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