Diablo II (based on v1.2 patch) Developer: Blizzard Entertainment Publisher: Sierra/Havas Category: : Action & Adventure System Req: : PII 400, 128 Mb RAM, 8x CD, 8 Mb, 3D card (optional) Editor's Note: Multiplayer and 3D acceleration require 64 Mb RAM. Multiplayer requires a 950 Mb installation. Might look like: Diablo Date posted: 9 September 2000 Written By: Jochen - This game was reviewed on PIII 500, 128 Mb RAM, 32x CD-Rom, 32 Mb Ultra TNT2 - We also test other games on "PlayDevil.com Game Machine" Let's Hack and Slash! Way back in 1997 role-playing games were dead. The ones that had survived the test of time were considered 'for- die-hard's -only' : Ultima, Wizardry and Might & Magic were all great games ( if you like this type of gameplay), but were not exactly for a wide audience. Then game developer, Blizzard Entertainment introduced Diablo. Blizzard just had a huge success with WarCraft II and they wanted to do it all over again with 'Diablo', a RPG for everyone. Of course 'Diablo' can hardly be seen as a true RPG game, but it includes some familiar elements like upgrading and point distribution. Blizzard wanted to re-introduce the fun and gameplay into a genre almost dead at the time and they did it by simple hack & slash gameplay : take a character, venture into deep and increasingly difficult dungeons and collect items and experience points by defeating monsters and completing some quests that form a larger story of Evil wanting to take over the world. Although some people did not like it very much ( including me ), Diablo was an incredible commercial success and sold over 1 million copies and if you visit Battle.net, Blizzard's on-line gaming server, you will see that people still play it. Now hopes are high for Diablo II : will Blizzard pull it off again ? It was the Wanderer Diablo II begins were Diablo I left off : after defeating Diablo you decide to control Evil yourself by pushing the 'Soul Stone' into your head. However Evil seems to be a little stronger than your will-power and takes control over you to complete a dark quest : freeing Baal and Mephisto, the brothers of Diablo. This is the setting for the game and everything is told with extremely beautiful cut-scenes between the four available acts. I have to admit that I was confused at first because the intro for the game is in the present and the other cinematics are … ,well see for yourself. So here we have it : Diablo II, sequel to Diablo. As I said before I am not a fan of the first game. For me it was a bit too repetitive : killing an increasing number of creatures in the same environment is not exactly my type of game. It should come as no surprise that I was dissappointed when I saw the screenshots on the box : it looked all too familiair, but I decided to keep a clear mind and not too be biased. And I'm glad I did ! Diablo 2 is better than it's older brother in every aspect : it's bigger, it now has 5 classses instead of 3, it supports 3D acceleration for lighting and spell effects and most importantly (for me) it's not always the same environment you play in. These are the major improvements over Diablo 1 with other subtle changes beneath, but let's start with the most disappointing : the graphics.    Old school graphics The only thing that missed a ride through improvement-lane at Blizzard must have been the graphics of Diablo 2. Sure, you can use a 3D card and the lighting looks great as do the textures for the different regions, but in my (humble) opinion the graphics look dated. The first time I started the game I was disappointed : 'Is this Diablo 2 ? Are they sure it shouldn't have been released 2 years ago ?'. However the dated graphics are something you will get used to and numerous little touches keep it interesting. The greatest is that when you change equipment like shields, weapons and armor you actually see the difference in the game world. The lighting and spell effects are also very good, not groundbreaking but good even without the use of an accelerator card. A 3d card is not really a must for this game as the only advantage you'll get is improved lighting and a parallax effect in the scenery. With this option on, you have a sense of depth in the backgrounds because things closer to you move faster than things farther from you. The downside to this is that everything looks rather 'round', even your character and it gave me a serious headache so I never used it again. Diablo 2 is now played through 4 acts and every act takes you to another place as you follow Diablo around the globe. Each of these places has it's distinct texture set and is diverse enough to keep you playing and see what the makers have build next. There are some very beatifully rendered background objects to be found in D2 and that is a very big plus over D1, where you always strolled through the same dungeons. "Blizzard" also introduces weather effects in D2 like rain and fog. It looks nice and adds to the further diversity of this game. D2 is still a bitmap game. This means that monsters and objects are not in 3d. However Blizzard has made sure that everything, from enemies to NPC, to objects looks very good. Agreed, it looks 'old' but the graphics in D2 are the best in 'looking-old-but-still-good-enough'.    Now you know what to expect from the in-game graphics, so don't get your hopes to high. The cinematics in "Diablo II" however 'are breathtaking' and by far the best I have ever seen in any game, even better than the movies in Final Fantasy 8. There aren't many but they are long and extremely well done. 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