Diablo II, is a game not like any other. It does not have some of the new features the latest games have. And still, it prevails. Blizzard wowed gamers years ago with a game that made action fans take a look at RPGs and vice versa. What Blizzard did for RPGs what they did for RTS with Warcraft: Easy, intuitive, and impossible to stop playing. As soon as the original came they began clamouring for a sequal. Diablo II is like any other Blizzard Entertainment product a 'success'. As you might remember Diablo was unleashed to stores far and wide, gaming publications scores were high'd. A marathon of clicking this Diablo was, but it sold nonetheless due to pre-release buzz. Now years have passed, Diablo's been beat, and now Diablo 2. They story behind the game is very good, some stupid things occur like "a bunch of strangers send you on dangerous quests and then act pleasantly surprised when you return safely (but you just know they're really thinking, "Blast! Foiled again!"). I can sometimes forgive bad plots in games, but only if the game has enough redeeming qualities to make up for the lack of a good story. Diablo both failed and succeeded. The control is basic as can be; witch is great if you're interested in ease of use, but not if you’re in to depth. Diablo 2 have some great qualities, quite enough to make up for its shortcomings. And every once in a while it resembles something fun, and there are some cool pseudo-3D effects in the game. Also to be noticed, are the fun and smart endearing references to the original game (see the city of Tristram for some good examples), and a few monsters explode pretty nice. Graphics: 6 The graphics are not that good at all. Still their simplicity helped out 'allot’ and remains nice that way throughout the game. Some of the 3D graphics are horrible such as your characters movement. Now the graphic is nothing to admire, but still it's actually quite good. The dungeons are extremely well designed giving this an extra point. The characters look quite bad; some of the 3D graphics are bad. But the magical skill effects are truly wonderful, I believe. And despite its lack of the latest graphics, it remains as one of the most played RPGs in the world. Compete with that. Also the cinematic's are truly wonderful and they add an extra point to this soup of graphical errors. Plot: 8 The plot overall is quite good. But still it has bad spots. As I said before it's a bunch of strangers send you on dangerous quests. Actually very silly and not very interesting. Note that this game looks great at first, but when you get further ahead you will start to notice these flaws. Like there is no basic point for some time, Act 1, 2, 3 is all about killing some stupid minions that 'what'? But the story and the cinematic's make up for this. The history behind it all and the history unfolded as you succeed throughout the game, fascinating. After seeing the cinematic after the 2ond act, you get so interested you can't take your hands off the mouse. You just keep clicking and before you know it, the game is over. Luckily you can play in nightmare mode as well, and is that for you to succeed even further in levels and get better equipment. There is not much more to this, it's obvious that the stories and cut scenes that drive the game forward and link the various Acts are superbly done and contribute in some way to dispelling the "nothing but a click fest" label that the Diablo games have been cast as. The game's story is originality at its best: the return of the previous game's main threat for no tangible reason. You begin the game in a Rogue Encampment in the West, where a local trader's route east is blocked by a spider-looking chick. Before you can defeat her and clear the trader's path east-ward, you must perform many random, life-threatening deeds that are thrust upon you by strangers. These strangers are obviously intent on killing those they don't know by giving them tedious and potentially deadly tasks to complete. I'm all for a bad story and incoherent quests (wait a minute... no I'm not), but this is ridiculous. It suck's, it's fighting over a lolly pop. Gameplay: 7 The gameplay itself is nothing great, it's a click fest. The controls are as basic as can be. That can ruin the game; in this case I’m not sure in witch direction it leans. But considering this the one of the most addictive games I have played along with StarCraft (1998) I cannot help myself giving this a good rating. I am one of a thousand that are or were addictive to the game. And though the gameplay is nothing special itself there are some neat things to it. The battle system is quite simple, like the rest of the game. But the battle system is also good. The spells are great, I like them, love them. Though it's lack of modern technology as I have pointed out before the gameplay still works out. Many spells and abilities are only available at level 30 or above and to fully appreciate these players are encouraged to move on to nightmare and hell modes in order to fully develop their characters. Indeed, the most powerful weapons and items are only available in these harder game modes and because of this Diablo2's replay ability factor is very high. The 4 character classes are both well balanced and varied enough that strategies that prove effective for one character class often prove disastrous for another. While Necromancers and Barbarians are traditionally the dominant classes, Blizzard has gone some way to levelling the playing field with their patch. The future certainly looks bright. Giving this 2 extra points for sure. Diablo II is disarmingly addictive and it comes as a breath of fresh air in a crowded field of first person shooters and real time strategies that after a while begin to blend together in mimetic mediocrity. Sound/Music: 3 I admit that despite my love for the game, the music is horrible. It is utterly forgettable because it never helps to make any of the scenes more intense or enjoyable. It's just mundane background music that fails to do what game music is supposed to do: enhance the feel of the game. Some of the voices are acceptable and helping this rating a bit. And then I mostly refer to the 'stupid people who send you on quest's'. Technically this game is not the greates but i love it. And if you play it you will find it highly addictive. I can't recommend this game enough. So if your looking for a great hack'n'slash game, Diablo II is your game. -Kristófer K. a.k.a KKx2000
(Note: This review is based on the game when the Lord of Destruction expansion pack is installed, hence I'll be basing the game when elements introduced in the expansion are implemented into the gameplay i.e. class-speci... Read Full Review
The original Diablo made a sensation, winning praise among the critics and gamers alike. This second game in the installment is just as great. It sticks to the same old formula of its predecessor, while building up on th... Read Full Review
