Big Diablo, Small Price

For those gamers who aren't familiar with the role-playing-game scene, the Diablo gamers are real-time RPGs in which a lone character hacks, slices, and bludgeons his way through many levels filled with every kind of nasty creature imaginable.

At the beginning of Diablo, you get to choose a character: a warrior (in which case you'll be tough and will make with the hacking/bludgeoning), a sorceror (in which case you'll zap things and burn stuff, but be physically frail), or a rogue (in which case you'll be extremely proficient with bows and arrows, but ill suited for magic OR close combat).

Your character (tagged with a name chosen by you) returns to his/her (if you chose the Rogue, it'll be a woman) hometown, a nice little town that has unfortunately been terrorized by demons in your absence. Needless to say, this sucks, and the townspeople have but one hope: you.

Unfortunately, that puts then in a fairly unenviable position, as your character is a total wuss starting out. Following the standard RPG fare, you'll descend into the dungeon, levelling up, smacking down nastier monsters as you go deeper. The levels apparently go quite deep into the Earth's surface: the first few levels are dungeon-like, then rough-hewn rock below that, and then cavers with lava lakes below that, progressing finally down to Hell itself. Naturally, though, you can always go back up to town to chat with the townspeople and repair your gear, etc.

Gameplay is extraordinarily repetitive but interesting in that RPG way. You character will get new weapons and armor and all that while increasing his magic abilities and whatnot. The graphics in Diablo are quite dated but the sound effects are still good.

By talking to townsfolk and reading books found in the crypt, you will learn all sorts of interesting things about how the demonic assault on Tristram came to be, and you will discover that you don't quite know who you're messing with until it's almost too late.

In Diablo II, all the same things apply, except that you have five characters to choose from: Paladin, Barbarian, Sorceress, Amazon, or Necromancer. This character will not be the same protagonist from the first game, though that character will appear in the story.

Once again, you'll be starting your character from scratch, but things are a little different this time around. The sounds are perhaps a little better than in Diablo, but the graphics are worlds better. There are also many more items to be found and a far longer singleplayer game.

The only major drawback to these games is the complete lack of good multiplayer. Multiplayer Diablo is a joke: 95% of the players online cheat, and every item you are offered will be a hacked item created by some cheat program.

Diablo 2 is just as bad if you play on the "Open" servers. Your only hope of finding good Diablo is to play Diablo 2 on the Blizzard "Realms" servers. In this type of play, character data is stored on the Blizzard servers and cannot be altered by cheaters.

The pack also comes with the official strategy guide from each game, both of which are very good. They aren't perfect, as many aspects of each game is randomized each time one starts a new game (like dungeon layout) but they're both a big help.

Overall, these games are modern classics and are a great addition to any player's collection. If you don't already have these games, buy the pack TODAY!