Rating: 
Summary: Fun, but not much of an improvement
Review: Diablo 2 is no technical marvel. It is limited to 640 x 480 in 256 colors, and doesn't have a customizable character, it has sort of limited itself. The gameplay hasn't improved much from the original, as far as I can tell. Diablo 2 simply doesn't match up to the standards that Diablo 1 helped to set. I wish I had waited until the price came down. This is not [worth the $], in my opinion.
Rating: 
Summary: Diabolical
Review: Diablo 2 is in many ways the same game as Diablo 1. They did add some pretty cool features, but didn't upgrade the graphics at all. I would definitely not recommend this game to beginners. If you thought Diablo was hard, this is definitely a step higher. Hardcore gamers will, however, definitely appreciate the pure unnerving difficulty this game posseses. If you liked Diablo, of course you'll like this sequel, but maybe not as much as you might hope.
Rating:
Summary: Diablo 2 - not all it's cracked up to be
Review: On the overall scale of things, Diablo 2 is a very good game. However, lovers of the original Diablo may be in for a disappointment.One area of disappointment is the graphics. The artists do not seem to have been as careful or inspired as those for the original Diablo. To some extent, this is compensated for by effective use of the new 3D accelerator cards; unfortunately, many users have reported that the game does not run in 3D mode with their graphics cards, so you may have to switch to 2D mode to play. Perhaps a bigger disappointment is that single player mode is essentially gone. What is called 'single player mode' for Diablo 2 does not actually save the game state, so the next time you play, all the monsters you have killed come back to life. This pretty much ruins the game for those looking for a good story line. Local network play is also a step down from the original Diablo, as the game goes away when the game creator leaves. In the original Diablo, a network game stayed around as long as at least one person was still playing. Not a big deal, but still an annoyance. The one promised improvement in Diablo 2 is as yet undelivered. On Blizzard's battle.net servers, use of hacked characters and software cheats dominated play of the original Diablo. Diablo 2 uses a different architecture, and offers 'realms' play that keeps the game mechanics on Blizzard's servers, preventing many of these methods of cheating. Unfortunately, Blizzard's servers are currently so overloaded that it's difficult to actually play a 'realms' game, so one ends up playing open games with the same old hacks and cheats. But once Blizzard gets their server capacity up, the game may be worth the price of admission.
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of fun and variety
Review: With this sequel, Blizzard has kept everything that I liked about the original, and reworked and improved most of the things I disliked about the original. Probably the best thing about this game is the new selection of characters and the skill system. With the Amazon, will you focus on close combat with jabbing weapons (and some ranged attacks from throwing them) or will you go for all ranged attacks with bow and crossbow? Will your Necromancer specialize in summoning many undead and other monsters to do his dirty work for him, or will he take more of a direct role by using curse spells on his enemies? Every character class faces lots of choices like these, which to me really boosts the replay value. Some people have complained of technical glitches. I have found Diablo II to be one of the smoothest, least buggy games I've played. Zero problems so far. I don't doubt that these other folks have had problems, but my experience has been different. Some people complain that the quests require no thought to solve. They're right, but I don't think the quests are intended to be puzzles. They help link the action into the backstory, and they provide some variety and build suspense (is Andariel on this level? how hard is she going to be?). Being able to hire followers (or summon them if you're playing a Necromancer) is very cool. They're pretty smart about staying with you, way more useful than the sidekicks in Daikatana or the golems from Diablo. Some people have complained that it's too much like the original Diablo. Well, duh, excuse me, this is a sequel, folks. If you didn't like the original, you probably won't care for this game either. One reviewer complained about spending too much time chasing down monsters that ran from him. To that, I say two things. First, most of the monsters are very in-your-face and try to swarm you, except for the ones with ranged attacks which very smartly try to keep their distance. Second, that guy must not be very good at the game - you have to be able to deal with ranged combat situations as well as close combat, you have to work the terrain to your advantage. Sounds like that guy got unhappy as soon as his only strategy hit a spot where it didn't work. There are a few things I wish I had done better. I do wish that they could have improved the graphics resolution, at least optionally for those of us with high end machines. Using way stations and town portals is a little unnatural. The way stations are like permanent town portals in specific places, but if you use them to travel, the monsters in that area repopulate. Town portal spells, meanwhile, don't persist when you save and quit; and quitting while out in the wilderness drops you back in town/camp. This makes it so there are times when I'd like to take a break or need to shut down the game, but I'm reluctant to. Restarting from the saved game would involve fighting my way through areas I've already done, so sometimes I wind up pausing the game for hours until I can get back to it. This is silly to make us jump through hoops like that.
Rating:
Summary: click
Review: Click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click. That is the game in a nutshell, but with a cool plot.
Rating:
Summary: Is this game good? HELL YEAH!
Review: Let me just start by saing this, when I first got this game I played for 9 hours straight. I can only type this because Battle net is down right now. This game is more addictive then crack. If You liked Diablo at all, you will love this game. it is more of the same, but it is GREAT. Nothing comes closes to the feeling of Diablo 2. I can't stop playing. Second if you never played Diablo Try the demos of the orignal, they are about the same, only Diablo 2 is better. Third This game, like most games, is not perfect. There have been many bugs and many bugs are still out there. but the fact of the matter is that they got most of the worst ones out in the first two patches. so it is pretty sweet right now. Fourth, the only really negative thing you can say about this game is that Battle.net (the internet version) of it is down more then I like. But This is only the first month, once they get the bugs out they should have a totally excellent gaming engine. Fifth. If you have not gone out to get this game, you are missing out on a great game. IT is not the next DOOM But the orignal Diablo changed the industry and the new Diablo 2 is still rocking. If you like RPG and such you will LOVE Diablo 2. If you don't like RPG then try anyways (I was never a fan before these games) If you hate RPG Please move along and find other games. One final word of warning. Make sure to have a weekend coming up when you get this game, because it is so addictive. And have fun because this is the game of the year.
Rating:
Summary: Game of the Year
Review: I have been waiting for diablo 2 since i beat the original. Blizzard did not let me or the other millions of millions of gamers down. Diablo 2 is the Game of the Year. No other games need to come out and try to beat it. If you never played the original, buy it and Diablo 2 at the same time. Beat the first one, then try you luck against a more powerful array of enemies. The only thing i suggest (other than buy this game) is buy the strategy guide. Trust me it helps.
Rating: 
Summary: Typical sequel
Review: While I think Diablo 2 is a great game and I enjoy playing it a great deal, there are negatives enough to make this a title better purchased on sale. On the up side, the plot is phenomenal, the characters are very exciting and interesting, and the world is more fun to be in. On the down, though, is the utter lack of replay ability, even given the new character classes. Unlike its originator, Diablo 2 featues only 6 quests per Act, all of which are set in stone - the order of presentation doesn;t even change game to game. There are numerous glitches in the game even after 2 patches, and there is no strategic thought into how to complete any given activity - the quest log leads you by the nose through everything. Overall the game is fun and I am pleased that it was money well spent for the entertainment, but after 3 years, I think Blizzard could have presented a much better game.
Rating:
Summary: Hmm...
Review: When Diablo II came out I bought it immediately expecting it would be at least as fun as the first possibly more fun. I got bored of the game easily. The thing I really didn't like was certain enemys that just run away. You have to chase them for what seems like an eternity till you finally catch them and slaughter them, and if you decide to just let them run away they'll continuously come back to haunt you. Then to make things worse the game doesn't save what you've killed so if you decide your done playing for the day the next time you play all the runners will be back. These enemys are called flayers and when I first encountered them I got bored of fighting them over and over and discontinued my gameply and moved to a different game. Another thing I didn't like is running. Not that running is bad, in fact I love the fact that you can move faster, the problem with it is that the background (trees, grass, etc.) really bothered my eyes with it scrolling past so quickly. That is not as big a deal as the run-a-way enemys, however. If you like to chase endless hords of enemys then the game is for you. If not don't bother with it.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the wait
Review: Wow! As of this moment I have finished the game on normal difficulty and am about halfway through it again on Nightmare difficulty. And having a blast. If you prefer deep, thought provoking games with amazing plot twists and mind-bending puzzles, this is not the game for you. Diablo II, like Diablo, is pure hack-and-slash-treasure-accumulating mayhem. It is not intellectual, but it is great fun! The new character classes are unique and interesting. My favorites so far are the amazon, since you can kill the monster at range before it ever hits you, and the sorceress, because, well... she has all that cool magic. I'm not so sure about the necromancer, who runs around with dead things, but the paladin and the barbarian appear to be great melee combatants. The new item system builds on the system in Diablo. On top of stuff like 'Obsidian Amulet of Stability,' you can also find set items, which are several items which, if worn together, have some sort of bonus associated with them. However, it's difficult to put a set together, and the bonus is not always worth the effort. Also, you can find seven different types of gems, each of which can be one of five different qualities (chipped, flawed, et al) Each gem gives a certain ability to a weapon, a helmet, or a shield, including increased stats, increased elemental defense, increased chance to find magic items. On the down side, the game can bog down horribly, to the point where literally several seconds can go by between your actions. There have already been two patches, in the first two weeks, and rumor has it another patch is on the way. The online gaming, via Battlenet is often down, and even when you can get connected, there is often severe lag (on top of the slow down I already mentioned), and often you will lose your connection. Overall, great game! I highly recommend it. My only suggestion is that if you go on Battlenet, try to keep your sense of humor.
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