In 2154, the RDA corporation is mining Pandora, a lush, Earth-like moon of the planet Polyphemus[22] in the Alpha Centauri star system,[5] for its reserves of a valuable mineral called unobtanium. Pandora’s atmosphere is toxic to humans, forcing them to use breathing masks. Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) heads the mining operation, which employs private military contractors for security.

Pandora is inhabited by the Na’vi, a ten-foot-tall blue-skinned species of sapient humanoids,[23] who live in harmony with nature, worshiping a mother goddess called Eywa. To facilitate relations with the Na’vi and research of Pandora’s biosphere, scientists grow Na’vi-human hybrids called avatars, controllable via mental link by genetically matching humans.[24] Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic former Marine, replaces his twin brother, a scientist trained as an avatar operator but murdered in a robbery. Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), head of the Avatar Program, considers Sully an inadequate replacement for his brother and assigns him as a bodyguard.

Grace, anthropologist Norm Spellman (Joel David Moore) and Jake leave the base in their avatar forms to collect biological samples and data in the forest. A predator’s attack separates Jake from the group. Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), a female Na’vi, rescues Jake lost in the forest and brings him to Hometree, the habitat for her clan, the Omaticaya. Neytiri’s mother Mo’at (C. C. H. Pounder), the clan’s spiritual leader, shows interest in the “warrior dreamwalker” and instructs her daughter to teach Jake their ways.

RDA’s head of security colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) promises Jake restorative treatment for his spinal injury in exchange for intelligence about the Na’vi that would enable RDA to vacate Hometree of the natives and get access to the unobtanium beneath it. After Jake starts delivering information to Quaritch, Grace becomes suspicious and relocates herself, Jake and Norm to a remote outpost with avatar link units. Over three months, Jake grows close to Neytiri and the Omaticaya, eventually rejecting RDA’s agenda. After Jake is initiated into the Omaticaya, he and Neytiri choose each other as mates. Jake reveals his change of allegiance when he disables a bulldozer as it destroys the tribe’s Tree of Voices. Quaritch presents Selfridge with Jake’s video diary, in which Jake admits that the Omaticaya will never abandon Hometree. Selfridge orders Hometree destroyed.

Despite Grace’s argument that the destruction of Hometree could affect the bio-botanical neural network that Pandoran organisms are connected to, Selfridge gives Jake and Grace one hour to convince the Na’vi to leave Hometree. Jake reveals his original mission to the Omaticaya, and Neytiri accuses him of betrayal. Jake and Grace’s avatars are taken captive. Quaritch’s forces destroy Hometree, killing Neytiri’s father, the clan chief Eytucan (Wes Studi), and many others. Jake, Grace and Norm are imprisoned for betraying the RDA. Trudy Chacón (Michelle Rodriguez), a security force pilot disgusted with Quaritch’s methods, breaks them out, flies them to the outpost and helps relocate it. During the escape Quaritch shoots Grace, seriously wounding her.

To regain the Omaticaya’s trust, Jake tames a Toruk, a powerful flying beast that only five Na’vi have ever tamed. Jake finds the Omaticaya at the sacred Tree of Souls and pleads with Mo’at to heal Grace. The clan attempts to transfer Grace from her dying human body into her unconscious avatar with the aid of the Tree, but she succumbs to her injuries before the transfer is complete. Mo’at declares that “she is with Eywa now”.

With the assistance of Neytiri and the new leader of the Omaticaya Tsu’Tey (Laz Alonso), Jake unites thousands of warriors from many Na’vi clans in a bid to repel the humans. Jake prays to Eywa, via neural connection to the Tree of Souls, to intercede on behalf of the Na’vi in the coming battle. Quaritch notes the mobilization of the Na’vi and convinces Selfridge to authorize a preemptive strike on the Tree of Souls, reckoning that the destruction of this hub of Na’vi religion and culture will demoralize them into submission.

As the security forces attack, the Na’vi retaliate but suffer heavy casualties, including Tsu’Tey and Trudy. Suddenly, the Pandoran wildlife joins the attack on the corporation’s forces, overwhelming them, an event that Neytiri interprets as Eywa answering Jake’s prayer. Jake destroys the bomber before it can reach the Tree of Souls. Quaritch finds the avatar link unit where Jake’s human body is located and attacks it, exposing Jake to Pandora’s atmosphere. Neytiri kills Quaritch and saves Jake. With the attack repelled, Neytiri and Jake reaffirm their love as she sees his human body for the first time.

Selfridge and the remaining corporate personnel are expelled from Pandora, while Jake, Norm, and other scientists are allowed to remain. Jake is seen wearing the insignia of the Omaticaya leader. The clan performs the ritual that permanently transfers Jake from his human body into his Na’vi avatar.

This is Brett Lee, the aussie cricketer. I guess we better use something Australian…

Diablo III is similar in style to its predecessor, Diablo II. The proprietary engine will incorporate Havok physics and feature destructible environments with an in-game damage effect. The developers are aiming to make the game run on a wide range of systems, and have stated that DirectX 10 will not be required.[7] Diablo III will use a custom 3D game engine[8] in order to present an overhead view to the player, in a somewhat similar way to the isometric view used in previous games in the series[7] Enemies will utilize the 3D environment as well, in ways such as crawling up the side of a wall from the depths into the combat area.[5] Every creature model will have around 35 unique death animations.[9]

As in Diablo II, multiplayer games will be possible using Blizzard’s Battle.net service,[10] with many of the new features being developed for StarCraft II also available in Diablo III.[7] Players will be able to drop in and out of sessions of co-operative play with others.[11]

An enhanced quest system, a random level generator, and a random encounter generator are slated for use in order to ensure the game provides different experiences when replayed.[2] Overall, the game will include both static and randomly generated levels.[11] Additionally, there will be class-specific quests to go along with the main storyline quests.[12] They were originally planning to have in-game cutscenes,[13] but decided it would divert from the gameplay and have decided against this idea. Two new armor pieces will be available: the shoulder plate, and the leggings.[9]

Unlike previous iterations, gold can be picked up merely by touching it, rather than having to manually pick it up.[13] Sidekicks, unlike Diablo II, are now distinct NPCs who join the player, rather than randomly-generated and endlessly replaceable hires.[13] One of the new features intended to speed gameplay are health orbs that drop from enemies, replacing the need to have a potion bar, which itself is replaced by a skill bar that allows a player to assign quick bar buttons to skills and spells; previously, players could only assign two skills (one for each mouse button) and had to swap skills with the function keys. Players can still assign specific attacks to mouse buttons.[13]

Skill Runes, another new feature, are skill-modifying items that are randomly dropped by monsters and used across all classes. Similar to runes in Diablo II but instead of changing equipable items, they can be attached to each skill like an item, often completely changing the gameplay of each skill.[14] They also have the ability to make one particular spell in each class more powerful, and give the player options as to how the rune will enhance a particular spell. For example, investing Skill Runes on the Wizard’s “Lightning” can allow the players to make the lightning jump towards additional enemies, or, alternatively, adding the runes with explosion effect blows the enemy up and causes damage to the surrounding area.[15]
[edit] Character classes

As of August 2009[update], four of the five classes have been unveiled: the Barbarian, the Witch Doctor, the Wizard and the Monk.[2][16][17][18] Players may choose the gender of each class, a change from the fixed class genders in the previous two games.[5] The Barbarian, previously featured in Diablo II, is the only class that Blizzard is planning to bring back for the initial release. Blizzard has stated that the Monk was not related in any way to Diablo: Hellfire Monk class.[19] The Archivist was presented on April 1, 2009 following Blizzard’s April Fool’s Day joke tradition.[20]