Diablo II

"The Lord of Terror is back, and this time, he's bringing the family with him"

Diablo II took the concept and gameplay of Diablo, and tweaked it to the point where you'd barely recognize its roots anymore.
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction gives you seven character classes to choose from. The Sorceress is the master of elemental magic; the Barbarian uses brute force, weapon techniques, and stat-enhancing war-cries; the Paladin empowers his battle techniques with power-enhancing auras; the Necromancer raises skeleton and golem minions, and uses dark and poisonous spells; the Amazon hunts her enemies with spears, javelins, and bows, using her techniques to enhance power and ability.

What the deeper story of Diablo didn't include in the game, Diablo II goes by. The hero of Diablo, after beating the Lord of Terror, shoves the shard of the demon's soulstone into his own forehead. Though he does this with the intent of keeping the evil at bay, he is eventually overcome by the spirit of Diablo, and roams eastwards, to release his brothers Mephisto and Baal, the other two Prime Evils of Hell. Once all three are released, they would reclaim Hell and let loose its forces upon the mortal realm. Obviously, you must stop this from happening.

Diablo II's gameplay improves upon that of its predecessor in ways unimaginable. Waypoints instantly take you from place to place; rather than a single deep dungeon, Diablo II has four acts, each with quests to complete and a boss or few to defeat; instead of each character being able to learn the same magic spells, the different classes have their own set skill trees which they can learn and develop. The items in Diablo II dwarf those of Diablo - not only are there normal, magic, and unique items, but also rares, which spawn with random names and attributes; set items, which will grant you more power with the more items from a set you have equipped; as well as damaged items, like a Low-Quality Sash or a Cracked Dagger. Even new item types are found in Diablo II, like boots and gloves, and a belt to carry your potions. Tomes will hold several scrolls of Town Portal or Identify, rather than only having one at a time. Keys are used to open locked chests. Socketed items can be embedded with Gems, which add attributes to a weapon/armor. The Horadric Cube item, found in Act II, allows you to transmute items into new ones. Forgive me, I may be forgetting a few things here. The enemies are very diverse, and you can play with or against up to seven other people online via Battle.net.

Diablo II's graphics are an improvement upon Diablo's, and everything from items to environments to characters look very well-designed. Sound effects are nicely done, and the ambient music, as with Diablo's, creates a feel that goes very well with whatever area you happen to be in.

The environments in which you fight, similar to the dungeon levels of Diablo, are randomly generated each time you make a new game. The items you can get and make are unimaginable, almost limitless, and the combinations of classes, skills, stats, and equipments you can give a character make almost every one unique.

Diablo II is highly applauded for its gameplay, and many people have attached their very lives to this game. It can be very addictive, and quite a fun experience.

Oh, and don't forget about Diablo II's expansion pack, Lord of Destruction.

Overall arbitrary rating: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/02/02, Updated 09/02/02