07/01/00

Hands on with the Diablo 2 Beta

The current Diablo 2 beta test is not a debug trial for the game, but rather a stress test for Blizzard’s Battle.net servers. Because of this, Blizzard opened the beta test to just about everyone who applied, myself included. Here are my impressions of the very limited beta.

Character

The beta version 1.02 allows only the barbarian class, so the game servers are populated with dozens of over-muscled brutes wielding weapons in both hands and generally carving their way through hordes of the undead with gleeful abandon. Because the barbarian is the ultimate fighter class, there is no subtlety whatsoever to this character. He is meant to wade into the thick of battle with sharp-edged weapons swinging. The coolest thing about the barbarian is the aforementioned ability to wield two weapons at the same time. This is especially cool when coupled with the fact that your in-game character accurately reflects the weapons and armor he’s holding, making for a great deal of variety among the barbarian beta testers. I saw characters wielding double maces, axe/sword combos, halberds, great axes, hand axes and braveheart-length great swords. My personal favorite is a great sword in both hands – the barbarian is a walking meat grinder with two of those bad boys. Although he can’t use magic, the barbarian gets to choose different battle skills as he levels up. In the beta, only a few were available. He can strike with a powerful blow that deals massive damage and knocks the target back, let fly with a battle scream that sends enemies running in fear, and rip potions out of the carcasses of slain enemies. The latter is by far the coolest ability, as after leveling the skill up a few times, you’ll be "creating" free healing potions with 50% accuracy as you slay your foes. This keeps your barbarian, who already has the stamina of a buffalo, healthy and happy. The barbarian can also use skill points toward specialization in certain weapons, raising the damage he does with that weapon class. All in all, there’s a good deal of depth to this character, making him a lot more fun to play than the old Diablo warrior class.

The Land

The beta consists of one town (the Rogue Encampment), which has several shops to purchase goods, magic items and repairs. You’ll also find your "private stash" here; a chest where you can put overflow items. This is a cool feature, since the stash travels with you from game to game, even if you disconnect and play at a later time. Unfortunately, your stash is attached to the character you’re playing at the time, so you won’t be able to leave weapons and items in the chest and then get them out with a different character. You can still use the old "drop stuff on the ground, leave, come back with different character and get stuff" routine, although it’s a bit riskier.

The world outside of the camp consists of 3 wilderness areas (The Blood Moors, The Cold Plains, and the Burial Grounds). Within these areas, you’ll find 4 main "dungeon areas." The Den of Evil is a 1 level dungeon with a specific quest – destroy all of the monsters inside. The caves consist of 2 levels of rocky caverns, while the Burial Grounds play host to a cemetery full of zombies, as well as a crypt and mausoleum, both 1 level. It’s just enough to whet your appetite for greater challenges, since a group of 2 or more barbarians will tear through these areas without breaking a sweat.

Graphics

The first noticeable thing about Diablo 2 is that the game is running at a low resolution. Very low. Like, 640x480 low. At first, it’s jarring, especially if you’ve been playing recent PC games that take advantage of high-resolution video settings. However, after a couple of hours in the game, it starts to not becoming so noticeable. It’s kind of like your eyes adjust to the lower resolution and you stop thinking about it. The characters and monsters are drawn with good detail, and animate well. Especially cool is the fact that your character accurately reflects his armor and equipment.

Gameplay

Control is pretty much the same as the original Diablo. You use a point and click method of moving around, and the right mouse button can be assigned to spells, scrolls and battle skills. There are some very welcome additions to the controls in this game. First, you can now run, which speed up the game considerably. In town, you have unlimited run capabilities, but in the wild you are limited to a stamina meter which decreases as you run. Also, holding the Alt key highlights any items on the ground and makes picking up hard to see stuff like rings, gems and amulets a cinch. Blizzard also implemented a great trade system, in which both players can look at the offered equipment without fear of theft, and both must agree to the trade before it takes place. The system of player killing has also been handled admirable. Although it’s still allowed, you must choose to be a hostile player (you can hurt others) while in town, and all of the other players in the game can see what setting you’ve selected. So, no more backstabbers switching from "friendly" to "hostile" while in the dungeons. As always, fighting is off-limits in towns, so as long as you venture into the wilds with other friendly players you can rest assured knowing that you are safe.

New to the series is the ability to form parties with other players. You must issue an invitation, or accept one, and you’ll be taken into an adventuring party with a group of other players. Party members share experience points as they fight battles, and you can also allow members of your party to loot your corpse in the event that you get killed. This means that not just anyone can take your prized possessions if you bite it, and the only penalty for dying is the length of the trek you must undertake back to your carcass to reclaim your lost gear.

Connection

With my piddly 28.8 internet connection I experienced only extremely rare bouts of second-long lag. The game seems surprisingly stable and very playable even with 5 other players in the same area.

Overall

The beta test, while extremely limited in locales and features, shows a great deal of promise for the final product, which is in production as you read this, and should be available by the end of June. Given that the final game will have 5 playable classes and lots of new locales and quests, I’d say that the game is going to be a huge success.

Cast and Crew   News, Articles and Reviews