Diablo III is a world-famous action RPG. It is the third full installment in the series, or the fifth if you count the expansions.
As is tradition, Diablo III takes place in the world of Sanctuary. The world was last saved twenty years ago (as recounted in Diablo II). Since then, the warriors who survived that battle have become somewhat unhinged, and the world once again needs heroes. Because twenty years have passed and the old heroes are no longer much good in a fight, the heroes in Diablo III are entirely new characters. The locations, however, are still the same—for example, Tristram.
As for NPCs from previous games, Diablo III features only Deckard Cain, who appeared in one way or another in the previous installments. He is accompanied by his stepdaughter, who periodically joins the player as the story progresses. When discussing Diablo III’s geography, it is worth mentioning first and foremost two large continents and several small islands in the northwestern part of the world.
In terms of gameplay, Diablo III differs little from its predecessors. The changes mainly concern the graphics and physics. In particular, Blizzard decided to add its own physics engine to the game, along with the ability to destroy environmental objects. At the same time, the game does not require cutting-edge hardware, and DirectX 10 is not a necessity—just an option. Diablo III’s graphics engine was also created by Blizzard, and one of the developers’ main goals was to carry the old graphics and design style over into the new game. However, the intention to teach enemies to make use of the 3D environment—to climb to higher ground, vault over fences, and so on—somewhat conflicts with the idea of “keeping everything as it was.”
Diablo III’s multiplayer mode is supported by the now-familiar Battle.net, and many of the Battle.net features introduced in StarCraft II have also been implemented in Diablo III. Among other things, players can join co-op games on the fly.