If you're even thinking about buying Diablo 2, then say goodbye to family, friends, and your job. Run away to Mexico if you have to, because Diablo 2 is too good. It's one of those games that keep you awake at night. It makes you think about gold and magic items while your working. You'll miss entire meals for this game. It's so good it's scary.
That's right, folks, evil is back, and badder than ever. Your job, again, is to stop evil from destroying the world. You do it by hacking millions of demons and goblins to pieces, gaining experience, and finding magical items. Basically, this is the formula for the entire game, and it's more fun than should be allowed by law.
Extremely linear in design, you go from quest to quest through four acts of gaming. These acts, though, are really big and expansive. You can choose from five character classes this time around, and each one is unique and will have you playing the game differently. There's a surprising amount of strategy involved in Diablo 2, as you have to try to play the game based on the character you have. You'd be a fool to try to use bows and arrows with the barbarian, since he can smash and slice enemies with ease. You'd also be a fool to try to out-muscle the evil baddies if you're playing the Sorceress, since she can throw spells of death and destruction across the screen with her magical talents.
The new skill system is awesome. Every character has a skill set, with skills that can be learned as you gain levels and complete objectives. These range from weapon proficiencies to spells, both offensive and defensive. If you like certain skills, you can also use skill points to make those specific skills more powerful.
The game itself is simple point and click movement and combat. Almost any gamer will be able to sit down and play it without breaking a sweat. This is where the balance and precision of the game shows through. The level of difficulty is so perfect, you'll barely notice it. The beginning of the game will have you fighting really easy enemies, but not so easy you don't have to think. Later on, the enemies will be MUCH more powerful... but so will you.
The magical items in the game are fantastic, and will make you want to defeat dungeons just to get new stuff for your character. They allow you to raise your character's statistics and use skills you normally don't have. You'll have your favorite magical weapons, but will eventually have to give them up for more powerful ones.
The graphics aren't fantastic. You'll be stuck in 640 by 480 for the entire game. Really, though, I could care less. The graphics are serviceable, and the magical effects are really beautiful. This game is so good you won't even care that it barely uses your 300$ video card.
The sound and music are perfect. The voice acting is nice, and the music in the game matches the tone perfectly. Each enemy grunts and groans and screams satisfyingly, and the spell effects carry a nice sound with them.
The only problem I had with this game was that it would not run on my GeForce 2 card. Every time I tried to run it, my entire computer would crash. This isn't just a problem on my computer, either. It wouldn't run on my friends with a GeForce, and I've been reading about problems with Direct 3D mode on newsgroups and forums on the internet. Still, though, my Voodoo 5 runs it perfectly, so anyone with a 3dfx card should have no problems.
Lastly, internet play is perfected. You'll have characters that are stored and saved on Blizzard's side of things, which means that cheating will be way down. When playing on the internet, you'll be able to form parties and play the single player campaigns to your heart's content. This mode, scary enough, is even more addictive than the single player mode. You'll cherish magical items like you wouldn't believe, and the ability to trade with others really is fantastic.
If you haven't noticed, I really love this game. It may be one of the most perfect games I've ever played. This game has so much content it's not even funny. It will keep you coming back for more, even though you know you should go to bed, talk to your loved ones, and go to work. All those other things mean less to you when you're involved in the world of Diablo 2. Then again, maybe I just have problems. Either way, Diablo 2 is fantastic.
-Jerred
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