Diablo II - Fresh Meat
by El Flesh

Well, here is something that might be news to the younger players of D2Égo and play the original Diablo.

It has been a few years since I played the original. When I came across it again while cleaning out my drawer, I thought "What the hell, give it a whirl just to compare."

I don't know why I thought it. I can remember a great renewed interest in the original Diablo weeks before D2 was released - and when I'd brought D2 home, bought just hours after it was put on the shelf, I'd said to myself "Man - this is so much better than the original!"

So, here I was, years later, sitting down to play ten minutes of the original again; just a quick test to compare. Well, ten minutes turned into two hours.

Thus, this bitching article.

Aside from the ridiculously slow pace of walking, the original scores in many, many areas where the sequel falls far short. The opening movie of D2, while very impressive, doesn't have the ominous roar of a vicious, bestial Diablo; something intent on ripping your intestines out and eating them while you are still alive. The opening of the original is just far more darker, and for a more mature audience.

The setting is also far darker. I think Tristram is in early evening, just moments before twilight finishes and night truly falls. The labyrinths are very dark, very claustrophobic, and very appropriate for the game atmosphere. You always have the idea of being trapped in the back of your head. The stun length is good, all of the sounds are better than D2, and the monsters need very little improvement. As someone had mentioned, in Diablo, you are often in very real danger of dying. Not so in D2. So where's the fun?

It's like development of D2 was given to a new team entirely, and they were told to invent a new game from scratch with a similar look to Diablo. D2 may be along similar lines, but it is a different reality.

Fighting the bosses is an entirely different prospect also. The creatures of Diablo can lock you into being hit and stunned until you die; this is realistic, and a good reason to play the game with others (that you can trust!). It has been said that D2 is really a single-player game that can be adapted to multi-player, but that doesn't preserve the spirit of MP. Everyone does whatever they want to, runs off to wherever they like in MP, and doesn't stick together as a team. Often level differences can be so great, that MP can become meaningless unless level constraints are used. I think I saw something like that some time ago, as I mentioned in my previous article, I don't bother playing online.

In short, I think that some players who are getting tired of D2 should go back and take a look at Diablo. Who knows? Maybe it will enjoy a resurrection of sorts, as many of the original's features are very nice indeed. I highly recommend it for the younger players of D2 who never saw it. It is well worth the time to see and understand the feel and spirit in which the story should be enjoyed.

It would be good for the original to get some FRESH MEAT.