This review originally appeared on IGN Middle East
Two decades ago, Diablo II was unleashed on the world. It was everything you’d want in a Diablo game – hordes of minions from Hell, fantastic classes, grueling boss battles, and an expansive loot system. Fast forward to today, and Blizzard have unearthed Diablo II from their deepest vaults and given it a new life in the form of Diablo II: Resurrected.
There’s a slight concern with touching something as hallowed as Diablo II, which already has a cult following of players. But Diablo II: Resurrected pays tribute to those loyal fans, bringing the iconic game up to speed with the graphical finesse that modern gaming PCs and consoles can offer. Is it just Diablo II with a fresh coat of paint? The answer is yes – you’ll find a lot of the game’s original gameplay mechanics to be very outdated by modern standards, and there are still plenty of bugs that will keep you from truly enjoying yourself as you battle the minions of Hell.
But as far as game refreshes go, Diablo II: Resurrected looks absolutely stunning. Every single pixel has been lovingly remastered in glorious detail, allowing users to go as high as 4K graphics should they wish to do so. Toggling between the original graphics and the new style is a valuable lesson in how far PC graphics have come, and a true testament to how much work has been put into making this game look as gorgeous as possible.
Starting with the playable character classes and their various attacks, spells, and armour – all of it glistens in the dim light of a flickering torch as you traverse dungeons and underground caverns. Lightning attacks crackle on screen, while fireballs hurl towards enemies with speed and purpose. Everywhere you look is a visual treat, and you’ll often find yourself stopping to admire every inch of detail that’s been poured into this remaster. Diablo II’s atmospheric levels was second to none, and in Diablo II: Resurrected it looks even better. Bloodied walls and bodies litter the floors of dungeons, while defeated enemies explode or collapse in a crumpled heap on the floor. It’s all extremely pretty, and for anyone who’s played Diablo II and wants to see it get a modern makeover, then you’ll appreciate Diablo II: Resurrected.
But strip away the detailed levels, the horrific minions, and the iconic boss fights and you’re left with a game that really hasn’t aged well at all. Character movement feels sluggish in every area, and you’re at the mercy of a stamina bar to keep you running short distances (pro tip – save it to run away from enemies). Inventory management becomes a nightmare as well, since you won’t have room to store great gear that you find on account of having to hold at least ten health or mana potions in order to avoid dying at every encounter. Diablo II: Resurrected can be brutally hard at times, and even defeating Act I’s boss used up at least fifteen health potions just to stay alive. That of course will vary based heavily on your character build – playing as a Necromancer or Sorceress will soon lose its charm as you quickly cast an ability and then run away to avoid being defeated in just a few hits.
There are also infuriating moments where the game will just break you – the Maggot Lair is one of them. Narrow, winding corridors are tricky to navigate to begin with, but if you’re playing with other players or you’ve summoned creatures to assist you, it becomes a comical attempt at trying to line up properly in order to tackle an enemy. These small spaces also make it difficult for your AI companions to assist you in battle. One particular mercenary that I hired to heal me during battle simply chose to vanish at one point, reappearing only when I had exited the Maggot Lair. There are also instances where enemy attacks don’t land properly, or enemies suddenly swarm you as if the game is trying to play catchup with itself. Players may find it infuriating that you lose your gold and equipped items every time you die, unless you trek back and find your bloodied corpse to pick it all up again.
The skill trees are vastly unchanged, and you’ll have to spend some time experimenting with your builds to see what works for the class you want to play. It’s easy to want to unlock everything in your skill tree, but the beauty of Diablo II: Resurrected is that you don’t need to. It’s far more efficient to focus on a small set of useful skills and continue to level those up in order to stay alive. There are a ton of guides from the game’s community that show you the best builds per class, so you’re given the freedom to either follow one of those or carve your own path. You’ll only get one free chance to reset your skills, so choose wisely.
There are smaller improvements hidden away into the game, like the ability to pick up gold by walking over it. Diablo II: Resurrected isn’t looking to change too much from the original game, so these small changes are welcome, but won’t distract from the original experience. That’s both a good and bad thing – fans will appreciate the homage to the original game, but new players may soon lose interest or just opt to play Diablo III instead, which is far more forgiving.
In the heat of battle, Diablo II: Resurrected shows no mercy. Every dungeon and area is fraught with enemies and danger, and you’re never too far away from some epic enemy who wants to see you killed. Compared to Diablo III, Diablo II: Resurrected is absolutely brutal to players, and recurring deaths are easy to rack up if you’re not playing your character class correctly. Despite frequent deaths, it’s wholly satisfying to finally defeat a difficult boss or enemy, so choose your battles wisely and gloat over your defeated enemies.
A very welcome addition to Diablo II: Resurrected is controller support, which maps your skills to the face buttons for easier combat. Aiming can be a bit challenging at times when there are a lot of enemies on screen, but in short it works fairly well and will certainly make the game more accessible for those who want to enjoy it on consoles. I still prefer a keyboard and mouse when playing it on PC, and skill binds can always be used with the Fn keys on a keyboard, so I don’t feel like you’re missing out on much by sticking to keyboard and mouse controls.
The larger issues come with things that have been stripped from the original game, such as LAN play. The excitement of installing multiple copies of Diablo II in a college dorm with friends is something I vividly remember, except now I have to buy separate copies of the game to do so, and play through the Battle.net servers. Playing online with strangers is – fine, but there are definitely problems with game connectivity remaining consistent. There are teeth-gnashing moments of network lag, peppered with times where the people you’re playing with snatch up loot even before you can see what drops. Other times you’ll earn what you think is an epic loot drop, only to identify it and realize you can’t use it with your current character class. Thankfully, you have a shared stash which you can use to swap items between your characters, making it a little less painful for drop that aren’t immediately useful. While the competitive ladder mode has yet to be launched at the time of writing, it’s something that diehard Diablo II fans are yearning for, so the clock is ticking for Blizzard to launch it and satisfy waiting fans.
Diablo II: Resurrected looks stunning, and plays exactly like you may remember it. That’s both a good and a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. Loyal fans will appreciate the love and detail that has gone into this visual overhaul – especially with the cinematics – while hardcore fans will cry afoul for the missing LAN mode and yet to be launched ladder mode. New players may initially be tempted to try out Diablo II: Resurrected, but its unforgiving gameplay compared to the relaxed Diablo III will not have them playing for very long. Blizzard did an excellent job of bringing Diablo II to modern PCs and consoles, but a new lick of paint might not be enough to get people to play for very long.