years: “Diablo 1-3,” and the mobile title “Diablo: Immortal,” but just on the horizon is the heavily anticipated “Diablo 4” (D4).

But will D4 live up to the hype? Fans of the franchise were allowed to participate in an early access beta test and an open beta in March.

The primary purpose of the beta is to address gameplay and server issues to facilitate a smoother launch when D4 is released on June 6.

From the opening sequence cutscene of the beta test, D4 felt like a triple-A game and delivered on its promise of a deep, immersive story.

The story is rich and incredibly cinematic, with excellent voice acting and a dark, sinister tone that drives home the desperation the people of Sanctuary (the fictional place where the events of the Diablo franchise occur) are experiencing during the events of D4.

Lilith, the antagonist of D4, is incredibly detailed; while her intentions are not made apparent in the beta, players can deduce that they can’t be good.

To put it mildly, she is a terrifyingly sinister antagonist, and her influence is felt in every part of the game, from the beggars on the street to the priests in the chapels.

All the cutscenes in the beta (Act I) effectively complemented the opening sequence.

They felt like they could easily be part of a feature film, which was unexpected for a beta test and was undoubtedly added purely as a fan service.

Fans of the franchise are familiar with the history and lore of Sanctuary.

Still, the beta test of D4 brought new life to the area, boasting indigenous creatures and demonic invaders for the player to encounter and slay for the first time in an open-world environment.

Unfortunately, true to the tradition of Diablo, it was easy for a player to find themselves overwhelmed as creatures and demons piled up and overpowered the user-created antagonist.

Of the six available character classes, I opted for the sorcerer.

The customization options for the character creation were exhausting and comprehensive.

Nearly every aspect of the character could be customized, just as most role-playing gamers have come to expect.

Players were allowed to create and customize up to ten characters during the D4 Beta, but I stuck with just one.

Once I got started playing the game, it was hard to put down. A couple of weeks after the beta, I received an email detailing my adventures, and I was surprised to learn that I had dedicated over 24 hours to playing the beta.

During that time, I managed to slay more than 15,000 monsters, complete 30 side quest lines and complete more than 30 dungeons.

Interestingly, that barely scratched the surface of what D4 promises to offer, as the beta only allowed access to the first area and its corresponding quest lines.

The quest lines were not just simple fetch quest lines as one would expect in such a large game.

Instead, each quest had small but significant details and lore attached to them, which added to the overall experience of the story, laying layer after layer of mythology explaining in-depth aspects of the game and its inhabitants.

Each character encountered in the beta felt essential and had a shared piece of the game’s overall narrative.

The gameplay of D4 is selfpaced, with an open-world approach to the classic Diablo formula and some added gameplay mechanics that were undoubtedly nice to have, like a dedicated dodge button and the ability to reallocate ability points at any time.

Fans of the franchise know that historically, Diablo games have provided a wide range of different quest lines and things to do in the game, but D4 seems to have built on that concept and expanded it into thousands of small events, dungeons and side quests that rival other triple-A titles in the genre.

While the numbers I put up in the beta felt pretty impressive, many other players put up numbers that dwarfed mine in comparison.

The graphics were impressive for a fixed camera angle game, the cutscenes were cinema quality, and despite the internet-dependent playability, the game ran smoothly, even when I played it from the hotspot on my phone (which is rare for any game I have played on my laptop).

D4 will also be released on Xbox and PlayStation and is currently available for preorder. Set to release in early June, players who preorder can also enjoy playing the game up to 4 days before the release date.

Finally, the best part!

Confirmed on April 20, Blizzard has announced that it will hold another open beta from May 12-14. Blizzard says this beta is a free server slam beta open to all players, and everyone is highly encouraged to participate.

Just as with the early access and the first open beta, players can explore and complete quests in the first zone, the fractured peaks.

In addition, the first world boss, Ashava the Pestilent, will also be available to contend with one day after the beta begins, appearing at 3-hour intervals starting on May 13 at 11 a.m. CST.

Special rewards will also be given to those who defeat Ashava during the server slam beta.

The goal of this beta is to flood the servers as much as possible to simulate release day, so Blizzard can make sure their servers are ready to handle the influx of players that day.

So, if this article interests you, check out the next beta starting on May 12 at 2 p.m. CST.

To learn more about the server slam beta, visit diablo4. blizzard.com/en-us/serverslam.

BY JESSE CAIN