Diablo II Demo

Whenever the hack & slash genre is mentioned, or a new game appears under its umbrella, a comparison is bound to be made with Blizzard's successful and highly-appreciated Diablo series. More specifically, it was the second part that truly unleashed the potential of the universe in question, especially since it was far lengthier, less linear, and it provided the players with many more items, mob types and locations to explore as they faced off against the lord of hell yet again.

The story featured in Diablo 2 follows a strange man that wanders around from town to town, leaving nothing but death and destruction in his wake. He is looking for something, although you find out his plans way too late and not even Tyrael, the powerful archangel, can stop it from happening: the resurrection of Diablo himself, as well as the release of his long-lost brothers.

Hence, your purpose throughout the main story is to defeat his minions and end his life for good, without giving him the chance to rise ever again. Along the way, you meet a lot of interesting characters, some of which lend you a helping hand in your quest and provide you with support when you need it the most, as well as advice and useful information about the danger you are heading into.

The way Diablo's gameplay works is quite simple, in theory, but when put into practice, you quickly see that the mechanics are highly addictive and incredibly entertaining, as well as original at the time of the release. Thus, although you might think it gets boring to kill hundreds of monsters hour after hour, the fact that you keep gaining experience and gold is incentive enough to keep you playing. Moreover, there's always a chance for one of the mobs to drop a special item, one that can make the difference in the fight against more powerful foes.

The game also provides you with five different classes to choose from, such as the paladin, necromancer, or the sorceress and they all have different abilities, making every playthrough unique. Moreover, every class can advance in more than one direction, which means that you can also replay the game with the same class and still not obtain the same experience, if you choose to go on a different path with your skill points.

The difficulty levels are yet another thing that keep you playing, since the last one of them, Hell, although it is as hard as you might think, provides you with the opportunity to gain some of the most powerful weapons available in the game, which are not available in the other modes. In case you finish with these as well, the multiplayer awaits, with thousands of players, events and a ladder system to rank everyone in the world according to their prowess in battle.

In the end, Diablo 2 remains one of the best and most popular games ever released, thanks to its rich variety of monsters and items, as well as the brilliant replay value implemented by Blizzard. A special mention must be awarded for the exceptional cutscenes that were featured between the acts, since a lot of effort went into making them look as cinematic as possible, while also making you feel scared about what's in store for you.