Darkstone

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Review: Darkstone

Now, Diablo clones are not necessarily a bad thing-except when, as in Darkstone's case, the ease-of-use of the original game isn't carried over.

It's the close-up, isometric 3D graphics that prove Darkstone's single most distinctive feature. They immerse you in the same dungeons that Diablo displayed from a more antiseptic and distant perspective. As your party passes rooms, the nearby walls briefly fade to display the rooms' contents. You can also choose from a top-down view and a pair of user-controlled cameras that let you adjust distance and view angle.

In theory, a two-character party, where you swap between one persona you control and another controlled by the computer, means you have weapons and magic available for different threats.

But Darkstone developer Delphine hasn't provided the tools to make it work well. For example, once the computer's character is locked in melee combat, it will remain there until dead, since there's no user-adjustable "flee level," as in Rage of Mages II. The AI-controlled character sometimes remains a bit too far behind your party leader to become aware of battles and will stand, happy and oblivious, while your personal character is demolished by foes.

On numerous occasions, Darkstone forces you to play against programming code as much as against your computerized foes. Some annoyances are small. The contents of treasure chests located near walls occasionally pop up on the other side of the wall.

Others are more irritating-like an interface that stores a single spell per character for quick casting. (Diablo let you hotkey up to four spells.) To switch spells, you have to plug in a different spell number, then right-click to cast--by which time your victorious adversaries are probably already snickering over your corpse.

I like the system of basic skills that Darkstone adds to the Diablo mix, which your characters learn and improve by paying an instructor in town-such as item recharging for mages. But beyond this, the graphics, and the two-person party, Darkstone is intensely Diablo-like, even reproducing goblin-like gangs that retreat when attacked, and its color-coded healing (red) and mana (blue) potions.

The multiplayer version of Darkstone offers the same goals as the stand-alone version, and supports network or Internet play for up to four playing as allies or on their own. (The latter means that combat spells and weapons affect your rivals as well as the game's monsters.) You can also send general and private messages to other players-the private ones showing up as garbage on the screens of eavesdroppers. (However, a high languages skill allows them to decode private messages. Nice touch, that.)

Now, Diablo didn't offer as much as Darkstone, but it did get it right the first time. By contrast, the attractions of Darkstone's 3D dungeons and dangers pale before the variety of obstacles placed in the way of enjoyment. For action game addicts, only.-- Barry Brenesal / GamePro