| Product: |
Diablo 2 |
| Date: |
20/11/01 (465 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Amazing gameplay, huge numbers of skills and spells
Disadvantages: online gaming can be very slow at times
Three and a half years. That?s how long its been since Diablo turned up, transforming role-playing into a pastime strangely fashionable among those who?d previously all but spat in the faces of Dungeons & Dragons fans. With Diablo, such people could finally talk about spell-casting, magical amulets and hit points in public, without getting their heads kicked in.
Doing for the fantasy genre what Command & Conquer did for wargaming ? throwing away as much excess baggage as possible, then putting everything else within reach using a mouse-based control system ? Diablo was scarily simple, yet impossibly addictive. And this year, Diablo II finally arrived. And, you know what? It?s exactly the bloody same.
Gameplay
OK, OK, to be more specific, it plays in exactly the same way. This ought to be a damning statement, an indication that Diablo II is the sort of lazy cash-in sequel to be despised. But Diablo was so good precisely because of the way it played, in most instances requiring no more than use of the mouse cursor and two buttons to play out the whole monster filled, sword-hacking, spell-casting experience. Change that and the game would lose its purity, the secret of its success in the first place. So, when Diablo II shows itself to be just as slinky and streamlined, it?s actually a blessed relief, for once and once only. Throughout the game players are wrapped up in the fantasy just as if they were reading a very good book. The structure remains unchanged, but the story is more epic, more involving and more carefully structured. Or it could be said that Diablo to Diablo II what The Hobbit is to the Lord of the Rings.
Graphics
Visually, there have also been major improvements since 1997, which is just as well because, although Diablo did not have terrible graphics, it contained a very sparse colour scheme, simple sprite characters and location designs relying on the same old building blocks over and over again. Diablo II
does not go as far as to adopt a true 3D approach, which is a shame, but it may have overshadowed the original too much, and graphics aren?t everything at the end of the day. Dungeon Keeper 2 demonstrated what could be achieved with steroid-like 3D card enhancements. There is the option to use your 3D card to add a touch of perspective to the game, but it?s difficult to notice much of a difference.
Instead, Diablo II relies on the excellent quality of the artwork to impress, as the graphics are bolder and more varied than the original, with some of the ambitious locations showing what can be achieved using simple methods of graphic design. Even the sprite-based creature designs look impressive due to the number of animation frames for movement, combat and those all-important blood-spurting death sequences, while the fight scenes are enhanced by a great range of magic related special effects. An ever-changing music score, fantastic voice work, and some great grunts and groans all do their bit to make the journey make use of all your senses.
In keeping with the simple-meets-complex manifesto in Diablo II?s design, the epic, monster laden story is broken down into small chunks that any moron can cope with. The tale is split into four chapters, each including the deaths of many hell-sent evils, and each is played in the same way, but with new environment types, completely new creatures, and more powerful spells and weapons to play with.
The Structure
It all begins on safe ground. Here heroes can store their items in their personal stash, buy and trade items, both regular and magical, gamble, and even hire a computer controlled sidekick, but they are usually slaughtered within a few minutes, although it?s worth it for a laugh. There?s always a few key characters, too, ready to dispense essential plot-related tales, and provide you with information on new quests, of which there are six in each chapter. Once a new quest has been handed
out, it?s off into the wilderness, striking down any roaming evils stupid enough to come near to you, and slowly building up experience points and a stash of gold and any other items that can be found. Gain enough experience and a new level of expertise can be reached , whereupon extra points are provided with which to spend on your character?s strength, dexterity, vitality and energy.
A new level also means a new point to spend on the Skill Tree, which is where the whole idea of character progression really takes flight. You get to choose from one of five classes of hero right at the beginning of the game, and whichever one you choose can really change the way you have to play the game. It also changes the goodies to be found in the Skill Tree. The Amazon class provides the equivalent of the Rogue class in the original. They?re best with ranged weapons, such as bows, spears and the like. The Barbarian class is the one that excels in close combat. He?s also talented with shamanic magic, and so can call upon animal spirits. Not quite as religious and goody-goody as you might imagine, the Paladins get to wield a sword and learn a decent range of spells. Another female character class, the Sorceress is completely shit at regular combat, but blessed with some good magic attacks and spells. The fifth and final character is probably the most interesting. The Necromancer is another magic-inclined character, who can raise the dead, causing flocks of computer controlled skeletons to follow you around and help you slaughter hell?s minions.
As a character rises through the experience levels, so they can work through the tree, accessing the really good shit-kicking skills. But because it?s possible to improve each skill by using more skill points, there?s no one single route to take through the tree. Combine the freedom to pump up a character?s talents over the course of the game with the possibilities provided by recovering well made or magical items of weap
ons and armour (or buying them using your collection of gold pieces), and you have the perfect reason to keep coming back for more. No matter who you are, once you are transported to a world of Diablo II, the desire to gain power and skill becomes utterly irresistible. This, more than anything, is what will have you proclaiming your undying love and devotion for the game.
So, there you are running around in a field, attacking anything that moves in a bid for treasure and experience, and suddenly a key location comes up ? a cave, graveyard or monastery, for example. Then the main quest in hand can be tackled, a small struggle that ends with the bloody and exciting demise of a boss character, which when pulled off will reward you with more experience and treasures. Then it?s time to go back to town for a rest, to sell, repair or buy items, and to get psyched for the next quest. This is all very simple, yet incredibly effective. For a game so obviously intent on throwing every walking, or flying nightmare at you, Diablo II is unmatched at making you feel very at home. The chapters and sub-quests mean you always know what?s going on and you never lose sight of the big picture. The ?waypoints?, teleportation devices located in the darkest corners of a field, mean that you never have to back-track over long distances, and handheld ?town portals?, which come in the form of scrolls are very useful for a speedy escape.
It?s the way you get to control the actions of your character, which really shows how user-friendly things can be. The mouse-driven method for moving and fighting remains virtually unchanged, which is to say it?s as good as ever. The simple ?click to attack? method of fighting doesn?t minimise the tension or excitement generated by battles. When there are several breeds of evil closing in, working out where to move, which one to attack first, and whether to use a close combat weapon or a magical long-range attack can mean that very quick dec
isions need to be made and fast reactions are a necessity. Spell selecting is made easy, as keyboard shortkeys can be used, or the laborious method of using the on-screen menus, but by far the best method is to use the mouse wheel to scroll through them.
Some of the creatures rely on a shaman to resurrect them, which can be irritating as hell if you can?t break through a wall of the little buggers to get to him. Other creature types, when in groups, may have a ?boss monster?, a creature with its own name and magic power. Some of them can be really tough to kill, but you will always be rewarded with a magic item once you reduce it to a bloody pile. The speed at which most battles unfold (especially when there are upwards of 20 creatures on screen at once), mean these aren?t always needed, but it?s only a matter of time before you can?t cope with the hordes of demons, and your potions run low, and it?s time to either die or run and live to fight again. This becomes difficult when you are circled by enemies, which usually happens, as you have to hack your own escape route before you are completely over-powered.
Playing Online
Veterans of Diablo, such as myself, will be pleased that Diablo II makes use of Blizzards unbeaten Battle.net system, which allows player to build a character online and form teams with other users in an attempt to destroy the Lord of Terror. The system includes an in-game chat line with which you can communicate with friends, and the blends of different character classes within teams make battles very varied, while the individual styles of each player also shine through ? some holding back, others wading in for the best treasures, which can be traded with team-mates. The system does, however, include some inevitable moments of lagging, but for the most part, games are remarkably smooth and stable, which is probably why they avoided complete 3D graphics, but also due to the European server within Battle.net. One welcome
move is that players can no longer inflict damage on one another, at least not until they reach a high level of experience.
Fans of the original might wonder whether its worth buying or not, but such scepticism should be avoided. Diablo II is, without a doubt, the best blend of arcade action and role-playing around. The formula hasn?t changed because it was near perfect in the first place and the real changes can only be found by playing the game itself. The FMV sequences are astonishingly high detailed and really pump up the atmosphere at the beginning of a new chapter. Diablo II has been built with three and a half years of love, care and attention. The result is a game so devilishly good, it must be a sin. Play it now and pray for forgiveness later.
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Dr Evil - 20/11/01 Fantastic Review,Cya Mate |
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