"Stay awhile and listen!"

I never was a real hardcore Blizzard fan. My first Blizzard game was Starcraft and I'm still addicted to that. I first played Diablo 2 and then was later told to play Diablo. Boy was I in for a surprise. This game was great and it was so much harder than Diablo 2.

Graphics 6/10
I'm not sure when the game was really made but the graphics were about average. One problem I had with them is everything seemed a little too dull. Not that I wanted real vibrant colors. The dungeons, caves, hell was all too dull looking for me. The town especially was dull. The NPC's looked great and most of the monster's graphics looked good also. The item graphics were well done looking like real medieval armor that you'd find in museums.

Music 2/10
I've said in previous reviews I do not like music with video games only certain ones. I did not like the music at all in this game. Just like the graphics it seemed to bland and dull. Blizzard seemed to lack in this department when it came to it.

Sound 9/10
The sound was great. The clanking of swords, bows and the sound of the mage throwing a fireball or lightning bolt. The voice acting was all good except for the Witch. She had the most annoying voice and was probably casted last minute. Who could forget Deckard Chain's famous line ''Stay awhile and listen.'' Farnham the drunk also had a good voice.

Gameplay 8/10
Point click, point click, point click, you see the where this is going. That's the basic gameplay here. It's nothing to new or innovative. Left click is for attack and the right click is usually for magic attacks. If you enjoy mind numbing clicking for hours hacking and slashing away at monsters then this game is for you. If you wanted something new and fresh then don't bother.

Story 5/10
The story isn't all that great. You, the hero, go back to your hometown, Tristram, and find that it is overrun with Diablo, the Lord of Terror's, minions. Some Prince was captured also that you know nothing about. So the point of the game is to go into the church and go down twenty stories of labyrinths, caves, dungeons, and then finally hell itself. It may seem short because it's only 20 levels but it takes far longer if you explore each level throughly. The story probably would've been better if each character had his or her own background story or maybe not.

Challenge 9/10
Challenge is very high in this game if you play Single player. The reason this being is because once a monster is dead, it does not come back as oppose to in Diablo 2. Which then makes it harder to level up. Plus if a bunch of monsters corner you, then it's over, you either give up or try to hack and kill as many and try to escape. If you play multiplayer solo (not many people can be trusted online) then it is rather easier. There's only 4 quests online and the monsters come back and the dungeons regenerate each time you start a new game.

Replay 6/10
You won't be replaying this game that much unless you play multiplayer and try beating Nightmare and Hell modes. For single player replay there isn't much at all unless you want to get the best items from Wirt or find them. Besides that join a clan, dupe and hack that's all there's left to do once you beat it.

Overall 7/10
It was a really fun game at first but once you beat it you get the feeling that there's not much else to do. For people that have played Diablo 2 and not this one, I recommend you play this game also. This is the roots of Diablo gaming.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/02/03, Updated 03/02/03