Diablo II (2000) (VG)

or 4... At least I think that's how long I spent playing Diablo II in every spare moment I could find, I'm not sure, I kinda lost track of time for a bit.

The concept behind making Diablo II so popular is ridiculously simple. Make an engine that can generate nearly infinite numbers of uniquely different magical items and people will play until the end of time trying to obtain a sword or a suit of armour that's just that little bit better than what you already have.

The stories and cut scenes that drive the game forward and link the various Acts are superbly done and contribute in some way to dispelling the "nothing but a clickfest" label that the Diablo games have been cast as.

Many spells and abilities are only available at level 30 or above and to fully appreciate these players are encouraged to move on to nightmare and hell modes in order to fully develop their characters. Indeed, the most powerful weapons and items are only available in these harder game modes and because of this Diablo2's replayability factor is very high.

The 4 character classes are both well balanced and varied enough that strategies that prove effective for one character class often prove disastrous for another. While Necromancers and Barbarians are traditionally the dominant classes, Blizzard has gone some way to leveling the playing field with their patch. The introduction of the D2 expansion pack also promises to introduce more characters and levels. The future certainly looks bright.

Diablo II is disarmingly addictive and it comes as a breath of fresh air in a crowded field of first person shooters and real time strategies that after a while begin to blend together in mimetic mediocrity.

Just remember to give your mouse hand a chance to recover every couple of hours....