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| | Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment  Genre: Adventure & RPG | | | Min OS X: Any Version CPU: G3 RAM: 64 MB Hard Disk: 650 MB 4x CD-ROM Graphics: 800x600 @ 256 Colors |
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Diablo II
October 27, 2000 | IMG Staff | |
That damn Diablo is at it again. Not that anyone is really complaining.If this game isn’t the best sequel of all time, then it’s in the top three. Not only is the second chapter of this tale great on its own, it is in every way a serious improvement over its predecessor. Blizzard, long known for providing quality titles for the Mac platform, has yet to let us down. Granted, the making of Diablo II took a long time and it does (like any game) have some things folks can gripe about, in the end, this game is sure to be on millions of hard drives for a long time to come. If Blizzard has a hallmark, besides making awesome games, it is providing quality interactive entertainment coupled with comparatively low system requirements. Any modern gaming Mac can handle this one, needing only a base G3 processor, graphics accelerator (optional), 64 MB RAM, OS 8.1 or higher, a 256-color display at 800x600 resolution and 650 MB of space on your hard drive. Yeah, that’s somewhat of an exception. If you want to run the three CDs worth of data without swapping the discs, prepare to make some room on your Mac. This full install is one of the largest to date — of any game. Another Blizzard groundbreaker is the video acceleration. While the game is certainly fun and pleasing to the eye without the boost, this feature is a great option. The original Diablo garnered rave reviews and sold millions, but many found the game to be a bit simple. Three character types and one small village with only underground adventuring didn’t do anything to help its longevity with gamers. Combat that basically consisted of rapid mouse-clicking and limited character development led many to seek satisfaction with the multiplayer option on battle.net. Of course, that cyber playland soon became overrun with "hacked" characters and earned Blizzard a lot of criticism. Guess what? They fixed all that! This sequel gives players more character types, more ways to hack and slash, cast spells, more monsters, treasure, magic items and options, non-player characters, cinematic sequences, quests, actual character customization, better security for online play and the kitchen sink. It’s like the folks at Blizzard just got around one computer screen at the office and read all of the emails sent in by their Diablo fans. But while they gave us a lot with the sequel, they also took some things away — like the wimp factor. Actual game play in Diablo II is a lot more challenging, with slower heal times, less chances to save your progress and very potent adversaries.
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