28 June 2008

Diablo III

Is anyone else worried about Blizzard? They’ve been working on Diablo III for four years, and it’s still “far too early in development” to have a release date; it’s just about the same with Starcraft II. In both cases, gameplay refinements and minor graphics upgrades to franchises that haven’t been touched for more than half a dozen years. No reinvention, no innovation, just touch-ups.

When Valve spends years polishing their games, what they release tends to push the boundaries of the medium; what the hell is Blizzard pushing when they update game genres that everybody else deserted because there are more interesting things to do with a computer? I’m not saying those games aren’t going to be successful, just wondering where the hell they’re not going with this.

Hey, that reminds me of all the Indiana Jones 4 reviews: too much time has passed since the last installment for the audience to care about a sequel that follows the previous episode’s formula to the letter.