Diablo 2
Rating:  -
Diablo 2 has taken many, many hours away from my life...but it was too addicting, I couldn't help it! For anyone who likes 2-D style dungeon-crawls (Bulder's Gate, Champions of Norrath, Diablo 1, etc) this is THE game for you! The replayability of this game is phenomenal. There are so many items (various types of weapons, armor, charms, amulets, rings, etc.) and monsters that every single time you play, the experience will be different! You play underground, in deserts, ice caves, forests, jungles, castles, so many places. It can take hours to beat each act (5 in all) and there are three difficulty levels to play (12 Acts total if you play all the way through, 15 with the expansion pack). Hell is the hardest difficulty setting and VERY challenging. There are many sidequests to play, though your main goal is to kill Mephisto, Baal (with the expansion), and Diablo.
The characters are more fun than any dungeon crawl type came I have ever played because each class has its own sepcific skills, spells, and auras (30 for each of the 5 classes, 7 classes with the expansion) that it can learn. Because of that, even one class can have several different styles of character by the end of the game.
Many people still play this game online, though I have only ever played it offline, single player. I have talked with peopl who play it online, and if you have a fast connection (I only have dial-up) they say it is a lot of fun.
So if you want to go back to the classic days before everything was in 3-D, and on massive online servers, Diablo 2 with or with out the expansion (which adds the fifth act to each level of the game), is a fun and challenging way to whittle away hours of your life on the computer!
Rating: -
"Diablo" was fun but it could have been much better. My biggest gripe about it was on single player. Once you killed the monsters, they were gone forever and so you could only get up to a certain level before being FORCED to face Diablo, and of course you weren't ready. I also hated how slow the guys walked, having trouble clicking on something on the ground to pick it up, the cost of elixirs (which upped an attribute permanently), the cost of books, how far between waypoints were and probably a few other things that I can't think of at the moment. However, it was still fun.
Oh, another thing that kinda sucked was in multi-player every character was 100% cookie. At best maybe a sorcerer used a Nova staff instead of an Apocalypse one for example. Everyone use the same gear, like, the EXACT same gear. Look how many people used Dragon's Ring of the Zodiac. However, what was nice about this was the EASY duping system. It was so easy it was a joke. No skill was required and neither was a hack/dupe program. H**l, when I had nothing guys would give me godly gear for free. That's how easy it was to dupe.
However, with "Diablo 2" everything's improved. More classes, better graphics, faster gameplay, more variety really. However, the original is only played by those who like the harder game play as in the original you don't have as much godly gear as you do in the expansion, such as rune words. So unless you're one of these types who like the harder but much simpler game play, you'll also want the expansion.
The only thing that sucks about multi-player is in order to get godly items these days, unless you don't mind spending countless hours (which is something I was doing for a while and got wise and cut way down on), you need a bot to do MF runs. Otherwise, your character will never be good as far as PvP is concerned.
Oh, that's another nice thing about this game. It's pretty much impossible to get backstabbed. No more of that situation where you're running with your "ally" and all of a sudden they can kill you. Blizzard added a lot more barriers to being able to backstab someone so that it's pretty much impossible if not completely impossible.
As for how it compares to "World of Wacraft", well, at least with this game you won't be taking half an hour to find a place and it doesn't take 30 seconds to kill each monster, which you can only fight one at a time. This game won't require you to give up your life or social life and you don't have to pay to play it online. "World of Warcraft" (I refuse to call it "WoW"!) is stupid for many reasons, including the ones I just listed. Get this instead. It's faster and more interesting and much more laid-back. Plus you don't need to sacrifice as much to get somewhere.
"Diablo 2" > "World of Warcraft"
Rating: -
With my WoW review unfairly deleted by Fascist Amazon, I must instead post a review of an infinitely better game, Diablo 2. Not only does it take skill to play this game, but the story is 10000000000x better than WoW's. Instead of grinding, you go on exciting quests, treasure hunting, and dungeon crawling. And what else is that its FREE to play online. Thats right, once you pay the games charge, thats it. No fees for servers or anything. Not only that, but the people who play are better. No more lame 13 year olds who say lol too much, these are hardcore players. Instead of killing lame boars or wolves, you fight hellspawned demons, freshly arisen undead warriors, and everything inbetween, even PO'd evil Cows!
So, in short. Stop playing WoW. Get this game and enjoy it, its cheaper and better in every which way.
Rating: -
The original Diablo was ground breaking and a hell of a lot of fun. D2 took all of the great features of Diablo and then expanded both the universe, the story and the game play. If you want to disappear for a time - head for this world - you'll love it.
Rating:  -
The original "Diablo" came along at a time when the CRPG market was in dire straits. The game breathed fresh life into the genre and created an unparalleled accessibility that made it very easy to pick up play. Using the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" formula, the sequel follows along the lines of the original, and expands it into a bigger and better game.
For starters, there are 5 available classes to play with. The fierce Amazon, who excels in javelin and ranged weapons, the melee-specialist Barbarian, the Sorceress, who excels in flinging destructive spells, the undead-raising Necromancer and the holy Paladin. All of the 5 classes have drastically different playing styles, and there is no skill sharing here. Every class is meticulously detailed in every aspect of their skills available, to provide a unique gameplay experience.
The story follows on from the prequel, and is intriguing, if rather sparse at times. The hero who killed Diablo in the first game, which you played as, is now possessed by the evil demon thanks to the soul shard embedded within him. Ironically the hero wanted to imprison Diablo within the shard, and then use his own body as a prison for the shard, but now the Lord Of Terror has overpowered the hero's will and taken control of his once noble body, and sets forth to release his brothers and open the gates of hell for the final time. Your job is to hunt down Diablo and playing as one of the 5 classes, you journey across 4 Acts, all of which are extremely detailed and well thought out in terms of difficulty balance. Act One alone is as big as the entire original game! The distances you can cover are truly humongous. There is a sense of restriction however, because there are pesky barriers set up to quarantine you within the zones. So there is no sightseeing here, you are given a path, and you've got to follow it in order to get the job done. The quests given are interesting and very fun, but the real shame is that there is so few of them. A couple more per Act wouldn't have hurt.
But the essence of "Diablo II" is very much in its practical side. Tinkering with your characters' stats and hunting for items dropped by the monsters is the main attraction. There are literally thousands of items in the game, from magical rings, to rare axes, to the golden unique items, all of which are there for you to play dress up with. Set items are the rarest of them all, and if the set is completed by finding all the pieces (e.g. Death's Hand Sash, Death's Hand Boots...) then you get a very nice bonus. The amount of different monsters you can slay is truly astounding. All kinds of evil critters and denizens of hell make an appearance here, from vicious giant vultures, to lurking sea snakes, and of course - zombies! And lots of zombies too, since this is very much a hack and slash game, you will be clicking and clicking as you trudge through the millions of minions the game throws at you. It does get tedious sometimes, which is the only real letdown of the game's design. There isn't really enough depth to the story to make up for the sheer amount of clicking you have to do. The variance in areas does help, as does the motivation to get better loot, but other than that, "Diablo II" is just a giant slashfest. The Bosses you face at the end of each Act do have to get special mention however. They are extremely challenging and very neat to go up against.
The graphics are attractive, and they were considered very good for its time. Of course, now the 2D backdrops and limited animations are considered dated. The graphics do not detract from the ambience however, all of the monsters have plenty of color, and weather kicks in every now and then. Your character isn't very complex in the animation department I must admit. After all, how many different ways can a Barbarian swing a sword? The different skills do look cool however, like the Sorceress' blaze, where she leaves a trail of fire in her wake.
The music is rather bland, if suitable for the atmosphere. There are dark overtones here with an emphasis on the instrumental side of music. The desert flutes and jungle drums are nice, but the dungeons could have used a little more flair. The monster sounds are amusing, and the voice acting is top notch, as can be expected from Blizzard. The cinematic FMV's (full motion videos) that play between the conclusion of each Act are nothing short of stunning, and truly blew me away. Blizzard set their bar with "Starcraft" and then jumped it themselves with the new standard of cutscenes in "Diablo II".
The multiplayer offering is solid, with Blizzard's Battle.net service providing a stable online gaming experience. Competitive ladders, duels, and just causal playing are all catered for with the ever popular Battle.net. You won't have to look far for a game to join, the lobbies are teeming with life even now. Online characters are created for Battle.net only and stored separately from your singleplayer characters, to prevent any funny business.
The replay value of this game is astonishing. Considering the 20+ hours it takes to complete it the first time, not to mention the Nightmare and Hell modes, which are unlocked after completing Normal mode, there is a lot of playing to do here. Nightmare and Hell modes offer new items, and harder monsters. It is essentially playing through the game a second time, with much tougher monsters, and much better loot. The concept is brilliant, and of course you will be itching to try the other classes as well to see how they fare. Let me warn you though, this game is very addictive, even in singleplayer. Online, that's a whole other level of cyber-crack. The intense competition for items and the jockeying for positions on the ladders are what kept the game alive for this long.
If you are looking for an action RPG that has longevity, without a deep story line and dialogue to bog you down, then this is your game. Those out there who are all about stats and equipment, and competitive gaming need look no further than "Diablo II". Blizzard is known for their excellent pedigree, and they don't disappoint. "Diablo II" improves upon the original in every aspect, and provides the most bang for your buck out of any classic RPG out there. Do yourself a favor and pick this up from a bargain bin. Putting it down again, now that's another story.
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