Prime Evil. Diablo III Collector's Edition
There is no pony level
[cut]
Every release of Blizzard is a celebration not only for players but also for collectors, and the Diablo III Collector's Edition is ready to showcase its excellence once again. But I can't start this post without sharing the epic story of how I got this gem.
Like all normal fans of collectibles, I was either waiting for news on Russian sales (which after StarCraft 2 seemed unlikely) or for the pre-order to launch on Zavvi, where the price is the lowest, and shipping to Russia costs only 1 pound. The latter came first, and I placed my pre-order for a laughable 3400 rubles via Paypal, which is important. Around the same time, Gamazavr and Sensorium launched an essay contest that I initially followed with one eye, but a couple of days before the finals, with shocking realization that a euro key for [Diablo III](/games?search=Diablo III) was just going to anyone who participated by making a post within the rules. So, I did just that, wrote an essay, and submitted it two minutes before the finish. I found I wasn't the only clever one, but the three prizes were split quite well between two participants, and I was also satisfied with a 70% discount. The results were announced on May 14, a day before the European release.
And then the interesting part begins. For second place, I got a 70% discount on the European version and purchased it. Overall, happiness. But the key was bought with a card linked to Paypal, and literally half an hour later, a surprise arrives — Zavvi attempts to charge the card for the collectible (this happens at the moment of dispatch) and gets declined, as I had a couple of hundred less on it. I was sure they would charge on the 15th, not the 14th, and I had time to top up my balance. Well, okay, I’ll top up and redo the payment through the store profile, no problem. I log into Zavvi, and... turns out they have a special relationship with Paypal, and if a payment attempt fails once, you have to cancel the order altogether, no options. A week of back and forth with tech support led to nothing. There was a dangerous possibility of missing out on the collectible. So, I made arrangements with a dedicated Blizzard fan, kapxapot, to get his extra German box. Interestingly, it was extra because:
The German version is indeed sad, but better this than nothing at all. I ended up checking his fan site Warcry.ru and read that Blizzard had sent them a collector's box for [Diablo III](/games?search=Diablo III) that they needed to give away. On May 22, an essay contest was launched, and I happily decided to participate: I have the experience of writing, authoritative comments from Sensorium, and knowledge of the universe, thanks to the previous contest. Plus, judging by that, public engagement should be minimal. I resolved to write, crafted my work in one evening, and submitted it anonymously just in case. Then I checked the forum and read that over 30 entries had already been accepted, with two days left until the end of the contest.
By the end of the contest, 57 entries had been sent in. My heart ached when I saw myself in first place. Once again, I send greetings to the jury that had to evaluate this epic amount of work and especially to kapxapot, from whom I snagged this collectible and will soon grab the German one too! But that's not all. It turned out that the key from the collector's edition could be activated on top of the regular one on the same account, giving a new standard European key. Which I did, happily claiming it. In summary, I received a European key on release day, the collector's edition two weeks after it, and a clean profit of a thousand rubles. And this is despite the fact that the Russian ceremonial launch with official giveaways will happen only in three days! In such moments, I amaze myself.
Shall we move to the review?
Diablo III is the heftiest collectible Blizzard has released. Slightly narrower than World of Warcraft, but noticeably thicker. The effect is enhanced by the design of the box inspired by ancient marble columns.
The design allowed for elegantly hiding the opening mechanism and adding another element of designer flair.
Inside, everything is compactly and firmly arranged despite the vertical layout. Initially, each element was in its own polyethylene packaging. Blizzard!
The game DVD box of the collector’s edition is traditionally more elite than the regular one: the inscription “Collector's Edition” on the front cover and the disc itself, with the art on the back side completely intact.
The key from the collector's edition grants angelic wings and a couple of unique colors for all characters (an account-bound item), a companion for World of Warcraft, and three avatars for StarCraft 2. And an elite achievement, of course!
However, the manual is the same as in the regular edition. The technical information occupies a paltry six pages, the rest is descriptions of the world, hero histories, and similar interesting tidbits. Full-color, with illustrations. I hope the Russian jewel is not deprived of this charm.
There are five cards with codes in the collectible: two guest ones for Diablo 3 (I gave one away), two guest ones for World of Warcraft and Diablo 2 with the addon, the distributions of which are on a flash drive. The key for Diablo III itself was inside the game box.
The soundtrack this time is inside an impressive Digipack, whereas in all previous collectibles they were just jewels. Judging by the easter egg, which is a bit further down the spoiler, a jewel was initially planned here too. But we ultimately receive a very atmospheric soundtrack that you can read, admire, and listen to, of course. The music of Diablo III is not limiting, but serves as a very pleasant background for any activity, including for creating this post.
The video disc is of a new format, both in DVD and Blu-ray. I missed the StarCraft 2 collectible, so this is my first acquaintance with Blizzard high-definition video materials.
CGI videos of Diablo III in HD definitely make me scrape my jaw off the floor, but I can't take screenshots on PS 3, so we'll skip the spoilers. Here's the content of the video DVD:
As expected, we see game videos, films about making the game, a retrospective of the series, and a link to the Extra Features section. All content is in English, but you can change the subtitle language on the game videos, including to Russian. Other materials do not have subtitles at all.
The section for additional bonuses differs between the DVD and Blu-ray discs. The smaller disc couldn't fit the Color Scripts (which are game videos at the stage of creating the color palette. All five videos in their entirety), Interstitials (these are animated in-game videos, different for each class) and an enlarged collection of trailers from past games.
And the most interesting thing in the edition: a soul stone flash drive of 4 Gb with a stand in the shape of Diablo's skull. I remind you, in the StarCraft 2 collectible, the device was 2 Gb and far less conceptual. Here’s such a beauty:
The flash drive is not rigidly fixed in the stand but can’t fall out accidentally thanks to the magnet. When plugged into a computer, it glows dramatically with a red LED (unfortunately without blinking). The soul stone is plastic, and the skull feels very much like the dragon from the **Skyrim** collectible.
And the art book. Its cover is, in my opinion, the most striking of all. And the content, as usual, is "epic traveling through epic".
As usual, the collectible is exceptionally cool. The other question is whether it is worth buying for 5999, which is promised at the Russian premiere? Honestly, I would not. It’s not about the edition itself but rather the principle that a newly released collectible from Blizzard in 2012 can’t cost nearly as much as the original World of Warcraft did at launch in 2007 (6999 rubles, and that was a new batch of collectibles three years after the release, when they were worth several times more on Ebay). And yes, the European WoW: Cataclysm collectible cost 2499 a year and a half ago.
But on the other hand, there’s a considerable probability that if you don’t buy the edition now, in a couple of months it will be very difficult to find it, even for such an amount. This is Blizzard, after all. As for the game itself, I won't say anything just yet to avoid provoking disputes. Diablo III has certainly solidified its place in the world, but evaluating it as a game is a separate and significant post, which I would very much like to finish writing. Diablo, release me!...
AQuaRity#2433, especially for GAMER.ru