Diablo (video game)

Gameplay

Diablo is an action role-playing hack and slash video game. The player moves and interacts with the environment primarily by way of a mouse. Other actions, such as casting a spell, are performed in response to keyboard inputs. The player can acquire items, learn spells, defeat enemies, and interact with non-player characters (NPC)s throughout the game.

The dungeon levels are randomly generated, although they follow parameters according to their type; for instance the catacombs tend to have long corridors and closed rooms, while the caves are more non-linear. The players are assigned a random number of quests from several tiers; these quests are optional but help to level up the character and/or reveal more of the backstory. The final two quests, however, are mandatory in order to finish the game.

Classes

Diablo has three character classes: the Warrior, the Rogue, and the Sorcerer. Each class has a different level of assigned attributes along with a unique skill. Each class is capable of using almost all of the same items and spells, in contrast to later titles in the Diablo series which have class-specific items and spells. However, the limitations in the attributes for each class reward play that utilizes them efficiently; for instance the Warrior's low maximum level of Magic prevents him from learning the higher levels of powerful spells like the Sorcerer, instead the Warrior is best suited to melee with a faster weapon swing plus a "critical strike" for bonus damage.

In the expansion set, Diablo: Hellfire, the Monk was added. The Monk was meant to be proficient at melee combat with the staff, and is not related to the Monk class in Diablo III. Two other classes, the Bard and Barbarian, were unfinished but remained hidden characters in Diablo: Hellfire, and could be enabled using a hack. Using the in-game sprites of the Rogue and Warrior, respectively, the Bard is capable of dual-wielding weapons while the Barbarian was a two-handed axe specialist.

Items

Many items have attribute minimums to be used effectively. White-colored items are normal items, blue-colored items are magic items and gold-colored items are unique items. Any items that are not white in color must be identified to make use of their magical effects, however, characters can use unidentified items as they would the base item. Items wear down through use and only have a certain amount of durability. When an item's durability is zero, it is destroyed. Players can return to the town and pay a fee to an NPC, Griswold the Blacksmith, to have the items restored, while the Warrior can repair objects in his possession at the cost of overall durability.

Bows are the ranged weapon of the game, best used by rogues. Staves, while capable of physical attacks, are mainly used for the spell charges that it contains, as casting from a staff does not require the player to learn the spell nor use mana. The staff's spell can only be cast a certain number of times before it requires a recharge, either by going to an NPC, Adria, while the Sorcerer can also use his ability though that lowers the maximum number of spell charges on the staff. The sword is typically one-handed, though two-handed varieties also exist. Axes are all two handed, and are for those who are willing to sacrifice defense for power. Maces and clubs add a 50% damage bonus against the undead. Shields, when paired with single-handed weapons, allow for blocking of attacks. There are three classifications of armor: light, medium and heavy, and is available for the torso. Characters are allowed to wear a helmet, two rings, and one amulet.

Books contain spell formulas. Spell books cannot be used more than once, but multiple books of the same spell will increase the spell level, up to a maximum of 15. Scrolls allow use of both spells not yet learned, and spells not available in book form. They vanish after one use. Many potions are available for use, including health and mana restoration, and elixirs that increase statistics.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer can be done with up to four players. Multiplayer characters' states are saved periodically. Players can either be aggressive towards, or play co-operatively with, other players. Players can connect by one of the following: direct connection, modem connection, Battle.net connection or IPX network connection. The game lacks the stronger anti-cheating methods of Blizzard's later games and as a result, many characters online have been altered in various ways by common third-party programs known as trainers and/or game editing programs such as Cheat Engine.

Setting

The setting of Diablo includes the mortal realm which is the world of Man as well as the High Heavens and the Burning Hells.^{:61, 62, 64 & 72} After eons of war between angels and demons, the ascension of man prompted the three Lords of Hell (including Diablo himself) to seek victory through influence, prompting their exile into the mortal realm. There, they sowed chaos, distrust, and hatred among the humans of Sanctuary until a group of magi, called the Horadrim, trapped them in enchanted crystals called "Soulstones". Diablo's soulstone was buried deep in the earth and a monastery was built over the site.

Generations passed and the purpose of the monastery was forgotten. A small town named Tristram sprang up next to the monastery's ruins. When King Leoric rebuilt the monastery as a cathedral, Diablo manipulated its archbishop, Lazarus, to destroy his soulstone prison. Diablo subsequently possessed the king, sending out his knights and priests to battle against peaceful kingdoms, and then possessed the king's son, Prince Albrecht, filling the caves and catacombs beneath the cathedral with creatures formed from the young boy's nightmares.

Tristram became a town of fear and horror, where people were abducted in the night. With no king, no law, and no army left to defend them, many villagers fled.

Story

The game starts when the player's character arrives in Tristram. Several of the remaining townsfolk assist the player such as Deckard Cain the Elder. The labyrinth under the Cathedral descends from the dungeon/church, to the catacombs, followed by the caves, and finally Hell itself, each with a mixture of the undead, animals, and demons. Leoric has been re-animated as the Skeleton King.

Late in the game, the hero must fight Archbishop Lazarus, and eventually Diablo himself. At the end of the game, the hero kills Diablo's mortal form. The hero then takes the Soulstone out of Diablo's forehead after which Diablo transforms into a lifeless Prince Albrecht. The hero then drives the Soulstone into his/her own forehead, and he or she contains the essence of Diablo within himself or herself.

Development

According to Matt Barton, the game Telengard, released by Avalon Hill in 1982, influenced the development of Diablo.

At first, Diablo was a turn-based role-playing game, but later in development, also influenced by the previous success of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, they decided to make it a real-time action game. The game was also originally conceived to be made in claymation (much like ClayFighter), but they decided to have a 3D isometric style instead.

Music

The music of Diablo was composed by Matt Uelmen. The soundtrack consists of six tracks. It was released after 15 years, in 2011.

Release

Diablo normally requires the original CD to play, however also included on the disk is a shareware version of the software that could be played without the CD called Diablo Spawn. This version of the game allows access to the first two areas of the dungeon, and locks out two of the three playable classes and many of the NPC townsfolk. It is playable in both single- and multi-player with those restrictions. The demo is also downloadable.

The official expansion pack made for Diablo was Diablo: Hellfire in 1997. The expansion was produced by Sierra Entertainment rather than an in-house Blizzard North development team. The multiplayer feature of the expansion pack was disabled with version 1.01. The added content included two additional dungeon segments located within a new side storyline, several unique items and magical item properties, spells, and a fourth class, the Monk. There are also two unfinished "test" classes (the Bard and Barbarian) and two quests which could be accessed only through a configuration file modification.

In 1998, a PlayStation version of Diablo was released, developed by Climax Studios and published by Electronic Arts. The game lacked online play, but featured a two-player cooperative mode. Notable differences to the PC version include the auto-aiming for range weapons and spells and an option for increased game speed. It features an option to learn the story through a narrator without having to find the books in the game. The European PAL version is fully translated and dubbed into French, German and Swedish in addition to the original English. The PlayStation version was infamous because of its need for 10 blocks on a PlayStation memory card; the standard size of memory cards for the platform was 15 blocks.

The game was re-released alongside Hellfire in a 1998 bundle, called Diablo + Hellfire. 1998's Blizzard's Game of the Year Collection contained copies of Diablo, StarCraft and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. The Blizzard Anthology (2000) contained Diablo, StarCraft, StarCraft: Brood War and WarCraft II: Battle.net Edition. The Diablo Gift Pack (2000) contained Diablo and Diablo II, but no expansions. The Diablo: Battle Chest (2001) contained Diablo, Diablo II and Diablo II's expansion, Lord of Destruction. Later releases of the Diablo: Battle Chest also have a strategy guide for Diablo II and Lord of Destruction, though subsequent releases do not include the original game, instead featuring Diablo II, its expansion, and their respective strategy guides.

For Diablo's 20th anniversary, it was announced during BlizzCon 2016 that Diablo III would receive a free patch called The Darkening of Tristram that recreates the original game. The patch contains a 16-level dungeon, four main bosses from the 1996 version and special graphics filters and 8-directions limited movement like the original game. The test patch was released on November 11, 2016 on the Public Test Realm server.

Reception

Diablo has received critical acclaim, with an average rating of 94 on Metacritic. Most praised the game's addictive gameplay, immense replayability, dark atmosphere, superior graphics, moody musical score, and its great variety of possible magic items, enemies, levels, and quests. This last aspect was praised by GameSpot editor Trent Ward in his review of Diablo: "Similarly, although a set number of monsters is included, only a few will be seen during each full game. This means that players going back for their second or third shot at the game will very likely fight opponents they haven't seen before. Talk about replay value."

Reviewers commonly cited the online multiplayer aspect as one of the strongest points of the game, with it being described as greatly extending its replay value. Computer Games Magazine's Cindy Yans said that "weapons, armor and items are so numerous that you're always acquiring something new to try... not to mention the game's multiplayer universe"; she went on to say that "for anyone who enjoys a good multiplayer dungeon crawl, Diablo can't be beat". The most common complaint about the game was the length of its single-player aspect, which many felt was too short. Cindy Yans finished her review, "Despite the rather pale storyline, [...] watered-down quests and a fair amount of necessary repetition, Diablo is a must for anyone interested in 'just plain fun.'" On GameSpot's main page for Diablo, the subtext used to describe the game when it came out simply states: "Diablo is the best game to come out in the past year, and you should own a copy. Period."

Awards

Diablo was awarded GameSpot's Game of the Year Award for 1996. As of January 7, 2013, Diablo has GameSpot's #1 spot of all PC games, with a score of 9.6 out of 10. In 2005 GameSpot chose the game as one of "The Greatest Games of All Time".

Sales

As of August 29, 2001, Diablo had sold 2.5 million copies worldwide.