"Heaven, hell, or hype? Diablo 2 finally speaks for itself."

After almost a year's worth of delays, Diablo 2 has finally reached store shelves and summer has now been filled with long nights of D2 on Battle.net, epic discussions of strategy, and combing the Internet for that perfect D2 clan. The question on everyone's mind is obviously, ''Is it what we expected?'' After a week of D2, the answer to that is certainly not! And that's a good thing!

First we must realize that Blizzard wasn't the source of most of the hype. Diablo was one of the most popular RPG's of all time, and Blizzard is somewhat notorious for making the best games on Earth. We all expected Diablo 2 to save PC gaming (not that it's even in trouble) and finally cement the new RPG renessaince that began with Black Isle (who released Fallout and Baldur's Gate).

Of course, in Diablo 2, you're chasing after the big red horned one again. This time, the wanderer from Diablo 1 is out of control. He's traveling eastward for some reason, and he's leaving a path of destruction and monsters in his wake. Your job is to find out why, then solve the problem.

Let me get this out of the way first. Diablo 2 is easily the best action RPG ever created. But will you, as a fan of Diablo 1 enjoy it? Or maybe you didn't like Diablo or never played it. Can Diablo 2 live up to it's hype? First let's start with the Diablo 1 fans. Will you love D2 as much as the original?

The answer is maybe. I have found 5 MAJOR differences in Diablo 1 and 2 that will either enhance or degrade your enjoyment.

#1. The character classes are highly specialized. - Remember using that unique ultra powerful bow and arrow in hell with your warrior in hell in D1? That won't happen in D2. Characters are made to be strong in combat if they fight a certain way. Weapons now have higher stat requirements, and class bonuses.

#2. Character development takes serious thought. - Remember in D1 how you just clicked on the four main stats when you leveled up? How your character could read infinite spell books no matter what his or her class? Not in Diablo 2. The fighters can't even USE magic. It's not possible. There are now skill trees. Every time you level up, you gain one skill. You really have to think about what direction you take your character and what skills complement the way you fight. Your stats also control many more variables, so they are very important as well.

#3. No more hacking on REAL Battle.net. - Self explanatory. Either you are a hacker and hate this, or you are a player and love this. For you that are into hacking, there's always open Battle.net, though. It's also there for those of you who want to show off your single player character.

#4. Battles are no longer just point and click. - The sheer volume of the monsters you fight in D2 makes you use a lot of strategy when fighting. Remember when you used to walk your warrior into a field of enemies and hack until you killed them all? If you do that with the barbarian on D2, you're as good as dead. There is a better balance between skill cost and effect than in Diablo 1, so you can't run in and shoot 5,000,000 holy bolts at your enemies.

#5. The bosses are genuinly challenging. - No more closing the door on the butcher and shooting through the fence on this one. The first time you fight Andariel, the boss of the first act, you will die. Many times.

So will you like Diablo 2 more than the original? Well, I would hope so, but just be warned that it's not Diablo on steroids, it's a much more complex entity all together. There are enough similarities where you will be able to jump right in, but not enough where you will be able to master it right away. Of course, the random dungeons and overworld were brought over from D1.

Many people on the Internet have acted like the graphics on Diablo 2 actually were so bad that it killed the game. Nothing could be more wrong. Those people are just mad that they don't get to use their $250 GeForce 2 Gladiac cards. D2 is a beautifully drawn and well animated game. The 640x480 resolution is really not annoying at all once you get into the game. Diablo 2 is a beautiful game without 3d graphics. Admittedly, the graphics in act 1 don't match up to the rest of the game.

The videos in between acts are simply mind blowing. I don't want to give away any of the story line for people that haven't seen it yet, but I will say that the voice actors on this game are very, very talented. The CG animations are probably the best ever seen on a game, right up there with the CG's from Final Fantasy 8.

The sound is a dream to listen to. EAX effects are very much distinguishable from the normal sound. Birds chirp, rain falls, and winds blow and it sounds like you are in the middle of it. The music is much more rich and varied than in the first game and it changes seamlessly.

One of my problems with the first game were the long loading times. These are much shorter in D2, even though there is more area loaded. Why? Who knows, but I'm happy about it.

Diablo 1 set new standards for RPG replayability, and Diablo 2 improves on that immensely. Of course, the dungeons are still random, but so is the overworld. And a D2 act is big. Very big.

Internet play has been greatly improved, even with the early Battle.net problems. There is a closed Battle.net mode where finally, you the gamer, are free from the hackers! PKing is much more complicated than walking up on someone and flipping the kill switch, like you did in D1. If you are trying to kill someone, they will see you coming from a mile away, because you delcare hostility in towns. There is a hardcore mode for players who have beaten the game, where if you die once, it's over. No more character. There are enough modes that even the players who are on constantly could not get bored. And yes, of course, there is a ladder.

So is Diablo 2 worth it? Of course. If you paid $100 for D2, it would be worth it. This is the best game ever made, yo! For once, buy into the hype. You won't be disappointed by the results.

Summary:

Visuals: 9/10. Would be about a 7, but the CG's are amazing.
Sound: 9/10. Beautiful environmental audio and music.
Gameplay: 10/10. Amazingly balanced gameplay.
Storyline: 9/10. Much more in depth and interesting than D1.
Replayability: 10/10. You will never get tired of this game.
Multiplayer: 10/10. Battle.net will be a beautiful thing once the bugs are worked out.
Overall: 10/10. The best game ever created, in my opinion.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/05/00, Updated 06/12/03