Diablo IV's crypts feel more nostalgic than Diablo 3's. They're grimier and dustier, with Bloody Piles that explode like popped blisters in slow-mo. It is also shiner on the entire. Lightning shimmers across wet rock, and sometimes it starts raining out, coating everything with Diablo IV Gold a moist sheen and generating muddy puddles. It seems retro in a good way: modern technology with an old, filthy look.I'm reluctant to draw any big conclusions about Diablo IV, because it'll probably be quite different if it releases--which will not be very soon, says Blizzard.
The demo was simple, for starters. I suppose Blizzard didn't want people getting frustrated, especially those on the show floor who needed to endure in a long line, so they outfitted us with strong characters. I played with the 20-minute demo twice, once as the Druid and once as the Sorceress. In the latter run, I had been chewing through hefty enemies such as the Drowned Juggernauts--large boys who slam down splash damage attacks--without much stress. My mouse-bound skills, a little ice projectile and a bigger fire projectile, were more than enough, so I only played with her hotkey abilities to spice things up. I used a health potion only once, and that I didn't actually need to.
There are far more slopes and ledges, because the new engine doesn't restrict the designers to staircases that indicate a floor change. At designated regions, I might climb up or down cliff sides, that is a wonderful little variety, although not just crazy. One thing was somewhat jarring, however: There is a moment in an in-engine cutscene where your personality measures on a ledge and looks over the barren lands, kind of like the opening to Fallout 3. Then the camera tilts down and sets you back into the Diablo perspective. After glimpsing the horizon, I couldn't quit considering how it's there. I felt queasy.
The seamless MMO-ey material is in the demo, and buy Diablo Gold may be the biggest change. While walking to a pursuit marker, I ran into two other players in the event. They fought for a little bit, silently. Throughout a bit of commotion while I zapped a horde of nasties, they ran ahead and I never saw them .