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Diablo 2, by Blizzard, plans on kicking the crap out of its father and being one of the best
RPG's of the year when it hits the shelves next year.
by Tim Krupinski
(07/01/98)
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The Goods
Quick Peek:
The sequel to one of the most popular RPG games ever. With the addition of new character
classes and a ton of spells, weapons, skills, and more, Diablo 2 could make its own father
look wimpy.
Release Date:
Early 1999
Developer:
Blizzard
Publisher
Blizzard
Homepage:
Diablo 2
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A little over a year ago, Blizzard released the highly anticipated - and delayed - Diablo. Now
unless you're an idiot, or have been on consoles too long, you probably know what happened
with Diablo, it got all those 'Best RPG' awards and 'Game of the Year' awards. And now, after
over a million copies being sold, an official expansion pack, and an equal million plus
Battle.net games being played for Diablo alone, Blizzard has finally announced Diablo's
followup - Diablo 2. And after throwing a few questions at Bill Roper, extensive research, and
a few Cubes of Pepsi, what I have seen so far on Diablo 2 has left this previewer craving the
release...
The game itself is going to contain many missions of vast importance to humanity, as well as
some wacky subplots to add to the realism and harshness of a post apocalyptic world. You may
be on a quest of vast importance, but the question remains: Do you have time to help a young
villager find his lost dog, Smoke? Is it worth the risk? Is it worth the time? It's all up to
you, but remember even the slightest decision can change the entire world. Your decisions as
the hero or heroine of the game are the single most important elements to gameplay. They can
influence character reputation, mission outcomes, as well as NPC reactions. In fact you
create your own characters.
While writing this, I don't really know where to begin, I guess I will start from the beginning and give
you a little background info on Diablo 2. Well remember how the hero sacrificed himself in the
original, condemning Diablo to his (or her, if you were the Rogue) soul? Well, guess what, (GASP!)
Diablo got out! Okay maybe you shouldn't shit a brick over that, but this is where the new
character comes in. You begin the game just outside of Tristram, the original town where you were
in the original. Anyway, you aid a caravan that is being attacked by demons and hear the rumors
of Diablo escaping, and so begins the game.
However, before beginning the game you must choose a character. But now there are 5 classes this time around, two magic
users, two warriors, and one hybrid. The two magic goers are the Sorceress (duh) and the Necromancer. The hybrid is the
Paladin, and the two warriors are the Barbarian and Amazon. "The character classes are going to have a much greater degree
of individuality and separation from each other." Says Bill Roper, a Producer, and Director of Third Party Development, at
Blizzard. He goes on to say "Learning skills and spells will be dependent on level, other skills, and statistics. Also, each
class will have unique spells and skills that not only allow for differences between classes, but also within each class."
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The game itself is going to contain many missions of vast importance to humanity, as well as
some wacky subplots to add to the realism and harshness of a post apocalyptic world. You may
be on a quest of vast importance, but the question remains: Do you have time to help a young
villager find his lost dog, Smoke? Is it worth the risk? Is it worth the time? It's all up to
you, but remember even the slightest decision can change the entire world. Your decisions as
the hero or heroine of the game are the single most important elements to gameplay. They can
influence character reputation, mission outcomes, as well as NPC reactions. In fact you
create your own characters.
However, before beginning the game you must choose a character. But now there are 5 classes this time around, two magic
users, two warriors, and one hybrid. The two magic goers are the Sorceress (duh) and the Necromancer. The hybrid is the
Paladin, and the two warriors are the Barbarian and Amazon. "The character classes are going to have a much greater degree
of individuality and separation from each other." Says Bill Roper, a Producer, and Director of Third Party Development, at
Blizzard. He goes on to say "Learning skills and spells will be dependent on level, other skills, and statistics. Also, each
class will have unique spells and skills that not only allow for differences between classes, but also within each class."
