Blizzard Entertainment announced it will be developing its PC hack-and-slash role-playing game Diablo 3 for Sony's upcoming Playstation 4 game console.
The PS4 version will include a 4-player split screen mode, allowing a group of real-life gamers to adventure together across Sanctuary, without a LAN or separate Battle.net accounts.
The controls will be reconfigured to allow for the smaller number of button options on a console controller.
Blizzard also announced that the Playstation versions of Diablo III won't need any internet connection to play. That means the entire game with be contained on the game disc and won't need to contact Blizzard's servers, offering a Diablo experience free from the looming specter of lag.
The Diablo franchise is a dark, macabre action RPG that allows players to control one of several customizable characters in heated battle across a blasted fantasy landscape, pitting them against demons, zombies, horrible monsters, corrupted mortals, and eventually the Lords of Hell themselves.
Players battle monsters to earn experiences, gold and powerful items they can use to equip their individual avatars.
Much of the experience of Diablo III comes from multiplayer cooperation and competition, so it will be interesting to see how Blizzard is able to capture much of that experience when many gamers will be dealing with a much smaller pool of participants -- four, rather than the hundreds of thousands of players online.
In addition, console Diablo III players won't be able to play in the same games as PC players, so either Blizzard will need to develop an entirely new community based solely on console gamers, or it will need to offer some other kind of experience to Playstation users.
In any case, it seems like it will be a very different kind of game on the Playstation, geared much more toward casual gamers.
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
