Another Blizzcon is in the books, and there is plenty of news to talk about from the past two days. Some good, some bad, some really really ugly (and some cute and cuddly). I reviewed the three big trailers debuted during the conference, but here's what I thought of the games as a whole.
World of Warcraft: Kung Fu Panda 3
The Mists of Pandaria trailer
Fans of the most popular MMORPG on the planet were thrown for a loop and a half at the announcement of a new expansion pack: The Mists of Pandaria. The expansion will come with most of the familiar additions; the level cap will be increased to 90, there's a new world to explore, and a new race/class to play as.
Pandaria looks like a very calm, tranquil Asian countryside, inhabited by the meditative yet ferocious Pardaren. The Pandaren are, you guessed it, WoW's interpretation of giant panda bears. If this makes you groan, then you may want to stop reading. The new class which as far as I know is only playable with the Pandaren, is called the Monk. The Monk uses attacks that are very fist and martial arts based. If you haven't put two and two together, they are essentially a race of kung fu pandas. I find that hilarious and very intriguing to play. Others have sworn off the game all together because of this choice. What side you're on is truly up to you.
Oh yeah, the Pandaren are also a "neutral" race, which means they will be beating the crap out of each other in the name of the Horde or Alliance once they get out of the starting zone. That's really weird to me.
Starcraft II: Don't burn bridges. It will come back to stick tentacles through you.
Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm trailer
I was very impressed with the Starcraft 2 announcements over the weekend, and its new expansion looks like it will add a lot of good content to the highly anticipated (and successful) RTS. The new units for each faction look totally awesome and there's a host of new characters that will force the single player story forward.
While the main appeal of Starcraft still lies in the multiplayer (it's a headlining game on the Major League Gaming circuit) there is still a slice of SC players who play for the single player campaign, and Blizzard has done a great job of making sure they stay satisfied. Be on the look out for more Heart of the Swarm info in the upcoming weeks.
Diablo 3: It's happening! It's really happening!
Black Soulstone Cinematic trailer
It's official kids: we have a release date! You can all get your sweaty gaming hands on the third installment of the series on February 1st, 2012. That is assuming that it doesn't get delayed and pushed back any further.
The biggest news surrounding Diablo wasn't necessarily anything about the game (you can read my critique of the cinematic trailer they showed and how much it rubbed me the wrong way here) and more about its release deals. If you buy an annual subscription to World of Warcraft starting as early as right now, you get instant access to the beta of Diablo and the game for free upon its release.
I view this move as two different things. First, it's an awesome deal for people that play a lot of WoW and are planning to get Diablo as well once it comes out. For more casual players of the game who aren't sure how much time or money they are going to have on their hands come February (me) it's more of a leap to go after it. The exclusive in-game mount is always a nice perc, but worth tying yourself down to two games for a year? That's yet to be decided.
Talk to ya!
So that was Blizzcon 2011. There was some hands on opportunity for DOTA 2 and Titan along with a performance by the Foo Fighters, but thanks to my lack of income I got to cover the conference from the comfort of my own home. Which games impressed you? Which games had you running away covering your ears and screaming so you couldn't feel the pain? Like always, leave it here.
