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''Diablo'' is a Dark Fantasy -themed Hack And Slash Action-adventure Game Developed by Blizzard North and released by Blizzard Entertainment in December, 1996. Set in the fictional Kingdom of Khanduras (located in the ''Diablo'' series fantasy world of Sanctuary), ''Diablo'' has the player take control of a lone hero as he or she battles to rid the world of the Eponymous Lord of Terror. Beneath the town of Tristram, the player journeys through sixteen dungeon levels to ultimately come face to face with Diablo and his demon minions. ''Diablo'' was a best seller and following the first game's popularity an expansion pack, entitled '''', was released in 1997. This was followed by a true sequel, '' Diablo II '', in 2000. STORY The story of ''Diablo'' is based on the premise of a war between Heaven and Hell . The town of Tristram has come under attack by demons, and the player must save the town and, in effect, the world, by ridding it of the Lord of Terror. As the player delves into the underworld, some of the history behind the war between Heaven and Hell, as well as knowledge about Diablo himself, are revealed through large tomes that are found throughout the levels. Diablo is the Lord of Terror and one of the Three Prime Evils of Hell, the most powerful lords of demonkind. Long before the events of the game, he was captured by a secretive order of mortal Magi known as the Horadrim . The Horadrim imprisoned each of the Prime Evils in a Soulstone ; Diablo's red stone was buried in caverns deep beneath the town of Tristram, and as the generations passed, was forgotten. Though his imprisonment was meant to be eternal, the power of the Soulstone weakened over centuries, eventually allowing Diablo to use limited power from within the stone. He Telepathically turned an inhabitant of Tristram, the Archbishop Lazarus, into his pawn. In order for Diablo to actually leave the Soulstone, Diablo needed to posses a host. Through his minion Lazarus, he initially tried to gain control of King Leoric , the local ruler, but Diablo, in his weakened state, was unable to overpower Leoric. Abandoning the idea, he caused Lazarus to kidnap King Leoric's son, Prince Albrecht . He inspired such terror in the child that the boundaries between the realms were broken and parts of Hell appeared in the mortal world, taking root in the labyrinth beneath Tristram. Diablo then chose to bide his time and wait for the opportune moment to strike. Soon afterwards King Leoric was driven to madness by the loss of his son. With Lazarus whispering in his ear, he ordered a foolhardy attack on a far stronger neighboring realm - a campaign to which Lazarus made sure to send all of the King's most loyal and good-hearted heroes. The campaign proved a suicide mission, and soon the King had only the lies of Lazarus for counsel. Leoric began brutally executing the subjects he once protected, suspecting everyone of the kidnapping of his son. Lazarus led groups of townsfolk into the labyrinth in supposed pursuit of the missing prince - but Lazarus's only purpose was to deliver the innocents up to death at the hands of the demons. At length, the few survivors of the army returned home, led by the noble Sir Lachdanan. Leoric immediately ordered their execution, and, seeing the King for the tortured soul he was, Lachdanan killed his King with a mercy stroke. Upon his dying breath, Leoric cursed those who were close to him that they should serve him in the underworld for all of eternity, creating the horrific undead knights of the labyrinth. Shortly after, the time period of the game begins as the player's character arrives. He or she has to fight their way through sixteen levels to face Diablo, encountering various monsters and quests to challenge them. At the end of the game, the player character has again trapped Diablo in a soulstone. The hero then pierces his or her head with the soulstone, attempting to contain the Lord of Terror. However, the end of the game hints at a darker outcome. The final scene depicts the hero, swathed in a shadowy, hooded cloak. Diablo II later confirms that Diablo was indeed too strong, and possessed the hero who slew him. GAMEPLAY ''Diablo'' is one of the most well-known examples of the Action-RPG subgenre. Although players level up, choose character classes, and manage a variety of spells and equipment as in a typical RPG , all actions are done in real time, as in an action game. ''Diablo'' in many ways resembles Roguelike games, the main differences being more realistic graphics and the fact the game is in real time, rather than turn-based. ''Diablo'' was influenced by Moria and Angband .1 The majority of commands in Diablo are executed by the mouse. Players click on an area of the screen to direct the character, and click on enemies to attack. However, learned spells can be assigned Hot Keys using the function keys on mouse-over, as well as several text exclamations (e.g. "Help me!") that could be edited in a configuration file. ''Diablo'' is highly replayable thanks to its randomly generated levels, with every map that the player encounters being unique compared to the last. This randomness extends to the monster population as well, though they are generated from a group appropriate for that level. In addition, in single player mode there are only three core missions as the rest of them are drawn from several pools, making it impossible to complete every quest in one setting. Either way, only the last two quests are compulsory (although it is necessary to complete the voluntary missions to gain experience and items, and to learn more of the backstory). Given this arrangement, no two playthroughs of the game are ever exactly alike. Levels There are sixteen levels of the dungeon, divided into four areas. Each area has a different appearance, architecture, light level, monster mix, and musical soundtrack. The first level of each of these areas (levels 1, 5, 9, and 13) each have an additional exit leading back up to the town of Tristram. In single player, these entrances are blocked until the character opens them from the dungeon side. For example, the entrance from level 13 to town is not visible at first. When the character reaches level 13 from level 12, and then finds the stairs to town, they may go up, and the entrance (a glowing crevice) opens and is available for two-way travel from then on. In multiplayer, the entrances to town all start in their "open" position, but with a level requirement to access them from town. A character that does not meet this level requirement will have to either gain more levels, or reach that area by completing the preceding area. Levels 1-4 are set in the Cathedral, with a fairly straightforward layout, large rooms of regular size connected by wide corridors and frequent doors and grates. Levels 5-8 consist of the Catacombs, which are very dark, and have a convoluted and confusing room layout. Levels 9-12 are the Caves, which contain powerful and magic-immune monsters, and a very complex layout, with rivers of lava and fences blocking the character's path in many places. Levels 13-16 are set in Hell, infested with the most powerful monsters in the game; the layout is straightforward, but doors and grates do not exist, preventing the character from easily controlling his enemies' movement. The 16th level of the dungeon, lair of Diablo himself, cannot be accessed until the player has completed the quest to slay Archbishop Lazarus. Character classes The three character classes of ''Diablo'' are the Warrior , Rogue , and Sorcerer . Each character, following typical role-playing conventions, has his or her own particular traits. The warrior possesses physical strength, the rogue has high dexterity, and the sorcerer is oriented towards magic.
Unlike other games that strictly differentiate between classes, a character's abilities are not unique; a warrior can use the same spells as a sorcerer, while a sorcerer can use weapons such as axes. All three classes require the same amount of experience to level up, and there are no class-based requirements for equipping items or using spells. However, different classes have different starting attributes. In terms of game mechanics, the different characters also each have different maximum possible levels for their attributes, and gain different amounts of life and mana per level. As a result, some classes may have difficulty attaining the attribute levels required to equip or use high level items/spells. Also, the characters have hidden differences in their in-game performance, including chance to hit and block, different rates of fire and slower or faster cast rate. Character information Attributes The four numerical Character Attributes in ''Diablo'' affect the characters' combat statistics which in turn determine how powerful the character is. With each level up, five points may be distributed among the "Base" attributes to permanently increase them at the player's choice. They may also be modified by elixirs and magical shrines encountered in the game. Various magical items acquired in game increase the effective character attributes while these items are being used.
Statistics
Spells and skills Characters can learn spells from tomes found in the game, and add them to their spellbooks. Spells can later be cast and infinite number of times, if the character has enough mana to do it. Spells can also be improved by learning higher levels of the same spell. Different spells, and different levels of the same spell, require varying amounts of mana to be cast. Each class also has a special "skill" which is unique to specific character class. 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 there is a drawback that is associated with repairing or recharging an item. In both cases both the original durability and maximum staff charge is reduced. Therefore in using such an ability, the item loses its potential and worth. Monsters The monsters of ''Diablo'' are Undead monstrosities, vicious nocturnals, and demons spawned from Hell . Each of the sixteen levels contains monsters that are tougher and stronger than ones from the level before it. When the player kills a monster, the monster may randomly drop an item or gold. Upon killing more enemies, the player may find out more details about the monsters, such as hit points and resistances and/or immunities. In the world of Diablo, monsters are divided according to their masters:
In Diablo, enemies are also divided in 3 groups:
Items Items are sold by the vendors, randomly dropped by slain monsters, and can be discovered within the labyrinth inside of chests or barrels or sometimes laying on a floor. There are several types of items. Gold is the currency used to buy goods and services from the vendors. When gold is picked up from the ground or received from selling an item, the amount is added to the smallest pile of gold in the player's inventory. A maximum of five thousand gold pieces can be in one pile (which occupies one square of inventory space). In the Hellfire expansion, an item gained as a quest reward is a unique amulet that allows each inventory space to hold ten thousand gold instead. Quest items come in many varieties in the single-player mode of Diablo and within the Hellfire expansion. Some of them activate a quest when picked up or found, while others must be carried along or used to interact with the environment, and yet others are given as special rewards for completing quests. Some of these quest-related items are automatically "destroyed" (or otherwise taken from the player) when the related quest is completed. Consumables These are items that are destroyed when used, and include potions, elixirs, scrolls and spellbooks. Between the red and blue orbs of life and mana, at the bottom of the screen, the player has eight slots representing a belt which can contain consumables (except spellbooks). These slots are numbered, and pressing the corresponding key (one through eight) will use the associated consumable. No other items can be placed in the belt.
Equipment Weapons, shields, helmets, armor, amulets, and rings are the basic types of equipment. Any character can use any piece of equipment so long as they meet its statistical requirements - Strength, Dexterity, and Magic. The only other restrictions are that characters may not equip two weapons simultaneously or use a two-handed weapon in conjunction with a shield. Weapons and protective gear have durability values that decrease with use. The durability of weapons has a chance of being reduced when striking an enemy; the durability of armor has a chance of being reduced when the character is struck. When the durability of a piece of gear gets low, an icon appears the corner of the screen to warn the player. If the durability reaches zero, the item breaks and is utterly destroyed. An item's durability can be restored by paying vendors to repair it, or using the Warrior's repair skill on it. Overall, the more powerfully enchanted the item is, the more expensive the repairs will be. Staves are magical weapons used primarily for the spell charges they contain; each charge allows one casting of the spell contained within the staff. A Sorcerer can recharge a staff using his Recharge skill, but at the cost of permanently reducing its maximum charge level. It is also possible to pay to recharge a staff. With respect to level of the spell produced, staves function identically to scrolls: the spell is cast at the level known to the caster, unless it is unknown, in which case it is cast at level one. ''Diablo'' helped popularize a system used in other CRPGs such as the Might And Magic Series, to handle the many combinations of random items imbued with random magical properties. The only items which are relatively constant are ''Unique items'', which have the same types of bonuses, though sometimes of varying amounts, every time they are found. Magical items in Diablo have an idiosyncratic naming system; a particular enchantment will be either a ''suffix'' or ''prefix''. For example, the "Godly" prefix, appearing only on armor, adds greatly to armor class. An item with this ability would appear as "Godly (itemname)". The "of the Whale" suffix adds a great deal to the character's life stat. An item with this ability would appear as "(itemname) of the Whale". Magical items can have both a prefix and a suffix; however, certain systemic limitations within the game mechanism prevent some prefixes and suffixes from appearing together on the same item. Also, different equipment types draw from different pools of affixes (enchantment prefixes and suffixes); some affixes are never available on certain types of equipment. Equippable items can have various modifiers, and break down into three major classes as a result:
Shrines Shrines create effects upon one's character and sometimes others when activated. The normal Shrines found in the Dungeon and Catacombs (first eight levels) are labeled when the mouse cursor is placed over them. However, the Goat Shrines found in the Catacombs and the Cauldrons in Hell cause a random effect, leaving the player only with the result and the same cryptic clue that would be displayed in the center of the screen by a normal Shrine. Multiplayer The game supports several types of Multiplayer connections. It can be played over a Local Area Network using the IPX Protocol , a Telephone Line with the use of a Modem , or by means of a Serial Cable in a Direct Connection . One can also play ''Diablo'' over the Internet via Battle.net . Unfortunately, the game lacks the stronger anti-cheating methods of Blizzard's later games and as a result, many characters online have been altered in various ways by common third-party programs known as "trainers". It is difficult to play a fair online game of ''Diablo'' in public games, as hacks and duplicated items are common. The use of trainers (which modify memory locations while the game is running in order to cheat) is fairly common and character editors are often used to give incredible statistics to even newly made characters. Additionally, buggy game code allows any player to infinitely duplicate items and avoid being stunned in combat using the Mana Shield spell. A typical duped/hacked item seen online is the "Godly Plate of the Whale", a combination of enchantments which actually can never appear on a legitimate item due to the way the game generates items. However, a number of legitimate players exist and may be found primarily on forums related to Diablo, as well as on Battle Net. VERSIONS AND EXPANSION PACK ''Diablo'' was released by Blizzard on January 2, 1997, with an official announcement on the release by Blizzard Entertainment on January 3, 1997. An oft stated release date of November 30, 1996 is incorrect as Diablo only went gold and into full production on December 27, 1996. ''Diablo'' normally requires the original CD to play, however also included on the disk is a shareware version of the software that could be played without the CD called "''Diablo'' Spawn". This version of the game was shareware and could be freely distributed, however it lacked several features of the full game. Only multiplayer was available, only the Warrior could be selected, and players couldn't advance beyond the first few dungeon levels. Battle.net support was also included in the shareware demo. In 1998, a PlayStation version of Diablo was published by Electronic Arts. The game lacked online play, but featured a two-player cooperative mode. It also featured an option to learn the story through a narrator without having to find the books in the game. This feature can be found on the main menu under the title 'history'. This version was infamous because of its need for 10 blocks free on a PlayStation memory card; the standard size of memory cards for the platform was 15 blocks. The only official '' in 1997. The expansion was produced by Sierra Entertainment rather than an in-house Blizzard North development team. The expansion featured only single-player content: two additional dungeon segments located within a new side storyline, several new unique items and magical item properties, new spells, and a fourth class, the Monk. There were also two possibly unfinished "test" classes (the Bard and Barbarian) and two quests which could be accessed only through a configuration file modification. ''Hellfire'' never achieved the fame of the original, and is variably hard to obtain today. Some complaints include the fact that much of its content seems less "polished" than that of the original game, and that the new content does not mesh with the atmosphere of the original perfectly. ''Hellfire'' is also relatively buggy, and since ''Hellfire'' installation can not be patched using Blizzard's ''Diablo'' patches, and Sierra themselves only released one patch for ''Hellfire'', it retains some bugs that the original ''Diablo'' did not. The expansion also has some small design problems wherein some of the new unique items can never be found in the game. However, despite these problems ''Hellfire'' generally received quite favorable reviews from the game magazines at the time. Blizzard North also later implemented their own versions of the insect caves and the crypt levels introduced in the expansion in '' Diablo II ''. RECEPTION AND INFLUENCE Critical response The large majority of reviews ''Diablo'' received were very positive. It received an average rating of 94 on Metacritic ,2 with many awarding the game near-perfect or perfect scores on their respective grading systems. Most praised the game's addictive gameplay, immense replayability, dark atmosphere, superior graphics (for the time), moody musical score, and its great variety of possibly magic items, enemies, levels, and quests. This last aspect was praised by GameSpot editor Trent Ward in his review of ''Diablo'', which he gave a "9.6", the highest score for a PC game to date: "Similarly, although a set number of monsters is included, only a few will be seen during each full game. This means that players going back for their second or third shot at the game will very likely fight opponents they haven't seen before. Talk about replay value."3 Diablo was awarded GameSpot's Game of the Year Award for 1996. Adrenaline Vault reviewer Brian Clair awarded ''Diablo'' a perfect five out of five stars and had a similar amount of praise for the sound design and musical score for the game, calling the former "perfect" and saying of the latter: "For years I have waited for a game to come out with that perfect musical score. I think I've found it in Diablo. The music is just as perfect as the sound fx in both quality of the sound and the score itself. Everything about it is perfect for the fantasy genre and just integrates great with the other nuances of the game."4 Diablo's online multiplayer aspect was also cited as one of the strongest points of the game, with it described as greatly extending its replay value. The most common complaint about the game was the length of its single-player aspect, which many felt was too short. Others criticized what was seen as the simplicity of the story, with RPGFan stating: "It's been said already, but I'll say it again - if you consider plot to be a highly important part of your RPGs, and can't play any RPGs without a solid plot, stay away."5 Influence ''Diablo'' has been credited with creating a Sub-genre of Point-and-click Action RPG s. Since 1999 many games have used the concepts introduced in Diablo and some have imitated the game. These games include '' Dungeon Siege '', '' Mu Online '', '' Sacred '', '' RF Online '', '' Titan Quest '', '' Mythos '', '' Spellforce '', '' Champions Of Norrath '', '' Drakengard '', '' Dungeon Lords '', '' Fate '', '' Divine Divinity '', '' Conquer Online '' and '' Dungeon Runners ''. References to ''Diablo'' are scattered throughout the various Blizzard products that followed; see the 'References in other Blizzard games' section for examples. THE LEGENDARY COW LEVEL One of the more well known aspects of ''Diablo'' was something that didn't actually exist. Rumors started of a "cow level" with varying instructions or ideas on how to enter such a place and what existed in this level. Blizzard put a cheat code in '' StarCraft '': 'there is no cow level.' Typing this caused instant victory. The Hellfire expansion also mocks this rumor - if ''cowquest'' is added to command.txt, the first new dungeon segment is accessed by speaking to one of the townsfolk, who's dressed in a cow suit. Blizzard actually did put a cow level in '' Diablo II '', although it was merely a very large area full of monsters called 'Hell Bovines' who were cows walking upright and carrying Halberd s. All of their sound files were of humans saying the word 'moo'. Net lore has it that the ridiculously bad voices of the cows were those of various Blizzard employees. "The Cow King" makes an appearance as a unique Hell Bovine. The cow level is rarely brought up other than as a joke but is still referenced in other products. In the game "Warcraft III" the Tauren are introduced, a race of Anthropomorphic bulls and cows, whether intentionally spoofing the joke or not. '' World Of Warcraft '' features them as a playable race, and their city is sometimes jokingly referred to by players as "the Cow Level." An item even exists named "The Cow King's Hide." On the game's loading screens, one of the tips displayed is "TIP: There is no cow level.", although this was added long after the game was released. CUT CONTENT As with many games, ''Diablo'' was originally intended to be much more expansive than the final product, with a large number of monsters, characters, items, and quests never making it into the retail release.6 A large portion of this content is still contained on dormant files hidden on the CD of the game.
TRIVIA
''The file is named lvl16int.wav; it is in the directory sfx/misc in the MPQ file named DIABDAT located on the ''Diablo'' CD.'' 10 REFERENCES IN OTHER BLIZZARD GAMES Diablo II and Diablo II: Lord of Destruction
Other Blizzard games
SEE ALSO REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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