Ten years ago, Blizzard released its legendary Diablo II. Can we please have the sequel already?
On June 29th, 2000, a long-awaited sequel to a popular Blizzard PC game hit store shelves after several delays. While (other than the date) that description could apply to pretty much every single game the developer has released since StarCraft, in this case it was Diablo II.
Picking up shortly after the events of the first Diablo, the sequel expanded on the original in pretty much every way. With its randomized dungeons and loot, and intuitive, click-happy gameplay, Diablo II quickly became (and still remains) one of the most addictive games of all time. We here at Chez Escape know its power only too well.
Its graphics haven’t aged quite so well, but it still remains a sterling example of awesome game design – and don’t try to tell me that the cinematics don’t still look good, because that is a blatant lie.
Ten years later, we’re still waiting for our sequel, the hotly-anticipated Diablo III. Judging by the twelve years between StarCraft and next month’s StarCraft II, we should probably plan on seeing D3 sometime in 2012, thereby delaying the apocalypse as Satan himself gets caught up farming for unique items.
What are your favorite Diablo II memories? Your favorite class? I always tended towards the Barbarian and Paladin myself.
Oh, as an aside – between this and Deus Ex, June 2000 was one hell of a great month for PC gaming.
Check out more at the Diablo II anniversary site!
