Diablo II

Reviews / previews

Preview: Diablo 2

Diablo II is just around the corner and the beta demo is up and running on Blizzard's Battle.net server. We've got a hands-on look at the game, some brand new screenshots, and an exclusive MP3 to get you into the adventuring mood.

Evil has once again spread through the land, and it's up to you to stop it. In Diablo II, players will get a chance to take on the role of one of five new character classes: Necromancer, Barbarian, Sorceress, Amazon, or Paladin. Each class has its own unique skills and spells, and as characters advance in level, they earn points, which can be spent on increasing individual attributes. Depending on how skill points are spent, characters will vary from player to player.

For example, the Necromancer has the ability to raise skeletons from the corpses of slain enemies, with the number of skill points equaling the number of potential minions. Therefore, a player could choose to spend all of their points on that particular skill, amassing a veritable army of undead. Another player may choose to allocate their points into the Teeth spell, which allows the Necromancer to cast magic teeth-like missiles at their opponent.

The Amazon, meanwhile, is a well-balanced warrior who specializes in spears and bows. Her skills include a Jab attack that allows her to hit an enemy multiple times with slightly less damage, and an ability that causes double damage, with more skill points increasing the chance of occurrence.

For those who prefer the power of brute force, there is the Barbarian, a mighty warrior with an iron constitution. The Barbarian has great strength, can take loads of damage, and has the ability to wield two weapons simultaneously. His skill tree allows him to specialize in individual weapons and also includes a war cry that will send nearby enemies running for cover.

The Paladin has an interesting Sacrifice skill that causes extra damage to enemies, while dealing a minimal amount of damage to himself. And the Sorceress specializes in spell casting, with spells available in Cold, Fire, and Lightning varieties.

Everything is coming together nicely, with detailed character animations, stunning spell effects, and eerie music, which you can get a taste of by downloading our exclusive MP3. Although no specific release date has been set (Blizzard's stance has always been, "when it's finished"), you can look for Diablo II to be released sometime in the upcoming months.

Exclusive: New Diablo 2 background music!!!

Click here to download the MP3 file!!!
-- Brian Wright / GamePro

Review: Diablo II

After years upon years of tuning, tweaking, and broken release dates, Diablo II is finally on shelves and stands as maybe the best example that good things come to those who wait.

PC gamers who've never played Diablo are harder to find than a cheap apartment in Tokyo. Blizzard wowed gamers years ago with a game that made action fans take a look at RPGs and vice versa. By taking away the cumbersome mechanics and introducing a basic point-and-click combat interface and a system of constant reward, Blizzard did for RPGs what they did for realtime strategy with Warcraft: They made it easy, intuitive, and impossible to put down. As soon as gamers got their hands on the original, they began clamoring for a sequel.

Now Diablo is back, and it's obvious that the years in development have been kind. Blizzard's trademark is perfect playbalancing, and they've struck that pose again with Diablo II. Five character classes, each with multiple skill trees and power paths, join together to fight the Prince of Terror as he returns to plague the land. Whether you play the Barbarian, Amazon, Paladin, Sorceress, or Necromancer, you'll find that no one class is more powerful than the others. No matter how you choose to set up your skills, with the right tactics your character will be a force to be reckoned with in the world of Diablo II.

This title's been years in the making, and though that shows in its dated graphics and layout, it's what's inside the game that counts. Control is as easy as pointing and clicking, and spells and potions are as close as a hotkey away. Great voice samples, atmospheric music, and the gruesome sounds of combat all contribute to Diablo II's overall sonic perfection. The multiplayer game and single-player mode are, for all intents and purposes, the same, and those worried about cheaters can play their games on Blizzard's free online service Battle.net, which stores characters on Blizzard's servers, away from the prying fingers of cheaters. Diablo II's graphics, 2D and rather outdated, are all that keeps the game from being all-out perfect, but even the visuals sport impressive lighting and spell effects.

When you buy Diablo II, be ready for some serious patch and driver downloading, as a huge portion of early adopters had all sorts of graphics and sound card problems. You'll also want to connect to Battle.net immediately upon starting up, because there's already a huge patch that fixes some rather daunting gameplay bugs, and there ought to be another on the way, because gamers are finding new bugs all the time. Liberal application of Blizzard's technical support system should have you up and running in no time, and, for once, the game is worth the trouble.

With its philosophy of constant reward (you're always finding better equipment, learning new skills, or just leveling up) and its all-too-easy interface, Diablo II takes what the original Diablo did well and expands on it. You'll get caught up in the quest to have the meanest Barbarian, the nastiest Necromancer, or the holiest Paladin, and you'll forget the real world exists. The real evil in this game isn't Diablo himself, it's that once you start, you won't be able to stop.-- Jay Turner / GamePro