In 1996, after having won over PC gamers’ hearts with their fantasy real-time strategy games Warcraft and Warcraft II, the wunderkind studio of Blizzard Entertainment unleashed hell in the form of: Diablo.
A groundbreaking action role-playing game that turned the hack and slash thrills and chills of dungeon crawling into a tense, real-time affair. No longer were players bound by turns and actions, but by the speed of their clicks. With rich 640×480 resolution graphics, Diablo welcomed players into an addictive descent into adventure, danger and terror.
Thirty years later, the Diablo series has grown. Today, you can play the free-to-play spin-off Diablo Immortal on your phone while the latest edition of the series, Diablo IV features the most cutting edge take on the demon-slaying action on PlayStation, Xbox and Windows PCs. 2012’s Diablo III remains playable and continues to receive seasonal support.
But let’s get real, the greatest Diablo of all time is Diablo II. Originally released in 2000, with its expansion Diablo II: Lord of Destruction released in 2001, it didn’t just meet the platonic ideal of a sequel – bigger, bolder, badder – it also expanded the world of Sanctuary and its lore beyond the vague mood and vibes of its predecessor, establishing the finer details of the war between the Prime Evils and the Angelic servants of Heaven.
The classes of Barbarian, Necromancer, Paladin, Sorceress, Amazon demonstrated incredibly distinct ways to fight the forces of Hell and evoked the sort of balanced but asymmetrical design previously seen in Blizzard’s hit sci-fi RTS, StarCraft. The expansion Lord of Destruction would also add the Druid and Assassin. No matter which way you slice it, it’s a wealth of player options.
The world of Diablo II grows beyond the borders of the lowly village of Tristram (which players do revisit in one harrowing chapter) and takes players across the many regions of Sanctuary. From the boreal plains of the Westmarch, to the sandy dunes of Lut Gholien, the jungles of Khurast and the snowy peaks of Mount Arreat, Diablo II is an action-packed odyssey like no other.
The monsters are also more sophisticated in Diablo II. Not only are there support monsters, champions and bosses, but different uniques as well as various species. From sand maggots to mummies, skeletons and zombies, a veritable taxonomy of foes are out there for you to slay, making for an exponentially more exhilarating sequel.
Of course, multiplayer is where it’s at and while there’s much to be said about the ease and accessibility of Diablo III and Diablo IV and their robust endgame mechanics, but it does have one of the tightest player versus player (PVP) systems in all of online gaming, which together with rushes and boss runs, are what you’re going to have to engage in if you hope to go for the best loot. And this is where Diablo II becomes transcendental. Perfecting your desired build with the most optimal gear, jumping into the most dangerous of situations all for the epic highs of amassing great wealth, better loot and making friends and enemies in the everlasting grind for power and glory.
Twenty-five years later, you can still play Diablo II and its expansion Lord of Destruction. If you still own your discs from way back when, it remains supported on Battle.Net, Blizzard’s online multiplayer service. It never stopped being supported, even. But if you don’t you can also pick up Diablo II Resurrected, the 2021 ‘remastered’ version of the game that features both the classic and the upscaled version of the infernal sequel.
But here’s a big surprise. For this year, the thirtieth anniversary of Diablo, Blizzard has announced something incredibly exciting – for the first time ever, Diablo II will be getting a new class. The Warlock, an infernal summoner new to the universe of Diablo debuts this week in Diablo II Resurrected, ahead of its addition to Diablo Immortal and Diablo IV.
Whether you’re a younger fan of the action role-playing genre, or a veteran who can feel their knees crack, 2026 is a great year to be playing Diablo and an even better time to be playing Diablo II. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to log on to my Necromancer for he needs a new pair of boots…