To say that the sequel to Blizzard's runaway 1996 hit has been greatly anticipated is to indulge in wild understatement. Credited with literally saving the RPG genre with its simple, addictive hack-and-slash gameplay, Diablo made a pile of money and became an instant classic.

Now, before I go any further, let me just say this. Stop reading this review. What are you reading this review for? Why are you even logged on to the Internet right now? You could be playing Diablo II instead! What's wrong with you?!

Okay, if you insist in reading further. I'm happy to report the news is not only good, it's great. Amazingly, Blizzard has managed to improve almost every single element of the original game, creating a gaming experience that's longer, richer, more varied, and even more fun than it was the first time around.

Graphics: I know, I know, the graphics in Diablo II have taken a beating everywhere from GameSpot to PC Gamer to Liz Smith's column, for all I know. And far be it from me to contradict these learned writers. I admit, it's true that most of these other reviewers play many more current RPGs and action games than humble little adventure playing me. So I'm not going to compare the graphics in Diablo II to those in Icewind Dale or Unreal Tournament.

I'm going to compare them, quite properly I think, to the original game. And they are in every way superior. Still an isometric third-person format, everything looks richer and more complex. In the desert, you see little scorpions scurrying around. In the jungle, ditto snakes and birds. With 3D graphics card support, you get some lovely parallax effects that really make the environments seem more real. And the sheer variety of the locations is mind-blowing.

Character Classes/RPG Depth: The original had three character classes; Diablo II has five. But that's just the beginning of the character improvements. Even better, each character class has its own unique skill tree. This pays off in two ways: it creates character classes that are much more distinct, and it adds greater complexity to character development. Each time you power up in the game, you not only get to distribute the traditional five experience points across among the attributes of Strength, Agility, Vitality, and Energy, you also get to spend one "Skill Point" in your character's skill tree. This means that even within classes you can create a distinct character. All of this means that in terms of replayability, Diablo II is a bonanza.

Settings: The original game had four sets of dungeons below the town of Tristram, each with four levels. Meaning you only played in four different environments. Well. Played across four huge Acts, Diablo II takes place in deserts, jungles, causeways, docks, harems, bazaars, temples, grasslands, surreal floating staircases, lakes of fire, and every conceivable type of dungeon. Diablo II plays out on a much grander stage, and this gives a much broader sweep to the story and gameplay experience.

In order to facilitate navigation, various "Way Points" exist in the various far-flung areas of the game, which help cut down on travel time.

Monsters: More. Better. Bigger. Meaner.

NPCs: They have a bit more life in them this time around. Yes, they tend to stay in predictable areas, but they are more lively within those areas.

Quests: Rather than the randomized quests in the first game, this time around you play a set 21 quests. I didn't mind this change, as it allowed the overall game to have much more unity, as each quest built upon the next.

Weapons and Equipment: I played as a Barbarian and was delighted by the vast array of shields, masks, helmets, boots, gauntlets, and weapons of every conceivable type that I found and used during the game.

Other cool new features include a "stash," a safe place where you can store things without taking up inventory room, the ability to hire mercenaries to help you on your adventures, and (a favorite of mine) a health bar for your enemies. This final feature is particularly important when you're fighting tough bosses.

There are a few features in the new game that are sure to give Diablo veterans pause, however. In an effort to make the single-player game virtually the same as multi-player, certain fundamentals have shifted. Like the teensy little fact that you can't save the game anywhere you want. Yep, you heard right. You can only save from within the safety of the "home base" area. Plus, every time you exit and reenter the game, all the monsters you worked so hard to vanquish have respawned! One more thing--dying is a big pain in the butt. You lose whatever money you are carrying and have to go back and reclaim your corpse and armaments.

At first these new factors really put me off, but after a few hours of play I was able to make them work. I just had to develop a slightly different playing style than I did while playing the first game. It's more profitable to play Diablo II for longer chunks of time, to keep from feeling like you're running around in circles. If I decided to enter a new area, for instance, I would decide to play until I found the Way Point in that area before exiting the game, thereby having it activated for my next session of play.

In terms of dying, well, I adjusted to that as well. I developed a much more stealthy, less confrontational method of fighting. I learned to draw enemies out a few at a time, rather than rushing in and finding myself surrounded by a whole evil pack.

The game has several jaw-dropping cutscenes, which live on a separate disk. This is not a big deal, you only have to disk swap between Acts, and believe me, you can use the breather when it happens!

There are two additional new interesting features that didn't pay off particularly well for me. One deals with jewels that you can find and insert into certain "socketed" weapons, shields, or helmets, thereby upgrading their capabilities. This is an interesting idea, and it may have been more useful if I'd played a character who used magic more. But I found the jewel system to be cumbersome and cryptic.

Also, there are "sets" of equipment that you can find, which presumably all work even better as a complete set. Trouble is, in the course of playing the entire game I never found two items of one set. Perhaps this feature is more relevant in multi-player, or if you play the single-player game multiple times as the same character.

More on that last note. Not only is there kickass replayability because of the five distinct character classes and ability to fine-tune a character within a class, but this time around, there are three different degrees of difficulty: Normal, Nightmare, and Hell. You can only play Nightmare after winning the game on normal, and Hell when you've beaten Nightmare. Each successive level has tougher and more numerous foes. I get tired just thinking about it.

Diablo II is the kind of game that gives sequels a good name. In every corner of it you feel a sense of craftsmanship and pride that went into making a truly superior product.

Now, stop reading and get this compulsively playable devil of a game!

Final Grade: A+

If you liked Diablo II:
Watch: Wizards
Read: Anything by Steven Donaldson
Play: Diablo, Darkstone

System Requirements:

PII 233 or equivalent
32 MB RAM
4X CD-ROM
SVGA
4 MB VRAM
650 MB disk space
Mouse
Sound card
DirectX v7.0a

This review is copyright Ray Ivey and Just Adventure and may not be republished elsewhere without the express written consent of the author. Republication of said review must also contain a link back to Just Adventure.