News
Rumour: ‘Diablo 4’ in Development, Possibly Returning to ‘Diablo II’ Visual Style
Blizzard’s been taking quite a lot of heat lately after the reveal of Diablo Immortal, and the lack of a reveal for Diablo 4. Fan backlash resulted in Activision Blizzard’s stock briefly tanking, views that the game was simply a way for Blizzard to tap into the Chinese market (which has a huge mobile gaming base), and people (including Wendy’s) taking a shot at Blizzard.
But the question remains: Where’s Diablo 4?
Put your rumour hat on, because this is where things get interesting. According to a report by Kotaku (yeah, I know), Diablo 4 has had several iterations. One version of the game, codenamed “Hades”, saw the game as a hardcore dungeon crawler, but would drop the isometric perspective camera, and take on Dark Souls‘ over-the-shoulder camera. That version was started after Blizzard cancelled a second expansion for Diablo III, but was ultimately canned itself.
The second iteration, codenamed Fenris, is the one that’s currently in development. Fenris began at the same time as the Rise of the Necromancer DLC, and reportedly returns to the darker visual style of Diablo II. The challenge facing Blizzard (according to the report), however, is to balance between older fans (like myself) who grew up on D2‘s aesthetic, but also avoid alienating those who got into the franchise via Diablo III, which has a brighter, more stylized visual style.
Regardless of the degree to which all of this is true, it’s not unheard of for games like this to go through different iterations before landing on that magic version. the issues with Diablo Immortal are still justified, but until we get more info on the game (and Diablo 4), we just have to wait and see what happens.
The best part about engaging with collaborative genre fiction on the internet is that anyone can get in on the action, with worldwide accessibility often resulting in absurd story beats that wouldn’t be possible if any single person was responsible for the entire narrative. And while Kane Parsons’ Backrooms film is definitely the young filmmaker’s own unique take on the infamous creepypasta, it’s fun to see other creators join the Backrooms sandbox now that the big screen adaptation is getting ready for a record-shattering opening weekend.
As if cleverly timed releases like Puppet Combo’s The Backrooms game weren’t enough (not to mention that Scary Movie poster poking fun at Parsons’ flick), McDonald’s official social media accounts have now released an analog horror video of their own celebrating the liminal terrors of the McRooms – complete with a familiar purple surprise at the end of the footage.
While it’s funny enough to see the world’s most recognizable Fast Food giant engage with internet-borne Found Footage thrills seemingly out of the blue, the video is actually referencing a long-running gag among the Backrooms fandom where creators jokingly talk about there being a fully functional McDonald’s restaurant hidden somewhere in level 0 of the infamous liminal labyrinth.
Now, would it be too much to hope for a moist-carpet-flavored McShake to tie in with the film?
Backrooms is now playing only in theaters from A24.
You must be logged in to post a comment.