Rating: 
Summary: An unregretable buy
Review: The thing about diablo 2 is that it is one of the best, and most addictive, games ever. You can say all you want about how it is all hack and slash and repeats and the bad graphics, but when it comes down to the enjoyment of the gamer, this is the game. I recieved this game 3 years ago, and today, I still play it over new games that have been very highly rated. I recently recieved Tony Hawk Underground, Return of the King, Eye Toy, and NBA Street vol. 2, and yet this was the game which I was playing the next day, trying to get better. Diablo has kept my attention so long for many reasons. First is the incredibly addictve gameplay No matter how good you are, you can always get better, and this creates a constent need to get better. Whether it's stats, skills, or weapons, there is always an improvment to get. The quests are simply a side thought, but they are still helpful. And the hacking just adds on to the fun, because even though it is fun to not cheat, sometimes you just want to go out and destroy all those characters that are giving you so much trouble in the real game. Overall, great game, so don't get it if you want to (your loss), but if you do consider it, stop looking at all the technical stuff and just buy it. The technical stuff tells you nothing, but just playing this game is as fun as a videogame will get.
Rating: 
Summary: UHG
Review: First things first. This game IS fun, and it got two stars for that only.Diablo 2 was fun for a while. Not a long while like Neverwinter Nights, but a little while. I didn't make it too far into the game because I lost track of the plot, and the game itself was far too repetitive. Every battle seemed to be the same, and it was all too easy. The battel system was just point and click, and there was no strategy to it at all. I know, this is just supposed to be a hack and slash, but it fails even at that. The graphics are moderately good, they are not bad but not real good either. The sound is good, probably one of the best parts of the game. If you want a hack and slash to be addicted to for less than a week, this is the way to go. You'll be back. If you want a hack and slash to play for a while, may I reccomend any of the Icewind Dale's. If you want a hack and slash with a real good plot, try Neverwinter Nights. I do reccomend this game, but don't go wasting your money on it right now, wait until it is in the bargain bin, so's you don't get mad when you end up geting the game and becoming sick of it in three days.
Rating: 
Summary: Diablo II. . .
Review: Blizzard's "Diablo" certainly made waves in the gaming industry when it was released in 1997. Its strange mix of action and roleplaying kept many glued to their chairs for months on end, and spawned nearly as many imitators as the legendary "Doom." In 1997, the formula worked splendidly - but it's the new millennium now that "Diablo II" has come to store shelves, and it just feels a little long in the tooth. That hasn't kept it from becoming one of the most overwhelmingly critically praised games of 2000, though. One PC Gamer reviewer went so far as to call it "the best game ever" at the time. Apparently he enjoyed the minimal story, the pithy roleplaying elements, and the repetitive click-fest that is "Diablo II" - or maybe he just needs to play more games, because this one remains tremendously overrated. I really want to stress how gratingly easy critics were on this game, just because it had the Blizzard logo on the box. Much better games have taken critical beatings, and justice dictates that "Diablo II" is put in its proper place. Even so, it's certainly not a bad game, and can become very engrossing despite its lack of depth and dearth of variety. Though the "Diablo" games can often be found in the roleplaying section, there is little actual roleplaying to be done. You are offered five character options at the beginning of the game, and you pick one of them as your avatar - it's that simple. It should be noted, though, that each character plays quite differently, and all have unique and impressive skills (or spells) that they can employ when things get rough. Of course, you will also tweak your character's stats to your liking as you gain levels, which is why this is considered roleplaying at all. In reality, though, "Diablo II" is a top-down isometric action game, and that's just fine. Wading through hordes of demonic baddies is certainly an enjoyable experience - though I myself couldn't help but wish there was more to the game. Combat only ceases when you're in one of the game's three cities (one city per episode), and you really only visit these cities when you need weapons or other items, or perhaps when you're ready to receive your next quest. Quests are extremely linear as well. While playing through the game, I didn't encounter a single quest that was designed to boost experience and was not somehow related to finishing the game's main storyline. I enjoy linearity, personally, but the inability to do your own thing, even just a little bit, keeps "Diablo II" from maintaining its freshness. It all boils down to hacking and slashing, leveling up, and repeating that process until the credits roll. It's certainly fun at times, but it's not enough for the game to stay compelling for long periods. Great games transport you to another reality, but "Diablo II" will never allow you to forget that you're just staring at your monitor and constantly clicking on things with your mouse. Even the outdoor environments just feel like the spruced up tabletops upon which you are playing with your fantasy-themed action figures. Oh, yes, and I can't forget to mention that "Diablo II" has a truly awful save system that would be more at home in "Everquest." In other words, there's an autosave, and that's about it. It makes casual sittings with the game become more frustrating than they should ever have been, since when you die you'll lose key items in your inventory (like your primary weapons), and you'll have to find your body to recover them. To make matters worse, enemies respawn like rodents when your back is turned, and it's just so bloody aggravating! In the end, I have been focusing more on the game's faults than its virtues, since I feel that its faults have been least touched upon in the press - but it really is a good game. It is far from achieving the greatness others have claimed, but it's good. If you're one of the few people with a PC and a penchant for gaming on planet earth who hasn't yet picked up a copy, you could be well-served if you're in the mood for some lightweight action. Don't put too much stock in those editorial reviews you've read, though, and take note that games like "Icewind Dale," "Baldur's Gate," "Divine Divinity," and "Nox" have all done this isometric roleplaying thing considerably better than "Diablo II." They actually offer depth as well as frenetic combat. (Well, all except "Nox," but it was just so bloody fun!) It's inevitable that Blizzard will eventually begin working on "Diablo III," and though it will certainly make plenty of money for the company, if it's to attain true success it had better acknowledge its peers and offer more than its shallow predecessor. Final Score: C+
Rating:
Summary: Good at first but then gets boring
Review: I downloaded the demo version of this game and I've decided not to buy it. The first two hours of hacking, slashing and managing inventory were very enjoyable. The simple inventory interface and character management felt like a relief compared to something like Baldurs Gate 2 which can get overwhelming at times. It was good, simple, leveling-up, buy and sell weapons, armor and magic FUN.
But then my face started to droop. This game is so repetitive depression sets in. Nothing but clicking on monsters until they die. Click Click click click click. Boring dark scenery, stupid monsters, and clicking.
I don't criticize others who like this game, it's seems like it would be much better playing on-line with others than by yourself.
Pros:
-Really cool weapons, armor and magic management interface.
-many different ways to level up your character
-pretty good sound and music
Cons:
-certain game players will get incredibly bored after
the 1000th click and may feel their life slipping
away
-I think I leveled-up myself more by simply mowing my
lawn today
Rating: 
Summary: Fun, Can Be Very Addictive Though
Review: Overall Diablo II is a very fun, immersing game. What it lacks in terms of a story is made up by the fantastic gameplay, great sound effects, and above average graphics. I believe that, if you are going to get the most out of this game, you should play it online. Not only because of the other people that you can interact with, but also because you can level up much faster; assuming you have someone to help you through the game. I guess I should first explain how you go about "beating" this game. The first time you play through the game is known as "normal" difficulty. After you complete this, you also have to beat the game in "nightmare" and "hell" difficulties. Naturally, these are much harder than normal; and thus they require your character to be a higher level to have a chance. Nevertheless, there is a way around this. You can get a high level character to "rush" your low level character through the entire game; thus avoiding the tedious and time consuming procedure for leveling up. After you are rushed through the three difficulty levels, then the best way to level up is to join "cows games". Basically, the designers created a "secret level" where you, well, fight bipedal cows with what look like pole-axes. Naturally, the advantage to doing this is that you level up very quickly, as the cows, when killed, give out enormous numbers of experience points. Thus, you can turn your low level character into a fairly high level one much quicker than if you went through all the difficulty levels yourself, killing everything and gaining experience points the "right" way. Naturally, nightmare and hell difficulties also have some "other" features that make them harder than normal. First, in nightmare, your resistances drop to -20. In Hell, they drop to -50. Resistances are just the defense that your character has against the elements. Each one is ranked separately; so therefore you could have a resistance of 75 in fire but only 25 in Lightning. At the beginning of the game you have no resistances at all -- you have to find armor or other things that give these resistances to you. Also, you may not raise your resistances above 75 unless you have items that let you add points to your "maximum resist". Speaking of items, they are the most important thing in determining how powerful your character is. I've had characters that would be awesome (meaning they had the right skills and stat points) but they turned out awfully because of my lack of good items. Therefore, trading with other players to get what you want is very important. This is accomplished by one player going up to the other (in a town area, where no fighting can happen) and clicking on them. Then it will give them a message asking if they want to trade, and if they do then a screen will come up where you can both place items in. When you're done putting your stuff down, then you press the little check mark (accept) button, and when you both press it, the trade will go through. This system is great, since there is no way someone can cheat you out of something (unless of course you don't know what you're trading for, or what you have is worth; then they can obviously rip you off, but it will never be because of the trading system). The best part about this game, though, is the character development. Literally every time you play the game your character could be a little different, depending on the way you allocate skill points, of course. Basically, skill points enable you to pick what spells you want to develop. Since you won't get enough skill points to develop every spell you want to, you may have to pick which "core" spells you want to develop. This is why it is important to find out what spells are good before actually building up your character. Although you'd think that all spells should be equally good, well, they're not. For example, the level 30 Paladin skill (meaning you can't get it until your character is at level 30) Fist of the Heavens is just horrible. It does barely any damage to the harder enemies in the game, and it only attacks one enemy at a time. Trust me, in hell difficulty you need spells that affect more than one enemy at a time. Also, in order to get to the level 30 skills, you may need to put points into a prerequisite skill (or skills). This is where the strategy of the game comes in -- you need to know not only what skills are worth investing points into, but also if they're worth spending all the prerequisite points just to get them. The one fault with this game is that there is a lot of slowdown (lag) if you choose to play online. Granted, this is true with any online game, but because you can have up to 8 people in a game at one time (and you usually do, especially if you're playing Hell cows) then the game tends to lag. This wouldn't be too bad, except for the fact that, if you die in Hell difficulty (and nightmare too) you lose experience. Given that it takes more than three hours to level up when you get past level 80, losing experience can be a major annoyance. I once had all my 45 minutes worth of experience erased because I got too close to a cow and then the game lagged. Frankly, here I'm not blaming the lag, I'm blaming the game designers for putting that stupid feature in the game. Other than that, though, this game is wonderful. It can be VERY addictive, however, so watch out. Still, if you have the time to spend on it, this game can be a very rewarding and fun experience. There's just no words to describe the satisfaction that you feel once you get your character up to the highest level that you've ever acheived, and that's really what this game is about; leveling up. That may not sound that great, but after awhile the concept grows on you, and you get drawn into the great world of Diablo II.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific
Review: The play is worlds above the original Diablo format. You
will find surprises with every large level, and not be hung up
to repeat and repeat if you can think about your strategic choices of action. (When there are too many to attack, JUMP from
the scene to stay alive.) or whatever. We're looking forward
to the next installment.
Rating: 
Summary: Addictive Fun (2-4 years) but online only
Review: This is of my favorite games of all time you'll be addicted so bad you cant sleep.
*WARNING*
THERES ALOT OF HACKERS WHO RUINED THE GAME
Rating:
Summary: Wow, was I wrong!
Review: A while back, I did a review of this game. I said it had nothing to do with an RPG, and it was basically killing everything with no plot development. Than, I realized the brillance of this game, and it was wrapped up in one word. Simplicity. Simple gameplay equals fun gameplay. Keep it short and sweet. So now, I must say I love this game. It has really good graphics for 2000 (I always liked the graphics) and the gameplay is simple and addictive. I was a complete idiot to say it sucked. Well, now I know.
Rating:
Summary: Great game
Review: This game kicks ass. The only thing I don't like about this game is that they are so dang strict on maphacks.............arrgh. anyway, great game, one of Blizzard's best. Heck, all their games rock.
Rating:
Summary: Strangely addictive
Review: This game is BAD. BAD. BAD. You walk through endless areas mindlessly killing randomly generated enemies. It has no plot. It has no plot. That said, I am addicted to it. It is strangely fun to see your character grow more powerful and...kill tons of randomly generated enemies. DONT GET THIS GAME! save yourself hours of wasted time. Of course, if mindless hack and slash adventures are your thing, you would enjoy it. Otherwise, get Baldurs Gate 2. (which just happens to be the best RPG ever made)
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