The woman in the church is really stoked about the murder she’s committing. You can see it in her eyes.
It’s a very early cutscene in the video game Diablo IV, wherein a modestly clad villager bludgeons one of her fellow townsfolk. Her newfound lust for horrific violence comes courtesy of dark magic from the demon Lilith, Diablo IV’s primary antagonist. Lilith, also known as the Daughter of Hatred, has a simple pitch for the residents of Diablo’s world of Sanctuary: Violence is fun. You should try it.
The woman goes feral on the man before her. Knocks him to the ground. She clenches a spiked mallet and goes in for the kill. She bludgeons him again and again. Blood splatters across her face. Her friends join in too—kicking, punching, stabbing. The woman’s eyes are wide sunken orbs, glazed over as her conscious mind melts away into a red haze, focused on nothing but the goopy, crunchy splatters of gore she spills out before her. Her mouth twitches into a grin.
I can relate.
At least while playing Diablo IV. The latest installment in the demon-filled franchise is a sprawling brawler that lets you traipse across an open world and turn a billion demons into a billion red smears. The gameplay is a dizzying mash of pulsating, eruptive encounters. The sound design is immaculately gross. Every attack and explosion makes just the right THWACK and KA-SPLOOSH. It is a thrilling, visceral experience. I wish I could stop playing it.
