by

Blizzard (1998)


As you come to a new town in your wanderings you discover that the town is litterally just above hell. So being the good warrior, archer, or magician that you are, you agree to help the stop the evil that Diablo has unleashed upon the town as well as the planet. Therefore, you slowly work your way down into the labyrinth of hell. Only the strong will survive, and the weak will become food for the dark minions of Diablo.

I have never really been a big fan of this action/RPG genre. I much prefer a game like Final Fantasy 7 in which everything is not necessarily done in real time. That said, this was one of the best games that I have ever played. I have enjoyed this game a lot. The graphics are some of the best I had seen when the game was first released. It was especially nice to see your character change armor, weapons, and overall appearance based on how you had equiped him. This always makes the game more "realistic."

The gameplay was also fantastic for the game. Just about everything was controlled by clicking with the mouse. It is always a possiblity that a real time game like Diablo will fail because the gameplay is too complex or awkward to work effectively. I'm sure everyone has played a game in which your characters didn't do what you pressed on your controller, and for me there are very few things that are more irritating about games. Another great aspect about Diablo which is tied into gameplay was the AI for your character. The majority of the time, the character would correctly identify the best path to get to where you wanted him.

Finally, one of the best aspects about the game was its plot. While not completly original (afterall, how many times have we gone into hell and killed the devil?) the plot was definatly entertaining and it was fresh. You had a sense of the history surrounding Diablo and his minions. Plus the ending, which I won't give away for the sake of those who have not played the game, is definately different and surprising.

Rating

Graphics 9.6
Gameplay 9.4
Plot 8.9
Overall 9.3


Bottom Line: This game essentially revolutionized an entire genre. In fact it created such a fuss, that there are numerous Diablo clones out on the market today. So if you like RPGs or real time Action games, than this is definatly one that you should go out and buy. This is definitely a classic already.

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