Diablo 2

by Blizzard

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00002CF9M
• Item Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: June 29, 2000
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (564 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,532 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #57 in Video Games > Mac Games
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: PC or Mac | Edition: Standard

Amazon.com Review

Everything that made the original Diablo great--nonstop action, wicked monsters, dark gothic atmosphere, and fantastic magic items--has returned. But new enhancements such as the class skill system and cheater-proof multiplayer competition make Diablo II even better than the original.

The millions of gamers who fought their way through the horror of Tristram's catacombs in the original Diablo realized that all was not well after their hero destroyed the demon's physical body. Diablo II opens with a vivid animated vision of that mad, doomed hero, who unwittingly spreads chaos as he moves toward a fate of Diablo's choosing. With the original character classes gone, players choose from a new cadre of champions: the Barbarian (can wield two two-handed swords at once, one in each hand), the Necromancer (raises the dead to fight his battles), the Amazon (master of bow and spear), Paladin (holy crusader), and Sorceress (wielder of elemental magic). These warriors follow a diabolical plot through four acts, and each act is roughly as big as the original Diablo.

Diablo II looks and behaves very much like Diablo. Players are assigned quests by nonplayer characters and adventure through dark catacombs and crypts. Hordes of vile monsters assail the hero, who survives by force of arms, powerful spells, and through the use of varied and exotic magic items. Randomly generated dungeons guarantee fresh adventure each time a new game is started. But unlike the original game, characters must fight their way through the above-ground wilderness before entering a dungeon. Fortunately, some of the frustrations of adventuring have been lessened in Diablo II, thanks to the new ability to run and the clever implementation of "waypoints" that let your character quickly travel to and from the safety of town.

Along with the new character classes comes a new character skill system. As in the original game, players improve their character's ability scores as they kill monsters and gain experience. But unlike the original game, players get to add specific skills, spells, and powers each time they advance. For example, after gaining a level you could choose between taking a skill that improves your attack speed or a skill that allows you to scatter your foes with a mighty shout. With this customized advancement system it is unlikely that two high-level characters, even characters of the same class, will be alike. Instead of progressing along a set path, you can choose skills and powers that complement your own particular playing style. Interestingly, this new customizable class system closely parallels the changes made in the new edition of Dungeons & Dragons.

Other enhancements include a method for creating and customizing magic items, 3-D accelerated spell effects, anticheat multiplayer code, and a place to safely store excess money and equipment. But even without these tweaks, even without the sophisticated story line and all the cool new features, Diablo II is just a great game. The sound, music, and graphics combine to create a tantalizingly eerie setting. Players will willingly let their game-playing hours slip well past reasonable bedtimes, suffering bleary-eyed classes and meetings in exchange for "just one more" magic item, dungeon level, or character skill.

Diablo is back. Say hello to the game that will once again dominate gamers' computers, and say good-bye to your free time. --Michael Fehlauer.

Pros:

• Diabolical, engrossing story line told through brilliant cutscenes
• All five of the new classes are distinct and fun
• Fantastic music and sound effects
• Random dungeons allow unlimited replayability
• Millions of magic items, including rare items and sets of unique magical equipment

Cons:

• Addictive gameplay may cause loss of sleep, significant other, job
• Virtually no improvement in graphics

Product Description

Evil Has Survived...An Epic Game of Role Playing Actionand Adventure!Product InformationAn Epic Game of Role Playing Action and Adventure!After possessing the body of the hero who defeated him Diablo resumeshis nefarious scheme to shackle humanity into unholy slavery - this timeby setting out to free the other Prime Evils Mephisto and Baal. As AmazonSorceress Necromancer Paladin or Barbarian you must put a final endto Diablo and his evil brethren - even if you must follow them into theburning hells themselves.In Diablo II players return to a world of dark gothic fantasy. As oneof five distinct character types players will explore the world of DiabloII journey across distant lands fight new villains discover new treasuresand uncover ancient mysteries. Product FeaturesFive New Character Classes with Unique AbilitiesBattle Hell's minions as the Amazon Sorceress Necromancer Paladin orBarbarian each with unique skills and spells.Four Expansive RealmsStorm a vast underworld of twisted dungeons and uncharted wilderness as youjourney across an immense ever-changing world.Fiendishly Enhanced MultiplayerAdvanced Battle.net technology unleashes support for up to 8 players over theInternet including multiplayer quests trading posts and much more.Dynamic Character ImagingComposite character animation system enables dynamic display of differences inweapons armor and items.Powerful New Weapons & MagicSummon and command nightmarish creatures harness the elemental powers ofnature and master the energies of light and darkness through arcane spells andenchantments. Windows RequirementsSingle Player System Requirements: Requires Multiplayer Installation of Diablo II to Play Windows 95/98/Me/2000 XP*/NT4.0 SP 5 or greater Pentium 233 or equivalent 64MB of RAM 800MB available hard drive space (in addition to original Diablo II Multiplayer Install) 4X CD-ROM drive Direct X compatible video card (optional 800x600 r

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Diablo II, June 19, 2000

By 

E. Arnold (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Diablo 2 (CD-ROM)

I have been testing Diablo II through the Stress Test beta copy... GEEEZ! If you are a fan of this style... better yet, if you want the best role playing, action oriented, adventure style game... this could very well satisfy your desire! Okay... here are some important features: 1) Physical chest located in town that you can save your extra stuff to (not that big, but handy all the same. 2) NPCs (like Rogues)can join you... I was limited to only 1 at a time... but I did have a choice of who I wanted to hire for varying amounts. They heal themselves and follow you... they also attack on their own; however, they will follow if you decide to run in combat. 3) Almost an unlimited variation of items/equipment with enhancements produced by embedding gems & such into those socketed items you find. Not all items are socketed... but alot are. This increases everything from attack rating to special powers or spells like frost or fire attack. What is really cool is that the item changes in color... ex. embedding 3 rubies into a 3 socketed long sword turns the sword blood red. COOL! 4) Details of background are amazing, although the beta test was in 640x480... not sure if they will increase this. Your system maybe set higher, but when running the game... it defaults back down. Even at that, it look really good... 10 times better than the original backgrounds. 5) Lighting... wow... when travelling crypts and caves... the shadowing and lighting effects are truly awesome (I was using Glide as my video setup). This adds to the realism since light only travels so far. 6) Sound is solid... I have an A3D II sound card... it was simply excellent. 7) Tracking... hmmm, definitely improved. NPCs that are hired by you will follow... but occasionally they get stuck... so guess what, they teleport to your location if you get too far ahead! Nice idea. 8) Improved trade. Now you actually enter a trade screen for trades... gone are the days of dropping an item and running over to the other to protect your trade. You both choose your items of trade... then confirm it... so you actually see it. 9) Special effects are very detailed... ex. If you have a sword that steals life by 2% and mana by 4% and attacks with frost 1-6... you see all of them; each with a different effect. Very nice! 10) Creatures - tons with interesting abilities and attacks. You will not be disappointed! 11) When connected to Bnet... your char changes as to what you are equipped with... so you see your char in the channel, not just your name. This adds to the individuality of each person. Excellent touch! 12) Bnet multiplayer affords you the ability to create games that have controlable aspects such as how many can join (up to 8) and how different they can be (level differences) Ex. You can state you want a 3 user game with no more than a 4 level experience difference between you and the other players. You can also add in a separate description of the game. Outstanding! 13) Lastly... your saves are on the server (server based). While this is not always a good thing (if the server is down, you cannot play multiplayer with that char), it affords the ability to control cheating. BTW... when you exit the game and reenter.. the map regenerates randomly, but your keep your same stuff in your chest as well as any NPC you have with you.

With all that I have said... I have left off a huge amounts! Just get it. Unlike other games of this nature... this game is extremely replayable with endless hours of enjoyment. Think of the original Diablo... and multiply that by 5! All the things you yearned for in the original are here in Diablo II. It has been well worth the wait.

75 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Glad I did it, May 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Diablo 2 (CD-ROM)

I was approached a few weeks ago by a friend of my cousin who worked for blizzard. He said he knew I loved the original Diablo (I still play it) and wanted to know if I wanted to beta-test it. I said sure.

Playing it for the first time, I found it performed very well on my P-200, 32MB RAM. It begins with an amazing cinematic sequence that fills many of the plot gaps for those unfamiliar with Diablo I. The actual gameplay is the same system of mouse commands, the interface very similar, but less obtrusive (eg. when talking to somebody, the text is not screen-sized, but specific to the part of the screen in which that character is located). The level upgrade system is more logical, less mathematical. The weapons actually appear diffirent when you hold them - a short sword is not identical to a dagger when weilded by the character. I haven't had a chance to play all the characters (the game is VERY long), but they seem very distinct, with varying, but well balanced strangths and weaknesses. As before, however, the general tradeoff is speed and magic for brute strength.

I've come across 100's of distinct weapons, armor, and magic items in the first level only, so I guess there may be 1000 or even more! The soundtrack is eerie and differs in each level. The sounds of dripping water and moaning add true realism to this game when played late at night!

The graphics are far from state of the art, but very decent (I assume this was either 1) to keep the size of the game down or 2) because it's been in production for so long), and I found myself grateful for my 3Dfx card, which greatly smooths out the gameplay (I don't know if it is neccessary on a faster machine, but it is supported nevertheless).

This game is the crowning jewel of my collection. From the depth of the storyline which is, literally years in the making, to the subtle wit and plot twists that are so obviously showing of hard work and dedication. I think this game will be Blizzard's best ever. Buy it now!

128 of 142 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The game is worth the wait from a beta tester, April 12, 2000

By 

Jarrod Babel (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diablo 2 (CD-ROM)

I am currently beta testing Diablo 2 and it has been worth the wait and the hype. After 3 long years waiting for the game it is just a couple months from shipping. First the one dim spot about the game, the graphics. Since the game has been in development for so long the graphics are slightly dated. I still think they look better than 95% of the games out there but they could (and probably) should have been better. The gameplay is still the easy point-and-click style of the original and plays much faster and smoother than D1. The 5 new classes are great and all are big improvements over the classes from D1. The amazon and sorceress are my favorites with the necromancer a close third. Then the Paladin and lastly the Barbarian. I'm not into hack'n'slash too much but the paladin has some very nice spells that make him worthwild to use. The amazon is a lot like the rogue from D1 but she was my favorite so that's why I like the amazon, plus she has some very nice spells. The sorceress has lots of nice spells at her disposal. The necromancer is cool because you can summon skeletons, golems and revive other monsters to fight for you. The game is many times larger than D1 the first act alone takes 8-10 hours of play and it's the smallest of the 4 acts. the game is great and if you want some extensive Diablo 2 coverage goto www.diabloii.net they have a ton of info (I am not affiliated with them I just visit several times a day:) I post some over there about beta testing so maybe you'll read some of my posts. I hope I helped you in deciding to buy/not buy Diablo 2 and if you do I hope to see you online on battle.net!

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