Diablo

Diablo takes Role-Playing to a new level. In this demonic, action/RPG, you can choose one of 3 character classes. Rogue, Sorceror, or Warrior. You can gain levels, find new equipment, and learn new spells. But there isn't really much of a story or character development, which is a major setback. Though it has great graphics and pretty good music.

The level system is this: you have 4 main atributes: strength, vitality, dexterity, and magic. Every type you gain a level you can distribute 5 points between the 4 categories. I usually put all 5 one one atribute. Strength is how much damage you do. The higher strength, the more damage. Vitality is how much HP you have. The more your vitality is, the more HP you have. Dexterity is your ability to evade, to hit, and Armor Class. The more dexterity you have, the more defense you'll have and youll be much more accurate when you attack and be able to evade easier. Magic is your ability to cast spells. The more magic you have, the stronger your spells will be. Also, to learn spells you find the books of the spells. (i.e. book of healing, book of fireball, etc.) And your required to have a certain amout of magic to read books.

You get to pick your character as either Warrior, Sorceror, or Rogue. The warrior is the strongest character. He has the highest strength and HP, but very low magic. The Sorceror is a very good magic user with the strongest spells and higheset MP, however he has low HP and strength. The rogue is the most balanced character, specialising in high dexterity. But the characters never really talk and you don't know too much about them. But the NPCs(non playable characters) in the town are pretty well developed. There's a witch to sell you magical items, best suited for sorceror, a healer which sells you healing items and such, a blacksmith who sells you armor and weapons, a wise old man who identifies items found in the dungeon, and even the town drunk. These NPCs are vital in your quest.

The graphics in Diablo are great. With opening and ending movies which look VERY realistic, and the ingame, detailed dungeons and towns, you can only drop your jaw in astoundment.

The music is also well done. It's pretty freaky, with background noises of demonic laughter and ear shattering screams. I advise you to turn the music down if you're home alone on a dark, rainy night.

The plot is very simple: Diablo (spanish for 'Devil') is one of the 3 demon brothers who were chased and caught. But Diablo didn't get caught and has unleashed his minions in the dungeons of town of Tristram. Your role is to kill him.

The gameplay is great! You'll spend hours clawing your way through 16 levels of the labrynth, divided into four sections each with 4 levels,(Cathedral, Catacombs, Caves, and Hell). The hopes of finding rare and unique items keeps you glued to your computer for hours on end. And if you have internet access you can play with up to 3 friends on Blizzard's very own battle.net which is FREE!! (which of course you do or you wouldnt be on the interet reading this) where you can trade items, cooperate against enemies, or fight to the death!

All in all, this is a game with its high points and low points and provides endless hours of fun gameplay. I do NOT recomend this game for children or religous memebers offended by demons and such. But I'm PRETTY sure you do kill the demons...(hehehe)...I have the game and enjoy playing it on battle.net with my friends. There is also a playstation version, which i find not as good, and I know you all have computers or else you couldn't read this...

Black's Reviews


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