Diablo II

aka: D2, Diablo II: The Calling
Moby ID: 1878
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

Knowing well that Diablo's spirit could never be truly destroyed, the hero of Tristram made the noblest sacrifice of all: he took the spirit of the Lord of Terror into himself, hoping that his strength of will could contain the demon within. He was wrong. Diablo's essence corrupted him, gradually taking over his human nature. He has turned into the Dark Wanderer, a mysterious being whose every step causes destruction and death. A nameless adventurer visits the Rogue Encampment and decides to help its inhabitants by slaying monsters surrounding the area, and eventually pursuing the Dark Wanderer himself.

Like its predecessor, Diablo II is an action role-playing game. The player may choose between five available characters classes: Amazon (a rogue-like class with ranged attacks), Necromancer (can summon undead and inflict status ailments), Barbarian (a powerful melee fighter who can dual-wield weapons), Sorceress (offensive spellcaster), and Paladin (fights with shields and can cast support spells). Much of the game takes place in randomized dungeon-like areas heavily populated by enemies. Unlike the previous game, the environments are not restricted to a single dungeon and include variously themed locations, each with its own town and quests.

The player character gains experience points from slaying monsters, and can be leveled up manually, increasing his or her primary attributes and acquiring abilities. Much of the customization relies on equipment and item combinations. Diablo's magic has been replaced with skills: class specific abilities that can be purchased with skill points as characters level up. For example, a Paladin's skills allow him to cover allies with a protective aura, while a Sorceress can learn to fire lightning bolts and frozen blasts from her hands. Skills can be purchased several times to level them up, and some skills, when purchased, will increase the effectiveness of other skills. A new item type, socketed, has been added as well. Socketed items can be modified permanently by adding magic gems to them, increasing their statistics or adding elemental properties.

Spellings

  • 暗黑破坏神II - Simplified Chinese spelling
  • 暗黑破壞神 2 - Traditional Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

1,450 People (295 developers, 1,155 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 88% (based on 64 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 292 ratings with 19 reviews)

"click...click...click..." (in a good way)

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..

Windows · by MadCat (53) · 2000

This game is a masterpiece of hack and slash

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.

Windows · by El-ad Amir (116) · 2000

Diablo II Is Better Than Diablo, But That's Not Saying Much.

The Good
In 2000, Diablo II, the long awaited sequel to Diablo hit store shelves. Considering how bad Diablo was it is surprising it sold well enough to warrant a sequel. Fortunately Diablo II is a much better game.

In Diablo II, the lord of terror lives! After his defeat at the hands of a young warrior, Diablo is reborn using the very soul of the warrior that dealt him his deathblow! Now Diablo is heading east to awaken his brothers. You cannot let this come to pass, if the three prime evils walk the earth, the world will surely be doomed.

In Diablo II you can play as five different warriors. The Amazon, The Necromancer, The Barbarian, The Sorceress, and The Paladin. The characters are not identical and all play quite differently. The Paladin and Barbarian are the easier, while the Amazon, Necromancer, and Sorceress are for an extra challenge. My personal favorite was the Necromancer. If you play him right he can also be quite a capable fighter, and become a fighting Necromancer.

The plot unfolds during amazing looking cut scenes. But other than that the plot is pretty non-existent. There are four Acts, each Act contains six quests, so there are a total of 24 quests. So this game is quite long this is both a good and bad thing. More on the bad later. The game can be quite fun and it is always rewarding when your warrior levels up.

Unlike Diablo, which only contained four dungeons, Diablo II has too many dungeons to count. There is also more than one main hub. The town changes with every new Act. One of the coolest is the large desert town of Act II. One of the worst is the jungle of Act III, the design is interesting, but the area has some really annoying enemies.

Some familiar faces return to help you. Like Cain, who sounds suspiciously like Sean Connery. There are many new features in Diablo II. One of the most unique is the use of The Horadrum Cube. You gain this item about midway through the game. It is a magic cube that lets you make items. You just place the components in the cube, and it makes a new item. Unfortunately the game does not provide a master list of things you can create. You either have to experiment like the game makers intended or get the info of the Internet, like most people did. You can also power up a slotted weapon by adding a gem, these add various effects and are permanent. There is also a skill system that was sorely lacking in the original game. Each Warrior has there own skill set.

The videos and voiceovers are amazing. The production values are high here. As they should be considering how much money Blizzard has. The graphics overall are a bit dated. They were dated in 2000! There are very few bugs, which is rare indeed.

The Bad
This game has got to be the only schizophrenic game I have every played. One minute you are loving it, the next you feel bogged down by repetition. Sometimes you just want hurry things up, but the game refuses to yield. Act III sucks. The monsters here are a huge pain in the ass. How many nights I cursed the jungles of Diablo II. It is the single worst area of any game I can think of. Diablo II is also very light on the RPG elements. Whereas most PC RPGS are very customizable, Diablo II’s only customization is what your warrior wears and what skills they learn. Pretty lame. Why is Blizzard considered such a great game maker? Black Isle, Ion Storm, and Looking Glass are all defunct, while all of there games were great. Blizzard, only has one excellent game World of Warcraft, but they still get to make games.

The Bottom Line
Fans of Diablo will love this game. As it is much better. RPG fans would have more fun with games like, Planscape Torment, Return to Krondor, or Oblivion.

Windows · by MasterMegid (723) · 2006

[ View all 19 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Why am I addicted?.. Unicorn Lynx (181788) Jul 2, 2013

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Diablo II appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Dungeons & Dragons

Diablo II was adapted into a set of two D&D rulebooks: Diablo II: Diablerie, published in 2000, and Diablo II: To Hell and Back, published in 2001, in addition to which a Diablo II set for the Dungeons & Dragons boardgame was released by Wizards of the Coast in 2000.

Promotion

Blizzard itself produced an action figure line, with figures depicting the Barbarian, the Unraveler, and of course, Diablo. They also released a whole stack of merchandise, including Zippo lighters, wristwatches and mouse pads, all in limited edition.

References: Diablo

The much rumored and non-existent secret "Cow Level" from the original game was actually added to Diablo II. It is just a flat plain, populated by bipedal cows, which go "Moo! Moo!" in deadpan human voices. The level also features a boss, "The Cow King", who looks just like all the other cows.

In Act I, the player can enter a portal to the town of Tristram, now destroyed by demons. Some characters from Diablo can be seen there. Decard Cain and Griswold the Blacksmith are alive; the former will help the player with his quests while the latter is possessed by evil powers. The remains of Wirt the Peg-Legged Boy can also be spotted; his leg allows the player to enter the cow level.

References

Once in a great while, one of the zombies can be heard uttering "brainsss". This is a reference to the numerous Living Dead movies, in which zombies hunger for human brains.

Awards

  • Computer and Video Games
    • 2005 - #25 "101 Best PC Games Ever"
  • Destructoid
    • 2009 - #7 "Top Video Games of the Decade"
  • GamePro
    • 2008 - #11 "The 32 Best PC Games"
  • GameSpy
    • 2000 – Special Award for Cut-Scenes
    • 2011 – #7 Top PC Game of the 2000s
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 02/2001 - Best Game in 2000
    • Issue 02/2001 - Best Multiplayer Game in 2000
    • Issue 03/2001 - Best Game in 2000 (Readers' Choice)
    • Issue 12/2008 - Special mention in the "10 Coolest Levels" list (for the secret level "The Moo Moo Farm")
  • IGN
    • 2009 - Issue 12/2008 - One of "Gaming's Top 10 Easter Eggs" (for the secret level "The Moo Moo Farm")
  • PC Gamer
    • April 2005 - #16 "50 Best Games of All Time"
    • 2007 - #82 "Top 100 Games"* PC Player (Germany)
    • Issue 01/2001 - Best Online Game in 2000
  • VideoGamer.com
    • 2009 - #49 "Top 100 Games of the Noughties"

Information also contributed by Ajan, Kasey Chang, Patrick Bregger, PCGamer77, phlux, Tibes80, and Scott Monster.

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  • MobyGames ID: 1878
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by MAT.

Macintosh added by Xoleras.

Additional contributors: Blackhandjr, Zovni, Unicorn Lynx, Indra was here, Brian Jordan, Vaelor, Ajan, Pseudo_Intellectual, SharkD, Paulus18950, Cantillon, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack.

Game added July 4, 2000. Last modified March 23, 2024.