Diablo 2 is one of my favourite games of all time, and I’m not alone in that opinion. The Diablo series created a genre upon its creation, unleashing an army of Diablo-likes into the world of gaming, the most well known of which probably being Torchlight. Other examples include Dungeon Hunter, Dungeons and Dragons: Daggerdale (reviewed here), Fate, and I’m sure I’m missing a lot of others.
[drop]Diablo transcends these despite its age, however, thanks to its random nature, its world and its writing. Diablo 2 is a dark tale taking place in a world that is being ravaged by hordes of monsters that differ in appearance and action but not in their thirst for your blood. You might think this is the standard fare for a fantasy RPG, because it is now, but the background you often glimpse into during quests is so well written and matches the game style so completely it transcends being merely a quest and instead becomes something you rarely experience in games of this type – a genuinely interesting story and background where there didn’t necessarily need to be any.As you may have noticed elsewhere, quests tend to be ‘I need to fix the bridge before you can use it, so go fetch me 15 of this thing so I can do it’, followed closely by killing a load of enemies in a same-y lookingb area until you’ve happened upon enough items for the quest. They’re shallow and uninspired, which does nothing to lessen you grinding through a load of monsters. However, even though the actual gameplay in Diablo games might be the same fighting through monsters, but when you’re given an interesting background to your fighting a fetching it lessens the blow. Of course, since D2 has such good combat for this style of game, chances are you don’t mind battling through legions of enemies anyway, but it is genuinely brilliant to see the product of a developer who is happy to do more than the bare minimum to get a game out.
[drop2]And then there’s loot. Loot is another part of the game that enhances all the rest. Whenever you’re killing things (most of the time) there’s always the lurking possibility of discovering a better weapon, or unique armour, or parts of a set, and this is perfectly executed in D2. It’s all completely random, but for a few quest-specific items, as it is in all other games of this type, but there are so many items that, even after my almost 11 years of play I continue to find rare items I’ve never seen before in my previous playthroughs, and every time I do I find it difficult to suppress the ‘ooohh’ sound I tend to make. Every time I see an item I make it my mission to pick it up, even if it means I have to make a trip or two into town to sell off the fancy items I already have in my inventory. There’s nothing quite like trying out your new Sword of Awesome Inflammation +2 (might not be a real weapon).As far as I’m concerned, Diablo 2 is still the pinnacle of its genre, even after all these years. Whilst some players may have moved on to its clones in search of a new experience, now would be the prefect time to play through the game again, what with Diablo 3 on the horizon. The game has aged remarkably well, its graphics may be 2D, but they lasted reasonably well considering the game is 11 years old, and the gameplay is evergreen.
You can buy Diablo 2 from Battle.net for the oddly steep price of £10, though you can get it for half that in the bargain sections in PC World and other such places. The game will run on pretty much any Windows or Mac system, provided up update it completely. The expansion, Lord of Destruction, is available for the same price. The video below is me playing as a druid (one of the classes added in Lord of Destruction) in the first act.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZXg76ruaKE
GeneralJeeb
I’m off to PC World to find me a copy, gotta play through this all again now! Great read :) So many memories, it truly is the best in it’s class. Though you missed out on how amazing the soundtrack is too!
grimm
Yeh I still play this game every now and then. The problem is that dupes/cheats have ruined it and therefore a lot of the fun of playing on battle.net has gone.
Kennykazey
I bought this game and it’s expansion a long time ago, but have yet to really get into it… Perhaps now is the time.
l33j0hn
Unfortunately, you’ve missed the primetime of D2. If you play on Battle.net right now, you’ll be sorely disappointed by the rampant use of hacks/dupes/bots and be put off by the immaturity of those who still play.
Though, singleplayer is still quite fun. But multiplayer is what made D2 so fun to play back in the day.
Hoopiness
Easily one of my all time faves. I could watch the FMVs between acts again and again, brilliant. So atmospheric.
Tuffcub
Isnt this just Gauntlet with extra bells?
l33j0hn
“just”? Have you ever played Diablo 2?
Do not lump Diablo together with Gauntlet. Ever.
Sympozium
Hahahaha… Gauntlet
bunimomike
As much as Skyrim is Gauntlet in 3D. :P
Sympozium
Well I’ve looked for years and no luck… (wait I haven’t properly looked) better if it was on Steam then I wouldn’t have to create another account… >.<
Person678
There is no cow level…
Slimeh
Only thing missing in D2 for me is a easy mass item storage area, i know theres mods but i like bnet D2 LoD
Looking forward to D3 :D