Diablo III: New Class, Old Concern

Diablo III is still shaping up a little too much like World of Warcraft, isn't it? That's not necessarily a bad thing; Warcraft's world is captivating and beautiful, it's characters diverse and memorable. Diablo has always had a dark and dying setting, one whose appearance parallels the state of things in the world of Sanctuary; Hell is trying to run shit.

Fanboys are up in arms about the world of Diablo III resembling WoW's Azeroth a little too closely. Dark towns, grimy dungeons, and the fires of hell are starting to give way and coexist with lush forests set on a backdrop of waterfalls. One of these things is not like the others. Although a little variation doesn't hurt, maybe the Diablo faithful are jumping the gun here. A wide range of of settings to spill demon blood can't possibly be a bad thing, can it?

Diablo III features a cast of five playable classes, and for the first time in the series, each class can choose male or female variants. In the rich fantasy world, with the ability to create a near endless amount of classes, Blizzard has ripped one archetype straight from the books of Warcraft; the Witch Doctor. A questionable choice, the Witch Doctor's initial screen shots, trailers, and lore has gotten nothing from me but yawns. I'm not even hating that Blizzard is jacking Warcraft characters, but the Witch Doctor? C'mon son. I'd rather have a paladin than that noise. 

Over the weekend, the fifth and final class got its big reveal. The Demon Hunter; ranged weapons expert, skilled and agile, who makes use of crossbows (akimbo, at tmes) and traps. Sounds a bit familiar? World of Warcraft's Hunter, is also a master of ranged weaponry, uses crossbows, and sets traps. The Demon Hunter does look pretty cool, as evidenced by the trailer, but my qualms lie with the lack of originality, something that seems to have been plaguing D3 since it's first screenshots have leaked.

I don't know how to feel about all these shared resources. Is Blizzard alienating the dedicated Diablo fan base in an attempt to capture a piece of the obscenely large World of Warcraft market? I'm on board for Diablo III, even if the final confrontation pits the player against Onyxia. I won't be happy about it, but I'll play it. In the end, fans are just going to have to hope the latest entry in Diablo's prestigious line retains enough of its former glory, while keeping the influence of it's relative as minimal as possible. But damn, it's gonna be good to play Diablo again.