Diablo III

Diablo III is an undeniably dense experience, but in bringing the popular PC title to the PlayStation 4, the company is hoping to streamline the adventure without stripping away any of its complexity. It intends to do this by introducing a new user interface on Sony’s impending system that will allow you to assign gear to your protagonist via a radial menu. It’s also hoping to take advantage of the DualShock 4 controller’s touchpad.

“This is a pretty deep game, and we don’t want a lot of overload on the buttons,” explained production director John Hight. “We wanted to keep [the controls] really simple, so you can get to the things [in your inventory] fast. We think that the touchpad is going to give us a lot more opportunity to make the interface a lot easier.”

The studio’s also making some interesting tweaks to the gameplay to help intensify the action. One new mechanic that it’s planning to introduce is a dodge ability, which will allow you to flick the right stick in order to move out of harm’s way. It sounds a lot like God of War’s evasion technique – something that developer Blizzard is keen to acknowledge itself.

“PlayStation players are going to have an expectation that as a console game they should be able to dodge,” explained Josh Mosqueira, lead console designer. “Ultimately, we always wanted to make sure that console gamers have the ability to quickly reposition themselves in combat, not just to add a cool action feel, but also to add a tactical element. It’s worked out really well.”

There’s a lot more about the PS4 version of Diablo III – including the importance of the system’s vaunted share button – in the video embedded below. Are you looking forward to playing the RPG on the next generation console? Let us know in the comments section.

[source blog.us.playstation.com]