Blizzard Entertainment has released a remaster that many have been waiting for for quite some time with Diablo II: Resurrected, the action role-playing game that has been referred to by many as one of the greatest video games of all time. With this new remake, the company responsible for this classic game made some major changes when it came to the graphics, but kept the core gameplay relatively similar to what fans once knew, creating an experience that will be revered by fans of the series and act as a great jumping-on point for those with little to no exposure to the horror of Diablo.
One of the most obvious changes when it comes to any remaster of a popular video game is its graphics, with Diablo II: Resurrected knocking this aspect of the dark adventure out of the park. Each character, enemy, and environment seems to have been given a top to bottom makeover with the entry also allowing players to switch back and forth between the new iteration and the classic style when the game first landed in the year 2000. While the cut scenes don’t necessarily take up a large percentage of the playtime, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the CG cutscenes which help to expand on the lore of the world players find themselves in with breathtaking graphics which take things up more than a few notches from the original.
In picking up Diablo II for the first time, the reputation of the core gameplay was always something that I was looking to sink my teeth into, but for whatever reason, simply never had the opportunity to do so. For first-timers like me, Resurrected is able to drag players kicking and screaming into the supernatural world, while also giving players so many customizable items and equipment that it’s no wonder the game has a reputation for keeping fans glued to it for dozens, if not hundreds, if not thousands of hours. Diablo II is a thought-provoking game where strategy needs to be employed when it comes to battling some tougher enemies along the way, and leveling up one’s character appropriately is the difference between life and death.
With the updated graphics and a few changes to the core gameplay that help streamline the dark adventure, there is, unfortunately, a big drawback with Diablo II: Resurrected in its aspects that are linked to the Internet. During the game, players will have the option of beginning an online or offline adventure, and for the purposes of this review, I gave both a shot, but these are experiences that are questionably separate from one another. If there is a server crash or your Internet goes down for any reason, you are hard booted out of an online adventure, potentially wiping out progress if you’re unlucky. It’s a big chink in Diablo II’s armor as other games throughout the years have found ways around this problem, and you would expect that if you are kicked for any reason, your journey would simply continue via the offline component, but such isn’t the case here. It’s a factor that might have many avoiding the online component entirely.
The latest remake from Blizzard also works well with both mouse and keyboard and controller which gives players a good variety of options when it comes to how they’d like the play their specific warrior. Diablo II as a whole is able to balance jamming a large number of enemies on the screen, but with the accessibility that a player has over their character, it never feels overwhelming if the proper precautions are taken.
Diablo II remains a legendary video game for a reason, and Resurrected, minus its server and general Internet issues, manages to improve on the formula while adding some worthwhile cosmetic changes that ushers in new fans and laying out the welcome wagon for fans of the series that are looking to revisit the dark franchise.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Diablo II: Resurrected is currently available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and the Nintendo Switch. The game was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review, and it was reviewed on PC.
