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Diablo
From EncyClanPedia
| Diablo | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Developer | Blizzard North |
| Publisher | PC/MAC NA Blizzard Entertainment EU Ubisoft PS NA/EU Electronic Arts JPN Electronic Arts Victor |
| Series | Diablo Series |
| Engine | N/A |
| Version | v1.09 v1.08B for WIN NT |
| Released | PC NA January 02, 1997 PAL 1997 MAC NA May 1998 JPN April 28, 1998 PS NA March 1998 PAL April 1998 JPN July 9, 1998 |
| Genre | Action role-playing game, Hack and slash |
| Ratings | ESRB: Mature PEGI: 16+ OFLC: MA15+ |
| Game Platforms | Windows, Macintosh and PlayStation |
| Media Forms | CD-ROM |
| Required Devices | Keyboard, Mouse, PlayStation Controller |
| Reviews | Gamespot [1] |
Diablo is fantasy themed, action-adventure role-playing game developed by Blizzard North and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Diablo was released on January 2, 1997 for PC and became an instant best seller. It has been ported over to Macintosh and Playstation and has since spawned an expansion pack, entitled Diablo: Hellfire, though it was not developed or published by Blizzard Entertainment. A real sequel was released on June 29, 2000, entitled Diablo II. A further expansion pack was developed for Diablo II, entitled Diablo II: Lord of Destruction.
Contents |
Plot
The essential plot of Diablo is a war between Heaven and Hell. The player's main objective is to save the town of Tristram, and by extension, the entire world from the grasp of The Lord of Terror (Diablo).
Diablo is the most powerful of the "Three Prime Evils of Hell." Many years before the story a magi known as the Horadrim captured and locked all three of the Prime Evils away using soul stones. Diablo's soul stone in particualr was hidden in a labyrinth deep below Tristram.
As the stone weakened over time Diablo started to regain some of his power. With what power he had available he took control of Archbishop Lazarus. To completely leave the stone Diablo needed a host body. To this end he had Lazarus capture the son of the king of Tristram. For some reason the terror caused in Prince Albrecht (the kings son) caused a rift between earth and hell. Because of this, parts of hell appeared on earth.
King Leoric of Tristram, bereft of his senses from grief over the loss of his son, was convinced to go to war by Lazarus. This war was complete suicide and only left utter defeat. Lazarus also made sure that all of King's most loyal and good-hearted heroes went to battle. With every single one of them killed in battle Lazarus had complete control over the King.
Leoric, under the influence of Lazarus, begins to murder his subjects, suspecting them of kidnapping his son. At the same time Lazarus began sending parties into the labyrinth under the pretext of looking for Albrecht. His only goal, however, was to deliver the townfolk to demons who would then devour them.
Finally, one man, Sir Lachdanan, managed to make it out of the labyrinth alive. Having found out the truth, he killed Leoric out of mercy. Leoric however, cursed Lachdanan and his survivors, turning them into undead defenders of the labyrinth.
Soon after these events the player arrives and must fight down through the labyrinth. The labyrinth becomes more dark the further the player progresses, eventually turning into part of Hell itself. After 16 levels of the labyrinth the player reaches Lazarus. After defeating and killing him, the player must also kill the physical form of Diablo, which imprisons him in his stone once more. However, in an attempt to contain the Diablo the player then pierces his head with the soulstone. This was Diablo's entire plan, seeking a more powerful, physical, body. This then sets the stage for Diablo II.
Diablo Introduction:
Gameplay
Single-player
Diablo is a action-RPG game. It plays out very much like RPG games of the time, except that it is in real-time.
Primary control is done through the mouse via selecting various areas of the screen, although hotkeys are also used for various commands.
There are only three core quests while the rest are drawn from several pools, making it possible to play through the games multiple times with a different experience each time. In addition each of the 16 levels in Diablo are randomly generated. Thus, maps and monster population will be different each time.
Multi-player
Multiplayer in Diablo consists of either LAN, direction connection or over the Internet via Battle.net.
Levels
Diablo consists of 16 levels, divided into 4 (1-4, 5-8, 9-12, and 13-16), each a unique sub-section. The uniqueness of each extends to appearance, architecture, light level, monster mix, and musical soundtrack. Each level contains an un-lockable, direct, exit back to above-ground.
Level Locations
- Levels 1-4 - The Cathedral
- Levels 5-8 - Catacombs
- Levels 8-12 - The Caves
- Levels 13-15 - Hell
- Level 16 - A fight with Diablo himself.
Rogue-Like
Diablo plays out very similarly to rogue-like games. However, it is in real-time and uses higher quality, three dimensional graphics.
Classes
The player has the choice of three different classes to choose from: Warrior, Rogue, and Sorcerer. Each class is not strictly differentiated from another. Instead, each class is more adept with certain skills and traits and can achieve a higher level in those than the other two classes can.
- The Warrior - possess greater physical strength and can endure more damage than the other classes. It is a master of melee and of weapons. Its background ranges from barbarian to paladin.
- The Rogue - possess high dexterity and is primarily an archer. Rogues come from "The Sisters of the Sightless Eye," a group of master archers. The are more adept with magic than warriors, but not as much as Sorcerers.
- The Sorcerer - is so powerful with magic, that it does not require the use of physical weapons. As a sorcerer, the player comes from a group of mages and is on a quest looking for magical knowledge within the ancient labyrinth.
Attributes
There are four attributes that govern a player: strength, magic, dexterity, and vitality. After each level-up, the player is given 5 points to distribute among each as they see fit. The attributes can also be upgraded via elixirs, magical shrines, and other items.
- Strength - governs how much damage the character can deal in melee combat as well as enable the player to use armor with certain level requirements.
- Magic - governs the amount of mana the character has (see Statistics, below). It affects the potency as well as the strength of spells. Some magical equipment has a magic level that must be gained before use is allowed.
- Dexterity - governs the chance of hitting and/or dodging an opponent as well as the damage down by ranged attacks from a Rogue. Some swords and most bows have a dexterity level that must be gained before use is allowed
- Vitality - governs the Life statistic of the character (see Statistics, below). It also determines how much damage an enemy must do to stun the player.
Statistics
- Life -, also called hit points, governs how much damage the player can take before dying. The amount of Life remaining is constantly displayed as a red orb on the left of the screen.
- Mana - represents the character's spiritual essences. Using magic requires mana. The amount of Mana remaining is constantly displayed as a blue orb on the right of the screen.
- Chance - to Hit governs the likelihood that physical attacks will inflict damage on their targets, when attacking a square occupied by an enemy. There are many other things that also govern chance to hit, which are unknown to the player, making the actual value not very accurate in many situations.
- Armor - governs the amount and quality of armor worn as a whole, but has no effect on magical resistance. However specifics like the type of armor and other more specific variables are ignored by the game.
- Damage governs the amount of the reduction in Life caused by a physical attack.
- Resist Fire, Resist Lightning, and Resist Magic represent the character's ability to resist damage from the respective categories of magical attacks.
Spells
The player has the ability to acquire various spells by collecting tomes scattered throughout the game. Each spell has infinite usage and have higher levels that can be learned. A higher level is more powerful but also require more mana.
Skills
Each class has a special skill that is specific to its class only. Warriors have the ability to repair items, Rogues can disarm traps and Sorcerers can recharge staves that have a certain amount of spell charges on them. However, using a recharging or repairing skill causes the item selected to decrease in power and value.
Monsters
Items
Shrines
Legacy
Cow Level
Easter Eggs
Sequels
Only one official expansion pack has been released for Diablo, entitled Diablo: Hellfire. It was produced by Sierra Entertainment, not Blizzard. The expansion featured two additional dungeons located within a new storyline, several new items and magical item properties, new spells, and a fourth class, the Monk. Two possibly unfinished "test" classes (the Bard and Barbarian) and two quests were also included but could be accessed only through a configuration file modification.
A sequel was also released in 2000, named Diablo II and contained new classes, among other things. Unlike the original multi-player was emphasised in Diablo II, with several spells (such as auras or battle cries) multiplying their effectiveness if they are cast within a party, and dungeons, although they still exist, were largely replaced by open spaces. Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, was released as an expansion pack to Diablo II in 2001 and continued on the storyline.
Rumours have circulated that Diablo III is in production as Blizzard Entertainment has started hiring new people to work with the leftovers of the Diablo II team and allegedly in an interview with an ex-employee of Blizzard North, he revealed that Blizzard had the initial parts of the game in making and that it would be set in Heaven.
Additional Links
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