[아이뉴스24 문영수 기자] Game fans are drawing attention to’Diablo 2: Resurrection (hereinafter referred to as Resurrection)’ released by Blizzard. It is an atmosphere that pays attention to whether Resurrection can reproduce the fame of the original work that overwhelmed domestic PC rooms in the early 2000s. Of course, there is also a concern that it will stop being popular.
Blizzard announced that Diablo 2: Resurrection will be released within the year through the BlizzConline, an annual event held online from the 20th to the 21st. It is also the day when the rumored Diablo 2 remastered version was unveiled. The game-related community is expressing expectations by sharing news about recreation every day.
The appearance of Resurrection has been detected since a year ago. This is because foreign media reports that a remastered version will be released on the 20th anniversary of the launch of Diablo 2 in 2020. Eventually, news came out that the Diablo 2 Remaster would be titled’Diablo 2: Resurrected’.
Remaster refers to a version that has increased and improved the resolution of a game that has been released in the past to match the latest technology, and Resurrection refers to a 2D sprite-based original 3D physics-based rendering, dynamic light effect, improved animation, and order effects in 4K resolution. Transformed. In addition, a total of 27 minutes of cinematic video has been re-produced, and the soundtrack also supports Dolby 7.1 surround sound.
Resurrection, being developed by Blizzard’s Vicarious Visions, reproduces the original game as it is like a remastered version. Users can choose and nurture a total of 7 characters, including Amazon, Barbarian, Necromancer, Paladin, Elementalist, and assassins and druids in the expansion pack’Lord of Destruction’, and complete various equipment sets and create weapons through runewords. May be.
However, some functions such as UI have been improved to suit the latest game environment. For example, in Resurrection, there is only a storage box for each character, so a’shared storage box’ is provided to improve the gameability of the original work, which was inconvenient when moving items, and a function to hunt monsters and automatically learn items that fell on the floor was also added. The difference is that it can be played on console devices such as Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch as well as PC.
The reason why such attention was focused on Resurrection is that the original work was so popular. Diablo 2 is a hit work that sold over 4 million copies at the time of its launch on June 29, 2000. This game is evaluated as a monumental action role-playing game (RPG) that laid the foundation for the so-called hack and slash genre that defeats a large number of enemies at once.
Diablo 2 is a’active’ game that still has enthusiasts even today, the 21st anniversary of its release. According to the PC room information site Gametrix, Diablo 2 is ranked 43rd in the overall ranking as of the 21st. In particular, it has risen 10 places compared to the previous day, which seems to be the result of the crowded fan base of the original work who encountered Resurrection.
Although this is a recreation with high expectations, there is no fear. This is largely due to the poor quality of’Warcraft 3 Reforged’, a remastered version released just before. The game was criticized for its poor graphics and translation quality, which hit Blizzard’s brand image, which has been focusing on perfection enough to postpone the release schedule. Therefore, it is easy to find opinions in the game community that Resurrection should also open the lid.
Blizzard also repeatedly emphasized the quality of Resurrection as if conscious of this. In a non-face-to-face joint interview, Rod Ferguson’s general producer and Rob Galerani’s general designer, who is in charge of the Diablo franchise, said “I am confident in quality.”
Meanwhile, Diablo 2: Resurrection is also the last remastered game from Blizzard. Blizzard senior vice president and co-founder Alan Adham said in a non-face-to-face interview on the 20th, “After Diablo 2: Resurrection, there is no more game to remaster.”
Reporter Moon Young-soo [email protected]