I’m sure if you’re following Diablo III’s development, you already know that they announced the monk class at BlizzCon. Well, with this announcement came a new build of the game with some new areas, and of course, some new music. I got some play time with the monk, and enjoyed his combo-driven attacks and awesome special moves. It almost felt as though I was playing a fighting game despite only clicking on creatures once to unleash a series of devastating attacks.
The main area this year was a blistering desert, which was accompanied by a cool, glassy ambient sound. Glass-like pads and plucked ethnic stringed instruments were in the foreground with some very distant tribal percussion, which lent the piece a very desolate sound. When I ventured into an underground cave, however, I was warned that it was ready to collapse, and that I needed to collect as much treasure as I could and get out before time ran out. The music reflected this sense of urgency with its tense string stabs and occasional Tristram guitar chords (all live!). This was a pretty sweet track.
Overall, I’m impressed with what the Blizzard sound team is doing with Diablo III. I will miss Matt Uelmen’s contributions, but I’m confident that the team is being careful retain the series’ signature sound.
Are you excited about the announcement of the monk class for Diablo III? Any thoughts regarding the music that we’ve been hearing from the game so far?
