GotFrag.com - One of the highlights of my trip to BlizzCon last year was the opportunity to play, actually PLAY Diablo III. Imagine my surprise this year when not only were we given a much larger level to explore, but an entirely new class. For someone who was a gigantic Diablo II fan for many, many years, I about lost it.

Introducing: The Monk

The character selection screen was pretty much the same as Diablo 2, with the selectable characters standing in a half circle around a campfire. In this demo version, only the Witch Doctor, the Barbarian, the Wizard and the Monk were selectable. I noticed that in D3 however, that you can choose between a Male and a Female version of each class with the exception of the Monk who could only be Male. (Future Nun class tba?)

I wanted to focus specifically on the brand new Monk. After the little Blizzard tease earlier that day I was itching for a chance to see what this turbo ninja could do.

The new class is a melee focused hand-to-hand fighter that mixes martial arts with Priest-esque protection and debuff abilities. Visually he is a mix between Sagat from Street Fighter and an Arab caravan trader.

New level, new skills, new enemies

Following character selection I am dropped off at the entrance of an Arid environment, flanked by canyon walls and heading down a path towards an open desert area. Right off the bat it's apparent just how much of an upgrade in the graphics department that Diablo III is from its predecessor. Everything from the wind blown sand dunes to the jutting rocks had a substantial amount of detail that combined to create an overall impression of personal attention to level design. The machine I was playing on was far from low-end, but in addition to the level itself, the absolute smoothness and fluidity of the toe-to-toe monk class struck me as incredibly natural and more akin to a Jet Li choreographed fight than a repetitive single motion.

My pre-designed level fifteen or so character came equipped with a passive ability that would counter-attack opponents I was not facing as they attempted to strike me. My automatic comprehension would lead me to believe that this would result in an adjustment to some combat calculation under the skin of the game. In actuality, as I wailed away at waves of monsters, he would often flourish with a kick behind or a punch to his side in order to deflect an attack.

My mouse2 bound ability was a rush attack that turned me into a flying blur, dealing six successive attacks at half damage and generally looking as entirely awesome as possible throughout duration. A genuine "wtf moment" came with the realization that my mouse1 default attack was bound to some kind of death-touch maneuver. Being a combo-attack, each consecutive connection with it raised the damage and affects to a new level. Eventually a beating heart icon would appear above them and about three seconds later they exploded. I had never been happier until that moment.

A mixture of the old and the new

Controls will be intuitive to anyone that's played the Diablo series. You're basically only using your mouse buttons with items assigned to number keys. The time-tested formula of sporadic waves of increasingly difficult enemies is still in place. They are broken up with lulls in action and the occasional lumbering opposition. Everything from mummies, to rapidly spinning blade mummies, to scorpions came at me, sometimes managing to completely surround the poor guy. This is a game best played with friends, online co-op will once again be a selling point.

Overall I was impressed with the originality of the class in a game that undeniably and heavily represents Diablo II. There is always a line to draw between improving upon and sticking to what has been successful in the past; and at this juncture in development it appears that Blizzard is capable of walking that line again.

GotFrag eSports

All Games: Hands-on with Diablo III; new Monk class

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