Diablo III opening cinematic released

There's nothing quite like a good ol' game of Diablo to get you out of the everyday hum-drum of normal human life, and as Blizzard has proven with their eternally entertaining first two installments of this birds-eye-view hack and slash adventure game, Diablo III has a lot to live up to — today we get our first glimpse of the first three minutes of the game as it's set to be released in 2012, cinematic one and the start of the continued hellish storyline. What you're about to see is Deckard Cain, also known as the dirty old man whose fortune it's been to both be the keeper of the lore of this game series and the one who's always burning in hell while you fight the forces of evil. Cain has a niece now too, and as a meteor shower is about to prove, his ramblings about the return of the forces of hell to the earth to bring about a new terror are more than just a little bit true – great holes of flame!

This isn't the first time we've posted an anticipatory story about the coming of the third Diablo game, also known as Diablo 3, and it won't be the last by the looks of it. Bear witness to this first cinematic and, if you're lucky enough, you'll not have seen the second one also in this post, the one with Cain's niece continuing Cain's work into the nightmare heart of the Black Soulstone. This language epic enough for you? It can never EVER be epic enough when it comes to Diablo. Here's how it all begins:

It looks basically like Cain has discovered that the evil is not finished, even though we've massacred Diablo Lord of Terror, Mephisto Lord of Hatred, and Baal Lord of Destruction already. Now what we've got is a show not unlike what we saw in the Lord of the Rings series from a few years ago with moving pages and stories of war, this time with some gigantic beasts with horns and fire galore – seems similar to the last game, doesn't it? Have a look at the stained glass window above Cain's desk and see Tryael, the Archangel of Justice you should be familiar with from the Sanctuary in the last level of Diablo II, the final defeat of Baal in Lord of Destruction, and under the desert in Tal Rasha's tomb as well. Will this protector of good be an ally to you the hero again as he was in Diablo II, or will he have become corrupted back to his original demonic form?

Then there's this slightly older and just as telling cinematic containing Azmodan, Lord of Sin. A fat grub of a demon whose goal it is to ravage the earth until they find the Black Soulstone. When the Black Soulstone is found, Azmodan says he'll be able to reign as the Prime Evil.

Lovely stuff – can't wait to see it! Burning flesh and the massacre of all goodness!