Product Description

In Diablo 2, players return to a world of dark fantasy. As one of five distinct character types, players will explore the world of Diablo 2, journey across distant lands, fight new villains, discover new treasures, and uncover ancient mysteries.

Since the beginning of time the forces of order and chaos have been engaged in an eternal struggle to decide the fate of all creation. That struggle has now come to the mortal realm, and neither man, demon, nor angel will be left unscathed.

Diablo, lord of terror, and youngest of the three prime evils, awoke from his long sleep beneath the dark earth. Setting in motion a grand scheme to free his exiled brothers, Mephisto and Baal, Diablo took control of the small western kingdom of Khanduras. Working from deep within the ancient catacombs beneath the town of Tristram, Diablo gripped the entire populace in a blanket of fear and paranoia.

Ultimately, as even Khanduras's good King Leoric fell under Diablo's wicked power, a lone hero arose to challenge the darkness that had engulfed the land. After plumbing the hellish depths of the labyrinth under Tristram, the nameless hero finally confronted the lord of terror himself. Knowing full well that Diablo's spirit could never be truly destroyed, the hero made the noblest sacrifice of all--casting his soul and his very sanity aside, the hero took the spirit of Diablo into himself, hoping that his own strength of will could contain the demon within. The hero could never have known that his selfless act would not only ensure Diablo's victory, but would also irrevocably damn his soul for all time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17779 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Blizzard
• Released on: 2000-06-27
• Platforms: Windows 98, Windows 95

Amazon.co.uk Review
Diablo 2 is finally available and, yes, it is well worth the wait. Everything that made the original Diablo great--non-stop 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 2 even better than the original. The millions of gamers who fought their way through the horror of Tristram's catacombs in the original Diablo realised that all was not well after their hero destroyed the demon's physical body. Diablo 2 opens with a vivid animated vision of that mad, doomed hero, who unwittingly spreads chaos as he moves towards 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 2 looks and behaves very much like Diablo. Players are assigned quests by non-player 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 2, thanks to the new ability to run and the clever implementation of "waypoints", which 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 customised 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 customisable class system closely parallels the changes made in the new edition of Dungeons & Dragons.

Other enhancements include a method for creating and customising magic items, 3-D accelerated spell effects, anticheat multiplayer 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 2 is just a great game. The sound, music and graphics combine to create a tantalisingly 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

Customer Reviews

Highly Addictive
Where do I start? I've been playing Diablo2 for years now - since 2001. I have purchased this game and the expansion twice over since I wore out the CDs!
The gameplay is extremely addictive and provides a rich gaming experience to any action/adventure RPG fan.
The graphics are acceptably sketched, not as kiddish as the Warcraft series, and not as realistic as some of the newer games... but they fit in well with the game.
Set against a medieval Gothic backdrop, this game picks up where Diablo 1 left the story. Your task now is to find the dark lord in his Sanctuary at the end of the last act.
The story unfolds over 4 acts and 21 quests. But I won't go into details of the story since a lot of info about that is available elsewhere.
The gameplay variations are truely astounding, with 5 characters and 3 skill trees per character. You'll spend absolutely endless hours experimenting with different character builds and playing styles.
But the true marvel of this game is the endless array of collectible and usable items you can find and equip on your characters. Most of the time I have spent on Diablo was searching for these unique and set items. Coupled with playing styles and skill combinations, the items you can equip your characters with make this game endlessly entertaining.
The online gaming option makes this game infinitely more fun than single player mode. If you find something you don't need, you can always trade it with somebody else for something that you need or can use. Also you can transfer items between characters online by creating games, leaving and re-joining. But now you get third party applications which enable you to do this in single player offline play as well.
Apart from the fact that Diablo2 is a classic by its own right, the one thing that makes this game a must-have is the fact that you need it to be able to play the expansion - Lord of Destruction (reviewed separately).
Buy this game and immerse yourself in an extraordinary experience.

Diablo 2!
This is my favourite game at the moment! I originally bought it for my girlfriend because she likes the Final Fantasy series and I was told it was similar. It is similar, but it's also much better! I've been playing in now non stop for months! It's a great game! You think I'll just do this bit then go to bed, and you've done that bit and you're so so close to doing another bit that, well...

Anyway, it's a third little person kinda game, you walk round and can equip your person with weapons, body armor, helmets, gloves, boots, belts, shields and other things. Each of which gives you different skills and helps you in your fight against Diablo. The game play is slightly repetitive if you get lost, which I did once... You can wander around the same map for an hour thinking, where ammmmm I supposed to go... But assuming you're not as stupid, it's great fun! The levels rearrange themselves if you start the game again, it's all randomly generated. So it's never the same and you can play it as many times as you want without doing the same things over and over again...

Not that I've got as far as playing it over and over again... It starts off so easy that you think hmm, wow, this is a bit easy... And by the end you're dying thirty times in a row on the same tiny bit, screaming at some evil bloke...

It's fun anyway!

Briliant gaming!
the online gaming is great! i was addicted to this game for ages, until i became bored of it after completing it with about 6 characters. Still kept me busy for half a year! You cant beat a good online diablo game! the people on it are great, they help alot and no scamming. overall great game though gets boring after a while, but i recommend buying it definately, espicially if you like role-playing games like me.