Diablo (video game)

Diablo
Developer(s)	Blizzard North Climax Group (Playstation version co-developer)[1]
Publisher(s)	Windows, Mac NA Blizzard Entertainment EU Ubisoft PlayStation NA / EU Electronic Arts JP Electronic Arts Victor
Designer(s)	Erich Schaefer David Brevik Max Schaefer, Eric Sexton, Ken Williams
Composer(s)	Matt Uelmen
Series	Diablo
Version	1.09
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, PlayStation
Release date(s)	PC NA November 30, 1996[2] PAL 1997 Mac NA May 1998 JP April 28, 1998 PlayStation NA March 1998 PAL April 1998 JP July 9, 1998
Genre(s)	Action role-playing game, dungeon crawl, hack and slash, horror
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ELSPA: 15+ ESRB: M (Mature) OFLC: MA15+ OFLC: R16+ PEGI: 16+
Media/distribution	CD-ROM
System requirements Windows Windows 95 or better, 60 MHz Pentium or better, 8 MB RAM (16 MB for multiplayer), SVGA compatible graphics card (640 x 480 maximum), 2X CD-ROM drive Mac OS Power Macintosh or compatible, 8 MB RAM with virtual memory, System 7.5 or higher, 2X CD-ROM drive

Diablo is a dark fantasy-themed action role-playing game developed by Blizzard North and released by Blizzard Entertainment on November 30, 1996.

Set in the fictional Kingdom of Khanduras, located in the world of Sanctuary, Diablo has the player take control of a lone hero battling to rid the world of Diablo, the Lord of Terror. Beneath the town of Tristram, the player journeys through sixteen dungeon levels, ultimately entering Hell itself in order to face Diablo.

An expansion pack, entitled Diablo: Hellfire, was released in 1997, although it was not created by Blizzard Entertainment. In 1998 Electronic Arts released the Climax Group developed Diablo Playstation^[3] this version featured direct control of the main character using the Playstation controller. This was followed by a sequel, Diablo II, in 2000, and a third game, Diablo III, was announced on June 28, 2008, at Blizzard's World Wide Invitational in Paris, France.^[4]

Gameplay

Diablo was influenced by Moria and Angband.^[5]

Movement and Combat

A person moves their character by clicking the left mouse button over the area they want to move to.^[6] To attack a creature, left-click on it.^[6] Holding down the shift key prevents walking while attacking.^[6] Spells and abilities are used with the right mouse button.^[6] Spells and abilities can be mapped to hotkeys by pressing F5 to F8 over the skill or ability.^[6]

Saving

Single-player characters save when they want to, while multi-player characters save when they leave the game.^[6]

Characters

Classes

A warrior engages in combat with a ghoul enemy. A "Level Up" button indicates the character has attribute points available to distribute. The icon at the lower right indicates that the character's head protection is damaged and in danger of breaking.

The three character classes of Diablo are:

• Warrior: The Warrior is the most physically able of the three classes.^[6] He excels at close quarters combat and can generally take the most physical punishment. The downside to this is that he's not quite as adept at utilizing the arcane arts as the other party members (see below).^[6] The Warrior starts with the skill to repair objects in his possession, though this comes at the cost of the overall durability of anything he repairs.^[6]
• Rogue: The Rogue is the undisputed master of ranged weapons. While not as strong as the Warrior, she has a keen aim and is quick on her feet, with an innate sixth sense for sensing environmental traps that the other classes are incapable of perceiving.^[6]
• Sorcerer: The Sorcerer has a greater understanding of spellcasting than the other classes and is able to make much greater use of magical practice with the ability to learn much more potent forms of spells that the other classes also have access to. Since they are physically the weakest of the three classes, Sorcerers tend to wield magically imbued staves, which need recharging after prolonged usage; an ability that the Sorcerers start with.^[6]
• In the expansion set Diablo: Hellfire, the Monk was added.

Strength (the primary attribute of the Warrior) influences damage in melee combat and the ability to wear certain armours and wield certain weapons.^[6] Magic (the primary attribute of the Sorcerer) is the innate ability to channel magic, and influences a players ability to learn certain spells, as well as their overall ability to retain Mana (the essence consumed during spellcasting).^[6] Dexterity (the primary attribute of the Rogue) influences your chance to successfully strike an opponent in melee and ranged combat, as well as the speed at which a player can attack.^[6] Vitality, which can be leveled up like any other character stat is linked directly to the character's overall health.^[6]

Items

Many items have attribute minimums to be used effectively.^[6] To use items, they must be identified first.^[6] White-colored items are normal items, blue-colored items are magic items and gold-colored items are unique items.^[6] Items wear down through use and only have a certain amount of durability.^[6] When an items durability is zero, it is destroyed.^[6] The sword is the warrior's weapon.^[6] Axes are for those who are willing to sacrifice defense for power.^[6] Maces and clubs are good for the undead.^[6] There are three classifications of armor: light, medium and heavy.^[6] Shields allow for blocking of attacks.^[6] Characters are allowed to wear two rings and one amulet.^[6] Books contain spell formulas.^[6]

Multiplayer

Multiplayer can be done with up to four players.^[6] Multiplayer character's state is saved periodically.^[6] Players can either be aggressive or peaceful with other players, allowing them to either attack or not attack them.^[6] Players can either connect by: direct connection, modem connection, Battle.net Connection or IPX Network Connection.^[6] 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.^[7]

Synopsis

Story

The settings of Diablo include Heaven and Hell as real, physical places. Angels and Demons waged a war for centuries, until the ascension of man. Heaven and Hell each tried to compel man to join their cause. A treacherous mutiny forced the 3 Lords of Hell—including Diablo himself—into the world of humanity, where they sowed chaos, distrust and hatred. With the help of Archangel Tyrael a group of magi trapped the 3 Lords of Hell in soulstones. Diablo's soulstone was buried deep in the earth and a monastery was built over the site to safeguard the entrance.

Generations passed and the purpose of the monastery was forgotten. A small town named Tristram sprang up next to the monastery's ruins. A religious king named Leoric then claimed the monastery and rebuilt it as a cathedral for his seat of power. Diablo entered the nightmares of the archbishop Lazarus and lured him to the soulstone, where he destroyed the stone. Diablo possessed first the king, who sent all his knights and priests to battle against peaceful kingdoms, and then possessed the king's son, 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. Dark rumors permeated the country, and would-be heroes and demon-hunters came to Tristram and entered the cathedral, but none have been seen again.^[8]

Plot

The game starts when the player's character arrives in Tristram. The labyrinth under the Cathedral descends from a simple dungeon to catacombs to the dark caves and finally the fiery pits of Hell itself, each full of the undead, monsters, and demons. Leoric has been re-animated as the Skeleton King, and the hero must kill him so he can be released from his curse. The hero must also kill Archbishop Lazarus, and eventually fight Diablo himself.

Ending

At the end of the game the hero kills Diablo's mortal form, leaving Diablo trapped in a soulstone once again. The hero then drives the soulstone into their own skull in an attempt to contain the Lord of Terror. Ironically, it is revealed that this is what Diablo had planned, as the hero would be a better host than the prince.^{[citation needed]} Diablo II continues the story, with Diablo having possessed the warrior hero who killed him. As for the other two heroes, the Rogue and Sorcerer, they also become corrupted by the Tristram quest and become Blood Raven, and the Summoner, respectively.

Versions and expansion pack

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 only 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.

In 1998, a PlayStation version of Diablo was published by Electronic Arts. The game lacked online play, but featured a two-player cooperative mode. It also featured an option to learn the story through a narrator without having to find the books in the game. This version was infamous because of its need for 10 blocks free on a PlayStation memory card[2][3]; the standard size of memory cards for the platform was 15 blocks.

The only 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 new unique items and magical item properties, new spells, and a fourth class, the Monk. There were also two possibly unfinished "test" classes (the Bard and Barbarian)^[9] and two quests which could be accessed only through a configuration file modification.

Re-releases

The original game was later 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. 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, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. However, recent releases of the Diablo: Battle Chest have excluded the original Diablo and been replaced by a strategy guide for Diablo II and LoD.^[10]

Music

The music of Diablo was composed by Matt Uelmen. The soundtrack consisted of six tracks, but it was never officially released.

Reception and influence

Reception

The large majority of reviews Diablo received were very positive. It received an average rating of 94 on Metacritic,^[11] with many awarding the game near-perfect or perfect scores on their respective grading systems. 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."^[12] 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".^[13] Reviewers commonly cited this online multiplayer aspect as one of the strongest points of the game, with it being described as greatly extending its replay value. 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.'"^[13] 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.".^[14]

Awards

Diablo was awarded GameSpot's Game of the Year Award for 1996.

As of June 17, 2011, Diablo has GameSpot's #1 spot of all PC games, with a score of 9.6 out of 10.^[15]

Sales

As of August 29, 2001, Diablo has sold 2.5 million copies worldwide.^[16]

Influence

Diablo has been credited with creating a sub-genre of point-and-click action RPGs.^{[citation needed]} Since 1999 many games have used the concepts introduced in Diablo and some have imitated the game. Games using the same gameplay combat systems as Diablo are often referred to as "Diablo clones".^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ "Diablo (PS) credits". Mobygames.com. http://www.mobygames.com/game/playstation/diablo/credits. Retrieved 2011-05-08. 
2. ^ "Diablo for PC - Technical Information, Game Information, Technical Support". Gamespot. 1996-11-30. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/diablo/tech_info.html?tag=tabs%3Bsummary. Retrieved 2011-05-08. 
3. ^ Gamespot [1], Gamespot online games magazine, review of Diablo Playstation
4. ^ "Diablo III Unveiled" (Press release). Blizzard Entertainment. 2008-06-28. http://www.blizzard.com/us/press/080628.html. Retrieved 2008-06-29. 
5. ^ Pitts, Russ (2006-06-06). "Secret Sauce: The Rise of Blizzard". The Escapist Magazine. pp. 3. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_48/289-Secret-Sauce-The-Rise-of-Blizzard. Retrieved 2011-06-17. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae} The book that came with the Diablo game (1996).
7. ^ "Download Diablo 1". GameGoldies Review of Diablo. 2010-02-03. http://www.gamegoldies.org/diablo-download/. Retrieved 2010-02-03. 
8. ^ Diablo Game Manual, Blizzard Entertainment, http://ftp.blizzard.com/pub/misc/Diablo.PDF, retrieved 2011-06-15 
9. ^ "Bard - Diablo Wiki". Diablo2.diablowiki.net. 2010-07-27. http://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Bard. Retrieved 2011-05-08. 
10. ^ "Diablo Battle Chest". Gamespot.com. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/diablobattlechest/index.html. Retrieved 2011-05-08. 
11. ^ "Diablo review(pc: 1996)". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/diablo#users. Retrieved November 22, 2006. 
12. ^ "Diablo for PC review". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/diablo/review.html. Retrieved November 21, 2006. 
13. ^ ^{a b} Yans, Cindy. "Diablo Review". Computer Games Magazine. Archived from the original on July 10, 2003. http://web.archive.org/web/20030710195138/www.cdmag.com/articles/002/055/diablo_review.html. Retrieved April 14, 2010. 
14. ^ "Diablo (PC)". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/diablo/index.html. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
15. ^ "List of all PC games, ordered by score". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/games.html?platform=5&mode=all&sort=score&dlx_type=all&sortdir=asc&official=all. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
16. ^ "Diablo II: Lord of Destruction Shatters Sales Records Worldwide With Over 1 Million Copies Sold" (Press release). Blizzard Entertainment. 2001-08-29. http://www.gamesfirst.com/articles/diablo2_sales.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-29. 

External links

• Official website
• Diablo at the Open Directory Project
• Diablo Wikia Wiki