Diablo II

The Good
Everything!!!!! well, everything except for the graphics...It's like Cinderella in a box...once you get past the graphics and looks, you'll be in LOVE...

The five classes are a complete improvement on the original, with each one doing different things, different spells, skills etc....further more, there is additional specialization within classes, especially in the spell casting classes, and paladin class...gives the game HUGE replayability...plus an enormous game world, definitely worth the price tag...

Multiplayer is much better...no hacking...no more people walking around with Fluffy's polka-dotted sword of the orangutan that can kill you in one hit...also includes cool clan halls that can be expanded, and a hardcore option...

New weapons...there are fresh interesting item sets, unique items, socket items...gems...makes the game very interesting...

An all new spell/skill system that rocks...instead of picking up books everywhere...you can choose which spells and skills you want and which you don't by adding skill points into desired skills...which gives you total control over your character...want a fire based sorceress instead of a lightning one? than just pump the points you get into fireball or warmth instead of lightning...want an axe wielding barbarian? then just increase your axe mastery, and leave that sword mastery alone...the possibilities are endless...

It's an improved Diablo...what more can you ask for???

The Bad
The graphics can be some up in one word...crap...although many people say that Act II has amazing graphics, I would like to voice my opinion that it is still crap...the graphics engine is the old diablo engine, but in some areas it looks even worse that Diablo I's...and minimal 3D acceleration...

Corpse retrieval...especially for necromancers and sorceresses...you'll probably die a few more times trying to get your friggin' body back, when you're weak, naked and some pissed off monsters are standing between you and your items...

AI pathfinding...when you are a necromancer, sometimes it will take all of you will power to keep yourself from going insane...sometimes your minions are stupid beyond belief, as they clog up in congested hallways, block you from escaping, walk into walls instead of around them...even more half-assed than the Dikatana AI, if you can believe that...however, it is only sometimes...so it is quite okay as long as you don't have too many in a cramped space...

Battle.net LLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAGGGGGG...although not as bad as before...sometimes the slowdown is annoying...

The Bottom Line
The Blizzard hack n' slash clickfest is back and better than before. With five classes, three difficulties and a huge game world, the replayability is endless, even more so with B.net...excellent gameplay that keeps you glued to your seat...The cutscenes are awesome...If you need your sleep or treasure the good condition that your mouse is in, you might want to pass...if you don't, it is your duty as a human lifeform (or otherwise) to pick up a copy of Diablo II..

The Good
Let me start with the game's greatest single point: It's easy to play. Okay? Got that. The simple "click on an enemy to attack" style of play (for most classes) will ensure that this game is easy to pick up and go with...

From the opening introduction cinematics to wandering into dungeons to gaining new skills and fighting a swarm of zombies... the atmosphere of this game is heavy and hangs in the air throughout the game. Most levels are beautifully designed, which is all the more impressive when you realize that they're randomly generated when you begin them. The characters in each of the towns are fairly unique and have both serious and humorous dialog.

There's a lot of unique items to be found. Collector gamers should have a lot of fun here, especially when updating to the latest version makes even more unique and Set (as in "part of a set..") items available.

The Bad
My main complain about this game is that it's long and for your efforts... well, I did not feel it reached a satisfying conclusion. I don't like to put spoilers in a review, but let me just say that the final act of the game was disappointing to me in every way (to be fair, I think I did feel that same way regarding the final levels of the first Diablo title).

There's a LOT of story in the cinematics and the dialog with characters but unfortunately, that's the only place it is... and it seems much too short. Speaking of dialog, characters seem to have different things to say "right when you're assigned a quest" and "later on when you're working on your quest"... that means that if you happen to miss talking to a character, you can end up never hearing one of their pieces of dialog.

Your character updates their image when they put on different types of armor/helmet/shield... but there are really only a couple of graphics for each type. For a game with so many hard-coded items and many randomly generating ones... it seems a disappointment that so many of them look the same.

This game is hack n slash. That's all it is. If you're like me, sometime during the Third Act you'll realize "hey, that's all there is" and might start playing less. During the final level you won't even have much of a storyline to contend with... just a long, slow Boss Crawl to the final showdown...

The most disturbing moment of the game is Tristam IMO... if only because I knew some of the characters from Diablo1.

The Bottom Line
The cutscenes are pretty. The cutting down enemies is fun... until it gets repetitive.

Simple Hack N Slash. Play by yourself or team up over LAN/Internet to have a proper adventuring party. Cut down monsters. Collect and sell items... and... that's it.

The cutscenes are fantastic, but don't depend on them because each lasts only a short while and frequently what you just saw did not apply to the game.

The Good
High replayability, with five different classes, three difficulty levels and a roleplaying like character advancement (including experiance points and randomally generated items, making you always look for a better combination). Excellent sound and music, with wonderful special effects and a special background tone for each area. Powerful multiplayer option, allowing you to play through the Internet with secured characters and no cheats, with up to eight players in the same game, sharing experiance, gold and quests. Amazing movies, from the assembly lines of Blizzard, which add a new element to the game, and are a pleasure to behold again and again.

The Bad
The core of the game is the multiplay option through Battle.Net, and unless you have a fast connection to the Internet (ADSL and Cables spring into mind) your connection will be very laggy, and playing through the Internet will be almost impossible.

The Bottom Line
Of course it's just hack and slash, but it's an excellent hack and slash. Blizzard did marvelous work of their sequel, and deserve full credit for their job.