When Diablo first came out in 1996 a lot of RPGs fans didnt like it.
It was often referred to as just another "hack and slash game", where fighting monsters is all there is to do.

Yet Diablo became very popular, most of all because of the possibility to play it with other people over the Internet, something that wasnt all too common back then.
Basically Diablo is a MUD: a Multi User Dungeon. A huge Dungeon with up to 16 levels to explore, fight your way through, designed to play over the Internet with other players.
Soon after the game was published pk'ers (players that kill other players) and most of all cheaters and hackers "destroyed" much of the "online" game. People were duping items and very soon all kind of hack programs that allowed people to hack their characters and kill other players in one hit and steal their stuff, were created and used.
All these things basically ruined the game for many others.

Recently Diablo II came out and I played Diablo I again, but this time only as single player game.

When you start the game you can chose your character from three classes: Warrior, Rogue and Sorcerer.
You can not modify your stats or skills.
You start your game in Tristram, a small town where the townspeople tell you of the night the monsters from the dungeon under the local church, came and took away the children.
The townspeople tried to rescue them and went into the dungeon, lead by Archbishop Lazarus who disappeared.
The townspeople walked into a trap any many were killed by a monster called "The Butcher".
Your first quest is to find this "Butcher" and kill him...
Later when you enter the dungeon and solve your first quest, the townspeople will tell you more about what happened and you will also find books inside the dungeon where you can read about Diablo's story.

The actual game takes place in two places: the little village where you start the game and a huge dungeon/ labyrinth under the local cathedral.
Basically Diablo is a huge dungeon with up to 16 large levels.
In order to beat the game you have to work your way down to level 16 and defeat Diablo.

The dungeon is a "random generated" dungeon, which means that every time you (re) start the game, the game generates a new dungeon with different quests, monsters etc.
When you don't have enough experience, money or items at first, you can just restart the game and replay the first levels of the dungeon, while you keep your "old" character.
This way you can get more money and items that you'll need later on in the game.

In the village above the dungeon you will find 8 NPC's.
By talking to them you can get quests, buy items, spells etc and also sell the items you find in the dungeon.
There is a smith that sells weapons, armor etc, a witch that sells all magic supplies (scrolls, potions, staffs), a healer that will always heal you for free and also sells potions, a towns elder who will identify your magic items and some other NPC's that will tell you part of the story and give you quests.

A great item is the "town portal" scroll, staff or spell.
Whenever you use it in the dungeon, you'll create a gate to town.
That way you can sell/ buy equipment while the gate remains open until you use it again to return to where you were in the dungeon, when you casted it.

Diablo is often called a hack and slash RPG, where clearing the dungeon of all monsters and working your way through the entire dungeon is all there is to do.
The view point in Diablo is "top down" and the graphics are great.
The atmosphere in the dungeon gets really creepy once you get deeper and deeper into the dungeon.
Another thing that makes the game fun is the large amount of diverse items you can buy or find in the dungeon.
Items that sometimes enhance your stats or magic resistances.
Often these are unique items, like: weapons, spells, armory, potions etc.
When you play a mage you will find scrolls and spellbooks all over the dungeon and you can use the books to put the spells in your spellbook.

Each time you gain enough experience to be raised a level, you will get 5 points to divide over your stats: strenght, dexterity, magic and vitality.
This way you can build your character.

The gameplay in Diablo is very simple and easy.
Left click your mouse to move, right click to cast spells, left click to attack etc.
Your game screen is made up of some menu's like stats, current quests, map and gamemenu on the left-bottom part of your screen.
On the right-bottom part you will find your spell and inventory button and in the middle your inventory slots for quick use, your life and mana bars (see screenshot).

The map can be on at all times and shows "over" your actual game screen and shows the parts of the dungeon where you've been.

The game comes with a manual that explains the gameplay etc and also contains the book of "heaven and hell" and the book of "the return of terror". In these books the background and story of Diablo is told.

The game can be finished rather quick when you play it as single player game, but the intention of the game is to play it with other people over the internet.

The game runs without any problems in Windows 98.

Diablo has great graphics and if you like these kind of "dungeon hack and slash games", Diablo is a great game.
To me personally, it lacks everything that makes a good RPG, like a storyline that really gets you involved in a game, most of all a LOT of puzzles and lots of lands, cities and dungeons to explore.
But in all honesty: Diablo just isn't "my kind of game".

©Mieke Schotting

Links

Gamesover Here you can find a very complete file with info about spells, monsters, stats, resistances, items etc.
Also some hints for the multi-player game. Look under "walkthroughs".

The Spoiler Centre They have three walkthroughs for Diablo. Look under: "Blizzard".

Back to my homepage: RPGs on the NET