Once again, Blizzard delivers.
Written: Feb 01 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: outstanding game, much better then the original, beautiful graphics, better classes.
Cons: multiplayer quirks (see review), storyline really hasn't changed much, HUGE space requirements.
The Bottom Line: Buy It. Despite my being a nitpick, this is one killer game. Blizzard continues to outdo themselves with each new release.
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| Gonzo_442's Full Review: Diablo 2 for Mac |
Okay, here we go folks.
My cost: $45+s&h, i picked up the battle chest, all discs are hybrid.Yay Blizzard! At the time of this writing, Blizzard's own site had the best deals for this and the battle chest.
First off, those of you returning from D1 will have only to pick up the quirks of D2 and you'll be ready to roll. If you're new to the game, it takes a novice about 15 minutes to get into the swing (pun intended) of things. Like most adventure games, you're choices in stats do impact your higher up abilities, but there's nothing that will squash you if you don't hit each stat dead on. Once you start playing, you'll pick up what you need to put where.
That said, this is a sequel. Unlike many lame attempts by games past, this is more than just a hyped-up add-on. While the story continues from D1, the engine has a major feel of some serious thought, and plenty of work. Even if you don't know the story from D1, the included cinematics will bring you up to speed through flashbacks and narrative.
Much improvement has been made to the engine. Blizzard must have listened in to the points and quibbles of the many players. This is the chief thing that makes Blizzard so special, imnsho.
Graphics overall are much improved, as with most new releases, technology is capitalized to squeeze the most benefit of whats on the shelf today. The original 3 classes have been expanded to incorporate many variations.
You can read the marketing stuff at Blizzard's own site. Suffice it to say, this was overall a good change.
Okay, now the bad stuff.
First, when hosted on a Mac, and played by less then optimal machines, there is a problem in multiplay with character positions sometimes crossing paths. In fact, this has actually manifested itself in singleplayer mode as well just the other day. While not too frequent (if you follow the rules), it is none the less, quite annoying. The problem seems to occur less frequently when hosted on a Windows machine. The rules are simple, when you're in a party, if one runs, everyone runs. Get too far separated (two screens or so at 800x600) and quirky positions happen. Not good if you're crawling through a dungeon full of big mean and nasty stuff.
The storyline, while necessary to continue as a sequel, it really does boil down to you saving the world, again. You see, those of you who defeated Diablo in D1, have been corrupted, and are... well no spoilers. Let's just say its your fault we have to go back to hell. *peer* :)
One thing that really irked me, Blizzard left out the continual game concept, if the host leaves, game over. That was a nice feature that D1 had.
Last gripe. Not a real gripe i guess. If you have the juice to play the game (minimum requirements aren't really mins if you can stand a few 'hiccups') space really isn't an issue. A gig of space though, is a gig of space. Fortunately, i had recently upgraded an 'outdated' 14GB drive to a new speedy 40GB. A complete install including cinematics (i hate changing discs) eats up ample space.
A few last remarks if you are still with me (i'm long-winded i know). Once you install, connect to battle.net and update it. The minor patch work irons out a couple of wrinkles that always make their way past the beta testers. If you, or a friend is updated, you cannot swap characters from machine to machine. Both have to be the same version. Characters _are_ cross platform, stuff'em up (zip them to you windows folks) and trade all you like. On LAN play, the best setup i've found is a dedicated host machine (let the character just stand in town) and players connect to it (side note: this is a work around to the host leaving, and allows items left on ground in town to stay put instead of being 'cleaned up').
More to come as soon as i get tired of playing with the demons in hell. Good Luck, and don't get dead.
Comments or questions, drop me a mail (below).
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Gonzo_442 at hotmail.com
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Gonzo_442
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Member: Mat
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
tech geek. tinker.
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