iablo II is the best-selling sequel to one of the best-selling computer games ever, Diablo. In this fantasy roleplaying game (RPG), players take the role of a hero in one of five classes: Amazon, Barbarian, Necromancer, Paladin or Sorceress. Then, following a story progression through four acts, players fight wave after wave of ever more difficult opponents and bosses, gaining more power and better equipment, until facing the greatest evil of all--Diablo.
The Barbarian is a whacker--he wades right into combat and chops down foes. At higher levels he can use war cries to terrorize his enemies. The Amazon, by contrast, is the master of the javelin and bow. She uses arcane magic to empower her arrows with flame, ice, lightning and other nasty stuff. The Necromancer reanimates the corpses of his slain foes to fight on his side. The Sorceress can burn, freeze, evaporate or pulverize monsters with a thought. And the Paladin, who's no slouch when it comes to combat, generates mystical auras to heal his friends and destroy his enemies.
Blizzard also includes network play for Diablo II at its much ballyhooed battle.net site. There, players can meet up with friends or join complete strangers to continue the battle. Classes are designed to work independently for solo play, and also combine well for network play. Monsters become considerably tougher when players group up, providing plenty of challenge. Also, after completing the game, players can make their characters hard-core. A hard-core character does not come back if killed. Players who complete the game on battle.net with hard-core characters get special recognition on a ranking ladder.
Players can customize their characters a good bit, both with different abilities and equipment. Game play is quick and fairly intuitive, and numerous hotkeys give easy access to a character's inventory and skill list.
See monster. Kill monster.
While the basic concept doesn't sound dramatically different from the 500 other computer RPGs that came out in the last year, Diablo II does the basics very, very well. Get a character, buff him or her up, and whack the living daylights out of anything ugly. Except for one overpowered Necromancer trick (Amplify Damage + Corpse Explosion = Quick Win), the game is balanced, varied, challenging without being frustrating, and thoroughly engrossing.
Yes, if it didn't do anything else well, Diablo II would get top marks for being engrossing. The detail and depth of play are enough to keep even casual gamers busy for hours. And contrary to expectations, the game's repetition at Nightmare and Hell difficulties remains interesting and fun.
The only complaint worth mentioning is that it doesn't break much new ground. It's basically Diablo with different monsters and a change of scenery. All the standard fantasy idioms are present and accounted for, and standard gamey limitations prevent unplanned behavior or radical thinking.
Like nearly all computer RPGs, Diablo II is relentlessly linear. Players must complete certain quests in a certain order to complete the game. A separate agenda is not an option. The game doesn't railroad players completely (in some places, characters who gain enough levels can bypass the requirements), but the walls of the game are still unapologetically evident. This is a standard of the genre, but some computer games are beginning to overcome this limitation. It's a pie-in-the-sky dream that this one might, too. Still, given that this type of play is a constant in computer-moderated RPGs, Diablo II is an excellent game.
