I still remember the first time I heard about the cow level in Diablo II. Was it a myth? Was it a reality? Was it the delusion of a few folks who had eaten one too many steaks? I really wanted to find out if it was for real. Like so many things, the cow level piqued my interest because it was different, unique, and undiscovered. I really think I would have enjoyed being an explorer (if there was money in it, and if I never had to traipse through the jungle, the desert, the tundra . . . ok, maybe not such a good explorer.)
Anyway, after playing for quite awhile in D2, I finally found the cow level. It has been more than a decade since, so I don't really remember how one would go about finding the cow level or how you would get into it, but I do remember spending a lot of time there farming drops and killing the Cow King over and over. Back then, the cow level looked like this . . .
The areas outside Tristram, but this time filled with cows wielding halberds instead of zombies, skeletons, etc.
That brings me to this morning when a couple of my friends told me they had opened up the "Cow Level" in D3! I was amazed; I was excited; I immediately wanted to see it! They invited me to their group, and I clicked on the flag to teleport to them. And, this is what I saw . . .
What the . . . ? This was the "Cow Level"?? Actually, it isn't called the Cow Level anymore. Now, it is called Whimseyshire, and it is made up of rainbows, fluffy clouds, unicorns, and flowers . . . that attack you. This was the perfect level for anyone who wanted to kill all of the stupid levels in Super Mario Brothers or any other platformer with clouds and flowers . . .
and rainbows! Lots of rainbows! In the words of Cartman, "I hate rainbows!"
This level was pretty amazing as you were able to run through and chop unicorns in half! That's right, look back at the first picture . . . the unicorn split in half . . . lengthwise! Amazing!
No, this ain't your daddy's cow level.
Wow that is cool as hell. When screenshots of DIII first went out, a lot of DII fans were pissed that the art direction seemed too colorful an cheerful. Unless I am greatly mistaken, that level is a sarcastic representation of what those pissed off fans feared they were getting.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can see that. Not the first time Blizzard "flipped off" the complainers in a subtle (or not so subtle) way.
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