 I
was one of the many to be disappointed by the initial release of
Diablo II. The graphics were stale. Being able to play only at a
640x480 resolution was unfortunate. The quest structure, in the final
acts, became repetitive and uninventive. Additionally, much of the
really cool stuff, like equipment sets, was near impossible to
assemble. That, however, is all about to change.
 If
you’ve played through the game you know that Diablo has been
vanquished, again, but his brother Baal is still on the loose. The
expansion lets you track him down. Getting my first look at the
new/improved game, I was literally amazed. The game now supports much
higher resolutions and the graphics have gone through some important
tweaks. From a purely visual aspect, it looks beautiful.
 But
more has been improved. Two new classes have been added: the druid and
assassin. The druid is a shapeshifter who throws nature related spells
and has the ability to summon different kinds of animals to fight with
him. At high levels he can whip-up a rain of fire that follows him
around, change into a were-bear, and send a pack of wolves after his
enemies. The assassin uses different fighting styles and can unleash
devastating finishing moves. Also, she sets traps and has a few
stealth-related spells at her disposal. The druid looks awesome –
and maybe be a touch too powerful. The assassin, on the other hand,
will appeal to the player looking for a challenge and a new way to
play. For the original character classes, underused skills have been
improved.
 The
equipment in Diablo II has undergone a huge overhaul. Along with new
items, new class specific items, items whose affects fire just sitting
in your inventory, and elite items found only in the Hell difficulty
level, more types of equipment can be socketed, the gem system has
been improved, runes (a new type of socketable that can be manipulated
to spell powerful rune words) lie about, and the equipment sets now
provide benefits when only a few of the items are worn. The Horadric
Cube has more recipes and is bigger.
That’s not all. Hirelings can now travel with you
between acts, leveling independently. They can wear items and carry an
inventory. One of the developers also told me their AI has been
improved as well as their statistics.
 The
expansion features one new act and six new quests. This is the only
part of the demonstration I saw that didn’t jazz me. It sounds like
the majority of these quests will be similar those in the original
game (step-n-fetch-it type assignments). The final quest looks
interesting, though. Suffice to say it involves a major fight in which
you aren’t able to damage a monster and flee or kill one of several,
run away, and come back to take out the rest – popular tactics in
Diablo II.
 This
expansion looks like the game Diablo II should have been. Diablo II is
a nearly pure action game. You kill, kill, and kill some more.
Therefore, much of the depth-of-play comes from character class and
equipment. With this add-on, the range of possible combination of said
variables increases magnificently and should provide enough variety,
along with eye-candy, to satisfy. Blizzard never says when their games
are to be released, but I’d look for this title in June, and when it
comes out you can bet that I’ll be crouched over my computer,
fighting.
Matt
Blackburn |
