Diablo 2

How do you review a game as big as Diablo II? This game has been the wet dream of gamers for years and we do not think that one reviewer can do the game justice. To that end the following is a collection of 5 reviews from 5 different perspectives. We all seem to agree on one thing though; this game rocks! Carpe Mkarzi

Concept- 100 We have been here before, and it is good to be back.
Gameplay- 100 Addiction is such an ugly word
Graphics- 92 Dated, but very good..
Sound- 95 Excellent..
Tech - 90 Smooth even without the patches, occasionally odd pathfinding.
Overall- 95 Diablo is back and this time it’s just as good if not better.

Looking East.

Here’s an oddity in the computer entertainment industry; a game that has taken forever to develop, been the subject of hype out the wazoo, delayed more than once and it’s actually good, finished and playable. John Romero, take note, this is how you do it.

Diablo was the 800lb gorilla of the game world, a solid game with simple yet fun gameplay and solid sales to support it. Add to that free Internet play (a Blizzard hallmark) and an engaging story and you have a success that is nice to see in the gaming world. Control was simple point and click, with some keyboard commands. Not rocket science, but damn fine for demon bashing. It wasn’t quite role-playing, but you could customize your character. The game was more adventure then true RPG but appealed to both the RPG player and the general gamer alike. Blizzard included randomly generated levels and a wide assortment of weapons and armor that kept you playing for just a few more minutes just to see what else you could buy, or kill. Hell, I have lost count of the number of times that I killed Diablo in the first game, and to be honest I have had Diablo on my HD since it came out.

Until now.

The King is Dead, Long Live the King

With the release of Diablo II (D2), Blizzard once again proves that they are the company with the right stuff. This is everything I wanted in Diablo and more. It is bigger, better and just as addictive as its predecessor. This is not a revolutionary game, but an evolutionary one. It builds on everything that Diablo had and improves almost every single aspect of the old game.

For those of you who have never played Diablo, what in the name of Baal are you waiting for? Go get it now, also pick up the Hellfire add-on and while you are at the store buy D2, because you will want it soon enough. The story of Diablo was a story of betrayal, loss and evil. The simple town of Tristram has something evil lurking underneath it: a creature named Diablo corrupting the very land that surrounds it. This evil has attracted many a hero and all have perished in the attempt to rid the world of this foul monster, and now it was your turn. After many a hard fought hour you finally faced that great evil yourself and, if you were prepared you vanquished the beast only to find that the creature was not actually dead, but trapped inside a soulstone. To leave the stone was to assure Diablo’s resurrection, so you do the unthinkable; spiking yourself in the head you now carry the beast within you. The game ends with you moving east in an attempt to find solace with those wiser than you.

D2 picks up at this point. A dark wanderer has been spotted, heading east bringing destruction wherever he goes. Past that teaser you will have to find out the rest of the story for yourself. As ever you are the latest hero/adventurer to arrive to stop the evil from spreading.

The install was smooth but long (1.5GB for full install, so defrag the old HD) and used all three disks. (Install, Play and Cinematics) To play the game, pop in the Play CD get ready to go to hell in a hand basket.

The opening Cinematic is, well, it’s simply beautiful. All I could think as I watched it was I hope they make a movie. The CGI is the best I have seen in a game to date. It sets the story and gets you ready to play in spades. The front end is familiar with anyone who has played Diablo and pretty self-explanatory for those who have not. Your options are Single Player, Battle.net (Play in the Battle.net Realm - Blizzard’s free service) or Other Multi-player (TCP/IP or other Battle.net games). You can also review the cinematics you have unlocked, view the credits or Exit-nothing different here.

Once in game you can go to options to set Video (Lighting Quality, Blended shadows, Perspective - if you are running with a 3D accelerator, or Gamma), Sound (Master Sound volume, Music volume, 3D Bias, EAX and EAX2 support, NPC speech) Automap (Fade - fades center around character for easier view in game, Center when Cleared - autocenter map, Show Party - show all allied characters, hirelings, and summoned beasties, Show names), and Controls (remapping controls) The only caveat is that you cannot change the Screen resolution (sigh). The default is fine, I just like to choose.

Dungeon Clearing 101

The game interface is again familiar for all old Diabolists out there. The interface takes up the bottom 1/5th or so of the screen. It is a breeze to work with and the word intuitive comes to mind when attempting to describe it. On either side of the screen are two orbs, one for Life (red) and one for Mana (blue). As you get hit the red slowly drains until you are dead. It can be refilled at shrines, with magic or with potions. It can also replenish itself - a nice feature indeed. Mana is the same except it is used in spells and skills. A new feature is an Experience bar right on the interface. No more going to the character screen to see how far to the next level. The belt slots have been updated and you start with 4 as opposed to the 8 you may be used to. However fret not, in game there are bigger belts/sashes that will give you more slots. The odd thing is that you never have more than four items showing as the belt slots stack vertically. It’s a nifty way to get by the space problem and only uses the 1-4 keys to access. Another change is the Run/Stamina bar. You can finally run in D2, but it takes its toll on you as your stamina drops and you must rest before running again. I find running a great benefit in battle against the bosses and in getting around town, but as I play a Necromancer, running quickly outpaces my posse of skeletons etc. Run is toggled with the “R” key.

The character screen (“C”) is pretty self-explanatory so I will not waste your time running thru it.

Inventory (“I”) again is the same as Diablo with minor tweaks. First there are fewer spaces in your inventory but that is okay for two reasons:
1) Gold is not stored in inventory slots so that frees up a lot of space, and
2) You have a private stash in each act to store spare equipment and gold. I would advise you to dump your gold every single time you hit town, if you die, the gold you are carrying is gone.
Equipping yourself is almost a cliché now. The ubiquitous paper doll is there and you can clothe/ arm yourself with boots, gloves, armor, helms, rings (2), amulets (1), or weapons (one or two handed). If you pick up an item and you are not wearing that type the game automatically puts it into the proper slot. This does not work for unidentified magical items or weapons. A new twist is that bows and missile weapons have an ammo count. Run out of arrows or javelins and it’s back to town for you. Or worse. To purchase new items, simply go to the local blacksmith, trader, or magic dealer and select ‘Trade’. This will bring up a screen with their wares on the left side and your inventory on the right. From here you can buy/sell/repair to your hearts content or until your gold runs out.

Moving is ease defined, left click on a spot to move there, left click on a monster to attack, left click on an NPC to bring up a dialogue tree, left click and hold to repeatedly attack on target, shift left click to attack from with out moving (ideal for ranged weapons), Right click to cast spell, or use a skill. If this interface confuses you go back to Myst.

Because the maps in D2 are so huge there are now waypoints. These are jump points that will take you to 9 different sections in the act. To activate a waypoint, you must first find it and step on to it. Once it is active you can use it by stepping on it again. As you go through the acts you will find that you can jump back to previous acts via the waypoint. This feature greatly reduces the TSW (Time Spent Walking- not my term but I like it) in-game, and is a welcome addition.

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