Why Diablo II Still Rules

Unmodded and running at 800 x 600 resolution, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction is still my favorite action role-playing game. I've tried many other Diablo-style games since, from Titan Quest to Dungeon Siege to Torchlight (made by several of Diablo's creators) to Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, some of which improved on Blizzard's design with less restrictive skill systems, better interfaces, more advanced visuals and added conveniences for travel, item storage and looting. But I've never played one and thought, without a doubt, that as a whole it established a higher standard than what Blizzard North achieved in the very early 2000s.

A lot of that has to do with gameplay, but what still stands out inDiablo II is the mood. The soundtrack in particular, its cascades of reverberating guitar, pounding drums and heavy, sawing strings lends Diablo II its unsettling atmosphere to a greater degree than any other aspect of the game. It's a tone of piercing loneliness, of mounting terror as you proceed step by step, map by map through increasingly bizarre, twisted and violent realms, fighting bigger, nastier enemies armed with devastating ways to kill you.

Check Out the New Blizzard Facebook Timelines

We’ve recently converted our Facebook pages for Blizzard, Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo to the new timeline format, and we hope that you’ll join us in making the most of our community connections there.

Since we launched our Facebook pages, we've had the pleasure of sharing a plethora of stories, BlizzCasts, artwork, and videos with a thriving Facebook community, but we're not done yet. We encourage you to browse through our company and franchise histories, “like” our pages so that you’ll see updates from us in your own feeds, and share your favorite milestones from Blizzard’s past on our Facebook walls.

Source: Diablo III

More: Team Kynce

Ridge Racer Unbounded Review

Let's get it out of the way at the top of the show. Ridge Racer Unbounded is Ridge Racer in name only. This game has about as much in common with Ridge Racer as Forza 4, or Hot Pursuit, or any other racer you'd care to name. As such, you can forget about ludicrously over-the-top powerslide mechanics. You can also forget about gleaming cities, winding mountain paths and beachside runs under an azure sky. About the only thing you can depend on is a suitably ravey soundtrack, with a number of old Ridge Racer tracks, as well as the now obligatory dubstep.

Dota 2 Heroes: Earthshaker

Valve's Dota 2 has been in beta testing for a quite a while now, steadily adding more players and gaining popularity on Steam. There's still no release date or pricing structure, so while we wait, here's a look at Earthshaker, a strength hero.

While Earthshaker is big, he's not exactly a hero that can absorb a lot of damage. Instead, he relies on spells to impact a fight. The first ability you'll want to learn is Fissure, which blasts out a wall of rock that stuns and damages enemies. Not only that, but the rock wall sticks around for a while, serving as a physical barrier. You can use it to block off parts of the map, cutting off an opponent's escape so you and a teammate can score a kill, or saving a teammate by stopping their pursuers. Just be careful that you don't accidentally trap a friendly hero in a bad spot, because then you're probably going to get yelled and / or laughed at.

Has Dragon's Crown Been Cancelled?

You've heard of Vanillaware, haven't you? The Japanese development studio, founded back in 2002, has been responsible for a few cult favorites in our industry, including GrimGrimoire, Odin Sphere, Muramasa: The Demon Blade and Grand Knights History. And its upcoming title, Dragon's Crown, has garnered a lot of positive attention since it was announced last year.

However, possibly distressing news about Dragon's Crown has surfaced. An enterprising reader of Podcast Beyond, Matt Donnelley, reached out to IGN today to let us know that Amazon.com has cancelled his pre-order of the game. "We're writing to let you know the items listed below will not be released by the supplier on the expected date," Amazon notes in the e-mail Mr. Donnelley forwarded to IGN. "As a result, we cancelled them from your order and your credit card wasn't charged."

In-Development – Class Skill Videos, Continued

Our series of blogs covering Diablo III’s class skills continues this week. Much like the last two updates, we’ll show off videos of core class skills, unmodified by runes, and then add them to the skills page on the Diablo III website.

Doing battle with the Burning Hells means fighting fire with fire, and this week’s videos are all about destruction. We’ve got skills to tear through demonic invaders with summoned zombies and locusts, pepper them with knives and arrows, warp their minds, blow their bodies apart, and more.

Watch, enjoy, and remember: heroes use every tool at their disposal in the pursuit of victory.

We’ll return with more videos soon.


Barbarian
Whirlwind

Demon Hunter
Fan of Knives
Sentry

Monk
Way of the Hundred Fists
Tempest Rush

Witch Doctor
Fetish Army
Locust Swarm
Mass Confusion
Wall of Zombies

Wizard
Explosive Blast

Source: Diablo III

Call of Duty Creative Strategist Resigns

Robert Bowling leaves Activision.

Call of Duty creative strategist Robert Bowling has left Activision. In a post on his Twitter account, Bowling wrote "Today, I resign from my position as Creative Strategist of Call of Duty, as a lead of Infinity Ward, and as an employee of Activision."

Bowling has been a long-time member of Infinity Ward and previously served as the company's community manager. As creative strategist for the Call of Duty series, Bowling has been the spokesperson for the series, playing an integral role in the franchise's media campaigns and announcements.