Diablo II

Title
Developer
Publisher
Genre
ESRB Rating
Demo Release Date
Full Release Date
Platforms
Official Website
Demo Download Size
Review Date

Diablo II
Blizzard North
Blizzard Entertainment
Action Role Playing Game
Mature
29th June 2000
29th June 2000 Buy Now
Mac, PC (Reviewed)
http://www.blizzard.com/us/diablo2/
135MB
3rd July 2008

What did I think before playing?
The internet exploded this week when Diablo 3 was announced. I watched a gameplay video to try and see what all the fuss was about since this is another series that I had never sampled. It looked fairly impressive so I thought I would check out the previous installment to see how it really plays.

What is included?
This is a shareware version of the game. It seems like you can only play as the Barbarian class with a limited skill tree but I don't know how far into the game you can progress.

What did I think afterwards?
Starting up the installer played a loud sound clip, so I was glad I had my headphones plugged into my PC at work! Getting into the game I hunt around for some video settings, but I seem to be forced to run at the current resolution. Oh well, lets play.
The game is played from a 3/4 perspective and is a medieval, hack 'n' slash RPG. I start by talking to the people in a camp that I am started out in. All of the conversations are one way, but have text to read and high quality voice overs. The world seems pretty large, but I set off exploring and complete my first quest of wiping out all of the monsters from a nearby cavern. I have to return to the camp to collect a reward, so perhaps this game would involve lots of slow back tracking... that is never a plus in my book. Anyway, I had stumbled across the beginnings of my second quest while I was searching for the entrance to the first, so I head back there. At this point there are many more monsters and I didn't have the hang of checking my health orb and applying potions since the first quest was so easy. In fact, I dropped a few potions while I was managing my limited inventory space, (those extra boots seemed like a good thing to trade later!) Anyway, I eventually bite off more than I can chew and rush in to my last fight.
By this point I have been introduced to a varied assortment of enemies, introduced over time, each having their own quirks and attack patterns. It kept the battling interesting, but the ridiculous amount of mouse clicking was a little grating; not just on my wrist but also to the people around me I'm sure. One of the comments in the Diablo 3 gameplay video was that "the control scheme is so simple, you only need a mouse." That appears to be true, but I found it annoying.

Would I buy the full game?
I don't think I would go back and buy the old installment at this point when Diablo 3 is coming up. As far as I am aware the story isn't a key element and I am sure Blizzard will be targeting players that are new to the series, (seeing as it is eight years, almost to the day, since Diablo 2 was released,) just as much as the fans. As a demo of a game though, this was pretty good. It was long enough to get your teeth into.

Demo Pros
Limits the amount of characters and skills, but provides a good length of playtime.

Demo Cons
Not so much faults of the demo, but you have to run at a fixed resolution and you are constantly mouse clicking.

Demo Rating 9 / 10

Thoughts after playing the full game?
If I play the full game I will put comments here about whether I feel the demo was representative of the final product and if I am happy with the purchase.

Sales Figures
If I can find sales information about a game after it has been released I'll add that here. It may be useful to track demos to sales performance.