BlizzCon 2016: the top highlights

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft expansion coming this year

Although Blizzard is better known for classics like Diablo and Starcraft, the American company has also been hitting hard with new video game IPs like Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm, which have also turned out to be great games in their own right. And Blizzard also released the pretty good CCG (Collectible Card Game) Hearthstone in 2014, which shines due to its fun gameplay, card variety and also due to the fact that it’s easy to pick up and play but difficult to master.

And Blizzard has now revealed that a new expansion pack for the game will be released later this year titled “Mean Streets of Gadgetzan”, which adds more than 100 new cards to the game. These cards are split between three factions (Jade Lotus, Kabal and Grimy Goons) and each of Hearthstone’s classes (like Mage or Druid) belong to one of these factions, having access to subset of these cards. And it’s likely this new Hearthstone content will bring a smile to the face of those who’ve been playing and enjoying Blizzard’s card game since it came out in late 2014.

New mode recreates Diablo 1 in Diablo 3

Even though Blizzard did not announce Diablo 4 at BlizzCon 2016 much to the disappointment of many, the renowned American developer did find another way to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original 1996 Diablo game, because Blizzard will be adding a Diablo-style mode to Diablo 3. This will be done in an anniversary patch for the game which adds a new 16 level dungeon (accessible from the Cathedral).

In order to give the Diablo levels a retro feel, a special graphical filter will be added to make the graphics look suitably pixelated like 90’s era graphics were, while character movement will be limited to eight directions, just like it was in old times… In this new dungeon (which is based on Diablo’s original levels) players will encounter the 4 bosses from the original game, including the fearsome Diablo himself, plus players will also get to hear the great music from the original game too. And this certainly feels like a great way to celebrate the series’ 20th anniversary, and something that true Daiblo fans will undoubtedly appreciate when this new mode is released this November.