Diablo 4 was introduced at BlizzCon 2019 with a long cinematic establishing the story of this chapter in the action RPG series. That was immediately followed by the good stuff: three minutes of gameplay.
Though it is set to an establishing voice-over, pretty much everything here is taken from the player’s perspective, which gives an idea of the rich detail Blizzard is trying to bring to the desiccated land of Sanctuary.
Three classes and their abilities are also shown: barbarian, sorceress, and druid. Gameplay features like dismount attacks, climbing and descending terrain are threaded into the presentation of just about every biome one could imagine for a fantasy action role-playing-game.
Here are the three classes’ attributes, from a news release Activision Blizzard issued during Friday’s opening ceremony:
The Barbarian, known for their unparalleled strength and brutal melee combat, utilizes a new and more powerful system in battle, Arsenal, which arms them with the ability to carry and rapidly switch between four different weapons at a time by assigning them to individual attacks.
The Sorceress hearkens back to their Diablo II roots and shapes the elements to obliterate their foes by impaling them upon jagged spikes of ice, electrocuting them with bolts of lightning, or raining flaming meteors from the sky.
The Druid is a savage shapeshifter whose updated playstyle empowers them to fluidly transform between werewolf, werebear, and human form to unleash the raw power of nature’s fury on the forces of the Burning Hells.
Diablo 4 does not yet have a release date or window; it’s in development for PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One, and is playable at BlizzCon this weekend.
