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Our partner Gamecenter certainly put the recent visit of Blizzard's Bill Roper to good use, taking the information that he revealed and turning it into two new previews of upcoming Blizzard releases. These updated previews of the Diablo II expansion pack (now known as Diablo II: Lord of Destruction) and the RPG/RTS Warcraft III not only contain exclusive details about these titles, but are also accompanied by several new screen shots of each game in action.

Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, due to arrive early next year, will further expand and refine this explosively popular title. Well on its way to being the best-selling title ever, Diablo II thrilled RPG fans with its depth, scope and attention to detail. The expansion obviously intends to take this proven formula further, adding 2 new character classes, hundreds of objects to discover and an entire new Act to conquer. Here is an excerpt from the preview:

One of the most distinctive things about this approach is that, unlike previous offerings, the enemies won't be just standing around (or wandering around) waiting for players to show up. Rather, the environment will be more active, and there'll be a whole lot more going on that the player has to deal with. For instance, the area around Harrogath is in a constant state of warfare, and players will have to contend with human NPCs and monsters battling it out. Dodging catapult shots and marauding demons will only be half their problem, though; once they've gotten through those, players will have to deal with Baal. The expansion pack not only contains a new act--Act V--but it'll contain two new character classes, a ton of new items, some gameplay tweaks, and the long-awaited increased stash size.

Gamecenter's Warcraft III preview is just as informative. While this game is still in active development and its details are somewhat in flux, the basics of the gameplay are clear: this RTS will be based around small parties, rather than huge generated armies, and will depend less on resource gathering and more on player ingenuity. With a long, complex solo game (of course) and online multiplayer combat, this sequel is sure to please fans of the previous two titles and take Warcraft to an entirely new level. Here's an excerpt with details on the role-playing aspects of the game:

Blizzard will be emphasizing the role-playing aspects of the game in a number of ways. First and foremost will be the game's heroes--in addition to having the damage and defense rating every unit carries, they'll be endowed with three attributes: Strength, Agility, and Intelligence. Strength determines how much damage, and how much health, the hero has. Agility affects how fast the hero will be able to move, and Intelligence determines both the hero's total amount of mana and how fast it regenerates.

The other role-playing aspect that will be heavily emphasized will be the story and task-oriented nature of the game. No longer will players receive a mission briefing, load a level, and then battle their way to that lone objective. Rather, players will receive a single, easily completed task at the outset of each mission, and clues will be presented to further both the mission and the game's back story. It'll be up to players to decide how they want to proceed and what exactly they want to do to complete the objectives.

Blizzard Entertainment

Diablo II: Lord of Destruction Preview at Gamecenter

Warcraft III Preview at Gamecenter

Blizzard Entertainment (add to watch list)

Diablo II: Lord of Destruction (add to watch list)

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