About two weeks ago, I was wandering around the shopping district of a nearby city, where I found a store called GAME. What a wonderful store this is ... as per usual, I go straight for the 2 for £15 PC game section, seeing as a low budget restricts me to just this, and a low-spec laptop restricts me to lower-end, older games, which the 2 for £15 is to the brim full of. So after much perusing, I buy Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, and Diablo II. The latter game is the one I'm going to talk about today. I really wanted to write a review of this game at this stage, but two individuals (collectively known as my conscience ... okay, it was nodham and ezra) tell me to wait until I've delved further into the game and uncovered more of its secrets, when I've explored new lands, and destroyed all manner of beasties that I haven't even glimpsed yet.

I suppose they know best.

But hah, that doesn't stop me from writing journalistic material about the game, though, does it ?

 So I guess you could call this an impressions compilation about the game, but they are definitely not first impressions. I'm about twenty hours through the game, and most of that has been questing with Gloaming and Nodia, nodham's two feisty, deadly characters, so admittedly, I hang back while he kicks all the ass. But I have done my fair share of solitary questing, don't get me wrong, and though invariably my character The_Tourist ( sorceress class, currently Level 18 ) dies a helluva lot, and thus loses a lot of gold, I still have a lot of fun, and I at least attempt to learn from my mistakes, even though that seems impossible when all I can do is the same old thing each time. (note: sorceresses are possibly the weakest character in the game, but they are the most potent in spells and... well... sorcery. Unfortunately, I can't quite master the spells properly, so much that Lightning is the only spell I am even minutely decent in wielding. Hah, yes, owe it to my n00biness.)

The first act of the game is composed of rainy plains and rundown fields, worn with the paths of travellers such as my own noble feline sorceress. Sounds quite dreary and dull, but the first chapter of the game is anything but - the fields are also weary with the spells of demonic shamans and tread upon with the steps of heavy zombies and corpsefires, and the rare sight of gargantuan troll-like beasts suggest that the big footprints are definitely not those of Bigfoot. Although the beasts are quite similar to Bigfoot...

 Combat in the game generally revolves around murdering these evil hellspawn, something that any player will undoubtedly love doing, regardless of their character class. Combat is gratifying in every single sense of the word, and its visceral in its own little way - this is definitely the purest example of the genre I have encountered so far (admittedly, I haven't played many games similar to this. I can count them on the fingers of one hand. Even if you chopped my index finger, thumb and middle finger off, in fact. Neverwinter Nights is the other, and Neverwinter Nights offers nowhere near close to the amount of satisfaction that Diablo II does.) Whether you're a spellcaster or a weaponmaster, every single kill is completely and utterly captivating. That may sound sick and twisted, but once you've nailed your first fallen demon, you'll be engrossed. Some weaker-minded people will be on their knees begging for just one more zombie to maul.

 And, yes, the game is positively overflowing with enemies -even Act 1 has its fair share of huge, fifty-demon-strong armies ambushing you in the rain-sodden woods, made worse with the resurrective properties of the slightly more intelligent shamans that stay back while his compatriots come blindly forward to get a mouthful of steel or to be decapitated by a well-aimed blast of inferno. I guess sometimes, though, the game can get a tad repetitive, but the game does try its best to be varied and tries to provide something new around every corner, in the form of new enemies, new weapons, new items, and new environmental details.

The game is deeper than some might think, too. Of course, as per usual in RPG's, you level up quite frequently and you get the chance to upgrade your four base classes (Strength, vitality, dexterity, and energy) and you get a new skill as well, be this a new spell of various forms, a new way of fighting, a new aura, or a new combat manoeuvre, depending on your character class. In the end, you'll end up with a heavily personalized yet potent character that you will be happy to say you worked hard for. Also, a key element of the game is scavenging items that your dead foes have dropped, examining them, and considering whether to keep them or not. Due to the opportunities opened up by town portals, you can immediately spawn back at the encampment or city that is the base of your current act and sell them for gold. The game goes into great depth in the details of magical properties and ratings and percentages, the type of thing that will alienate the people who just want to kill more hellspawn but will please players who enjoy the finer things in games.

 Controls in the game are absolutely perfect, in the way that you can almost play through the entire game using just your right hand and a good mouse. (laptop touchpads work too, as I had to cope with one throughout the first four quests until I bought this small, sleek, micronic USB mouse I'm using to fell the evils of the eastern rocky wastes.) You click on a desired area to get your character to move over there, you click on an enemy to attack it, you rightclick on an item to use it, you click on an item to pick it up, you right click on an enemy to cast the currently equipped spell at its guts. So simple, yet so undoubtedly addictive.

The graphics in the game aren't as bad as you may see if you look at some screenshots. (they definitely improve at a higher resolution, although unfortunately that higher resolution isn't available to people without the Lord of Destruction expansion pack) In 640x480 resolution, the game looks serviceable - the character models are a bit rubbish, but they are distinguishable if you stand them all together in a neat line. The enemy models aren't much better, but they are diverse and distinct. The environments are actually pretty good, even if they are randomly generated they usually look rather decent. Act 2 is definitely a visual improvement over the first act - the city of Lut Gholein looks great if you take into account the game's age.

In 800x600 resolution, the game doesn't look much different, but it is more minutely detailed and the environments are clearer, and the visuals don't look as blurry, if you know what I mean.

The sound in the game is fantastic. Some people may think otherwise, but I am impressed. I think the expansion pack adds more music (note: yes, I have the expansion pack. bit late of me to mention, though.) and the music is awesome, some of it actually sounds similar to the some of the music I would listen to, albeit in purely instrumental form. nodham once likened one of the songs in Act 1 to Radiohead's "Exit Music (For A Film), and any music that sounds like that has got to be good. The voice-overs done by the NPC's are great, too, although they are scarce and scattered. I only wish there were more of them, as they are surely professional. So far, I guess this is my preliminary pre-review score for the game, that will most likely change slightly by the time I've finished all four acts of the game and completed the fifth act added on by Lord of Destruction the expansion pack. So, here goes: (note: this is based on gamespot's review system average-based thingy.)

Gameplay : 9
Graphics : 7
Sound : 9
Value : 9
Tilt : 10

Overall : 9.0

There you go, an honest pre-review opinion for me, as based on by Gamespot's review system. As you can see, I'm heavily enjoying it and its a permanent fixture in my gaming agenda for weeks and possibly months to come. Only time will tell if the repetition in the game will lower the score by then. Thanks for reading this detailed impressions thing. You didn't have to, you know.

- scott

(P.S. a random blog header and title. Don't give me credit for the blog name, though. I found it on last.fm. But I thought it was amazingly funny, so I put it here. haha, bliss. And the picture, no thats not mine either. the impressions are, though, I assure you.)