Rating: 
Summary: Good game for rats
Review: In psychology there is a concept called "variable reinforcement schedule". Basically, if you reward a rat for pressing a bar, say with a food pellet, he will want to press the bar. BUT, if you only reinforce the rat randomly as he pushes the bar, well, he'll push furiously, neglecting socializing, hygiene, and all else. Diablo 2 works exactly like the latter situation. You kill a baddie. Did he drop something good? Maybe, maybe not. Every random time a baddie does drop something good, it inflames your brain to want to repeat that behavior, just like a slot machine, or a rat pressing a bar. The priciple is PROVEN to be elegantly addicting. In one sense, that makes this an incredibly efficient game, based on sound scientific data, with a vicious hook. On the other hand, I could put you in a cage with an IV of endorphins that randomly activated occasionaly after you pressed a bar, and you'd all be giving it 5 star reviews on amazon and wasting your time playing it. Here's an idea: spend time with your loved ones, read a book, draw a picture. Life is short.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best games of all time
Review: This is simply a superb game, and is very stable (don't listen to those who have said it does not run, it has more to do with their machine than with the game). Anything I did not like about the first has been changed in this game, like the ability to run, this is a god send.This game has a rich story line, superb game play, great graphics, awesome movie cut-aways that are truly stunning, and an increased array of characters to use. The character skill progressions are much more diverse as well, and call into play some real strategy and forward thinking. I especially love the Necromancer who can summon skeletons, golems, etc. to fight along side him. The attention to detail on the characters look is also very satisfying, whatever you wear directly influences your characters appearance on the screen, unlike the first game, where the look was somewhat generic. You can also hire NPC's to fight along side of you at various stages of the game, which also adds depth. I also enjoy the chapter structure of the game that brings you to different towns and wilderness areas. It reduces the repetitivness of the first game. The maps of the levels are truly vast as well which makes the game much more challenging and interesting, and the fact that many are outdoors, (desert, jungle, highlands, woods, temple ruins, and finally hell) as opposed to spending the entire game in one long dungeon. I tell you that I am not a big fan of real time games or arcade type shooters, but this game holds your attention for untold hours, and is replayable. I have completed it with 3 of the four characters before burning out a bit. I look forward to playing the expansion and using the Assassin and Monk. The online play is vastly improved from the first. With a dsl connection it is virtually indistinguishable from the solo version, and fun. Trust me, get this game.
Rating:
Summary: The best game in a LONG time.
Review: This game is superb, the pinnacle of gaming experiences. I salivate over the thought that somewhere, someday, Diablo 3 will come out and surpass even this. The graphics are fine for what this is, a hack and slash gore-fest. There is blood-o-rama goin' on! The game play is interesting, and addictive. The only problem is that it causes a massive loss of sleep.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Game Done Bad
Review: When it works, this is the greatest game I've ever played. But there are 2 major things wrong. The real fun of this game is BattleNet multiplayer action. Unfortunately, BattleNet is down once in a while (when I have the time to play) or it goes down in the middle of a game. Then there's bad lag often. Or when they delete one of your characters even when you've played it more recently than the stated 90 day period. Yet, I remain hopeful that these things will get better. But the BIGGEST problem is what they've done with CD-ROM copy protection. Because of it, the game can take a long time to start, or not start at all. Many times it says that I don't have the CD in even when I do. ...have the ORIGINAL CD in the drive. I suspect that's why this game crashes more than any other I've ever run. Under Windows 98 it crashed A LOT. ...less under Windows 2000. (Mac users won't have the copy protection problem.) I'm noticing more game CDs that I can't make backup copies of. It's no coincidence that those same games are the ones that crash or hang on startup (when they check for non-standard sectors on the CD, I presume). I think game manufacturers should have to put a warning on non-standard CDs.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent Game, but Far Too Repetitive
Review: Like many other reviews, I found this game to have a "wow" factor for the first few hours, but it wasn't very long before I noticed that every area you explore is exactly the same. No matter what level you are, its the same wilderness, same caves, same crypts, etc. The scenery barely changes, and the monsters are exactly the same, just change colors for higher levels. The quests are all the same, either "kill person X" or "retrieve item X." I cannot stress enough how much repetition is in this game, and it got very boring, very fast. The graphics are decent, but the game would not run in 3D mode, even with a GeForce 2 Pro, 64MB graphics card, on a high end machine. If you played Diablo (the original), there is basically nothing new in this game, its the same game with slightly better graphics. Even for a hack and slash arcade style game, it is lacking. Combat consists only of walking up to a monster and clicking your mouse until its dead. Occasionally you will have to hit one of your number keys to drink a heal or mana potion, but thats basically it. Don't expect anything new in this game. It has no depth or adventure, its really just an updated version of the old arcade game "Gauntlet." If you have never played any graphic adventure games or the original Diablo, you may enjoy this for a while. But veteran game players, especially those who have played any of the Baldur's Gate series games, or any MMORPG players who have played Everquest, Ultima Online, or Asheron's Call will very likely find this game incredibly boring and shallow. Its only value is as an action, hack and slash style game for a first time game player. Multiplayer is not much better, as the quests and areas to explore are exactly the same as the single player game, you just get to play with friends. There is an extremely large patch to download if you plan on playing over a network. This game cannot even come close to competing with MMORPG's. In summary, this game was mostly hype. The great reviews it received are likely from people who just got the game and have only played for a few hours before reviewing it. The game's success is likely from first time players and those with no experience with MMORPG's or other graphic or RPG games. If you are new to these type games, I could recommend it for your first game experience, otherwise, you might want to take a pass.
Rating:
Summary: 4.5 stars
Review: When I picked this game up in the summer of 2000, I wasn't really into RPGs. I'm still not into the pure ones, but this game gave me some respect for them. Diablo II is fun, easy to learn, challenging and has great multiplayer. Many have criticized its graphics. I wasn't really bothered by the simple graphics. I especially appreciate the fact that with better graphics, the game would be too large to install on most typical hard drives. The only big flaws are: A Battle.net community full of people would decapitate their mothers if it meant getting a good item. Although this isn't Blizzards fault, you'll still have to deal with it when you play online. Repetitive play. Within any one character type (Barbarian, Amazon, Sorceress, Necromancer or Paladin) once you've gotten all the skills, everything is pretty much the same. It gets boring after a while and you either start a new character or stop playing altogether. Forgetable storyline. There's no reason to wonder what will happen next. It will just mean fighting another monster(s). Overall, I'd recommend this as perfect for person with nothing else to do during the summer. Its addictive enough to demand frequent play, but during the school year you might lose interst.
Rating:
Summary: good graphics but bad game
Review: I had played this game beofre and trying again and i now remeber why i threw it out the window before. First off the graphics are good, I cant complaine there,also the point and click is good, But everything else [is bad]. You have to play for hours just to save from point to point. EX.in act 3 from the one way point (where you can save) to the other you have to play for about 3 hours! If you play for and hour and decide to quit and didnt hit the next way point when you start over you have to kill all the creachers you just did for the past hour. Why cant you save annywhere and keep the creachers dead. Also in the forest you come across manny MANNY of these small creachers that swarm you (from 10-15) you dont stand a chance. Ok then you die. You end up back in town with NO gear. You have to go back to where you died (far away) touch your body to get it all back. But useually there are manny creachers there and you cant get to it. Everything is verry expencive. multiplayer my be better i did not try that.So i guess this game [is bad] in my point of view. Even though i players diablo 1 manny times and LOVED that game.
Rating:
Summary: Multi-player only for me
Review: The multi-player, online version of this really is the only thing I play now. I started off playing single player and beat the game on normal before I moved on to the realms of the multi-player version. Online you have to download another version, because you have to keep everyones characters even. I played Diablo 1 once and thought it was [nothing] compared to the 2nd version, because not only are there fewer skills, they do not have such creative character classes. In Diablo 2 there are 5 character classes, amazon, barbarian, paladin, necromancer, and (how could you make a rpg without one) a sorceress. Each class has unique abilities, and you have to take him/her through 4 creative acts to reach diablo, although I will refrain from telling you the end because I wouldn't want to ruin the wonderful story-line they put in to the game...
Rating:
Summary: Is this even an RPG?
Review: First of all, isn't an RPG where you "fill the shoes" of a virtual persona and "play them" in every way: interaction with virtual characters, a developing plot, personal goals, aims, ambitions and achievements, etc? Something like a good novel, or movie, perhaps, with "real" characters you become addicted to?
Diablo II doesn't match any of this criteria...tell me how it is different from Hexen (which is definitely NOT RPG, don't you even tryto say so)? You adventure around, kill monsters, gain exp, get more items, and go kill more monsters, getting tougher and tougher monsters until you kill the biggest monster...
So from what's up here, it looks like Diablo II is an *action* game, or an *adventure* game, but let's not slander the good name of CRPGs with this title. It in no way actually immerses you in a real virtual world, the same goes for Diablo.
That isn't a reason to give it a bad review, though...we have to look at it from an action game perspective, though, instead of an adventure perspective.
To start with, as many people have mentioned, we have the "incessant mouse clicking" which soon gets tiring. It may be enjoyable to some people, but I am not captivated enough by the battle scenes to overlook the mouse-clicking.
The second point is the tiring "tried and true" strategies your characters come up with. You get the best weapons and/or skills, and go kill monsters all the same way, only changing your tactics when you get "bigger guns". This is not a flame against the players, who make a sensible choice in this, but a flame against the designers, who design their world to conform to this. Eventually, though, this bores me...run up to the enemy, cast a spell/slash a lot, and they're dead...then you can move on, and on, and on...
But the reason why I gave this game two stars instead of one is the fact that the graphics are pretty good. It's a sharp looking game, and is very attention-grabbing at first...then you actually play it, and only the action/adventure fans can keep their hands on the mouse and not on the keyboard....
To top it off...if Doom is your game, Vas-y! But to those who play RPGs for the immersive plot and character development...it's best to play those games that *actually* feature it: Fallout and Fallout II (Not quite as much as others, but feature a lot of intelligent problem solving and world interaction with the character), Planescape: Torment (A truly awesome game), and others...which I will be playing soon but have not yet.
Looking back at this list, I see that there aren't really many good RPGs in the world today...possibly because the RPG market is being hogged by action games in drag. I hope that more games come out that are truly worthy of the title RPG.
Rating:
Summary: i've played much better
Review: when i first bought the game i was very excited. when i first started i thought it was great. then as i got farther into i noticed the lack of an interesting plot. just click. click. click. if u want a true rpg, with plot,go for something along the lines of planescape:torment, or bg2. i gave this 2 stars for one reason. after having a true challenge in bg2(baldur's gate 2) it is a pleasent change of pace for about 15 min 2 just kill things
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