At the Game Awards on Dec. 8, Blizzard Entertainment announced news regarding one of its most anticipated games of all time, premiering the new trailer for Diablo IV and revealing the game's official release date as June 6, 2023. Blizzard is adding more games and more to their games than ever before and is promising to deliver some of the best content fans have seen in years.
Since the early '90s, Blizzard Entertainment has produced some of the most popular PC games and game franchises ever, with legendary titles such as Diablo, Warcraft, Starcraft and Overwatch. But which games are Blizzard's best?
Diablo II: Resurrected
Diablo II was the game that made many gamers fall in love with the franchise. Resurrected is a great way to experience the game for the first time with improved graphics and fixes to the story.
This game is a remaster and should be looked at as such as it plays primarily the same as the original Diablo II did. For some gamers, this can feel a bit dated and even disappointing if they play this game after they have played Diablo III.
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Warcraft III has long since been a classic in the minds of old-time Warcraft fans. Many fans weren't in love with Warcraft III: Reforged due to it not feeling like a true remaster of the original game and stand by the original game.
The original game is titled Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, however, what made this game truly great and special was the Frozen Throne expansion with its incredible story and character writing. This is where Warcraft had one of its most shocking twists when Arthas became the Lich King.
StarCraft: Remastered
The StarCraft universe is one of Blizzard's less popular franchises, however, StarCraft has managed to get by with mostly praise only. StarCraft: Remastered is the best way to experience this game as it enhances all the visuals and audio while leaving the crisp gameplay the same as it always was.
StarCraft: Remastered is one of the best strategy games ever and is a real-time strategy just like Warcraft's original games and is a sci-fi rather than a fantasy game. Like all the Warcraft games, StarCraft can only be played on Microsoft Windows or MacOS.
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is the sequel to StarCraft and had far more longevity than its predecessor with the most recent DLC being added in 2016. StarCraft II is one of the best sci-fi games ever made and has a far better story than the first game as well as an amazing multiplayer experience.
The single-player aspect of the game does feel somewhat lifeless in comparison and most players who wish to play this game should have in mind to play with someone else because of this.
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
Warcraft II is what made Blizzard as big as they are today and is the most important game they made. Warcraft II is an absolutely brilliant RTS game with clever gameplay that allows all sorts of different strategies and tactics to be deployed.
Interestingly enough, Warcraft II also received a port to both Saturn and PlayStation, something that wasn't done for any of the other Warcraft games. The game received good reviews for the most part on these consoles, however, it did receive more criticism than its computer counterpart.
Diablo
The first Diablo game was an instant hit upon release and had incredible graphics for the time. It embraced the dungeon-crawling aspect of the games far more than its sequels and gave fans incredibly addictive gameplay.
The dark fantasy element was in place even this early in the franchise with its violent story, scenes, and even the overall melancholy music which helped add to the overall atmosphere of the game. This game also had great replay value with every new playthrough of the game different from the rest where the player would encounter monsters they had never even seen before in new shifting dungeons.
Hearthstone
Hearthstone is a digital card game with a large following of players. The most recent expansion added to the game was released on Dec. 6 called March of the Lich King which added the Death Knight class centered around Arthas Menethil the Lich King.
Hearthstone offers so much more than simple PVP or PVC in the game as it has a great story for each class that the player can undergo to unlock more cards. Hearthstone is no doubt one of the best digital card games, if not the best.
Diablo III
Diablo III still stands as the best Diablo game, but it is looking like Diablo IV will likely surpass it. This game's graphics are incredible, and the game has that reignited vibe of dark fantasy greater than ever before.
Fans of Lovecraftian horror should play this game due to its twisting horror alongside fantasy. The game is amazing with organized skills to use and unlock alongside equipping various armor. The gameplay is very straightforward, easy to learn, and incredibly addictive.
Overwatch
Overwatch was Game of the Year in 2016 and received praise from most critics. There was far more to this first-person shooter game than simply the gameplay and that surprised many gamers.
The characters were incredibly complex and well-written with some of the best story in a first-person shooter game. The game was incredibly welcoming to hardcore players and more casual players. It received its first sequel in 2022, however, the game hasn't had nearly the same amount of praise as the first game.
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft began dominating the genre of MMORPGs almost immediately when it was released in 2004. Its massive open-world experience brought all sorts of gamers to the franchise, not just fans of the original Warcraft content. The true boom of the game began with its first expansion, the Burning Crusade, which quickly became the best-selling PC game of that year.
Since then, World of Warcraft has had some amazing expansions like Wrath of the Lich King and its most recent one, Dragonflight. There are some expansions that drag players out, whereas others continue to bring in new players. World of Warcraft has proven to have the greatest longevity and success of any MMORPG. Even after nearly 18 years, WoW shows no sign of stopping.
Source:gamerant.com