- Requires registered version of Diablo..
.com
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Build on the terror and adventure of Diablo with this expansion
set. The software adds 12 new weapons, five new spells, 29 new
foes, and the Monk, a new and powerful ally. There is also a
whole new story to unravel and new demons to destroy.
Review
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To the surprise of many gamers, instead of releasing an
expansion pack for Diablo, Blizzard North decided to focus its
efforts on a full-fledged sequel (which has tentatively been
given the appropriate, if unoriginal, title Diablo II). But
gamers have continued to clamor for more Diablo, and eventually
the expansion pack torch was passed to Blizzard's affiliate,
Synergistic Software. Synergistic's Hellfire gives gamers new
levels, monsters, items, spells, and single-player quests and
refinements to the original Diablo engine, but the overall
package is slightly less compelling than the original game.
As with Diablo, Hellfire's storyline is not particularly deep -
Na'Krul, a demon that once ranked highly in Diablo's hierarchy
until turning on his master, is released from exile by ye local
foolhardy mage. Na'Krul and his cronies set up shop in eight new
levels that fit seamlessly into the original game. These eight
new levels are divided into two areas, each with its own new
tileset, the gothic Demon Crypt (home sweet home for Na'Krul) and
the Festering Nest, an hive-like domain that hosts
Na-Krul's "Starship Troopers-refugee" lieutenant, the Defiler. In
addition to these new threats, you must once again deal with the
big guy, Diablo, who returns more powerful than ever.
Although all the new monsters are confined to the new Hellfire
levels, once you install Hellfire, you can find new items and
shrines scattered throughout the original 16 levels of Diablo.
You can use a new character class, the Monk, to conquer the
challenges in the original game. The new Hellfire levels are
roughly equivalent in difficulty to levels nine through 16 of the
original game, which means you must either transfer a high-level
character from the old game (through a needlessly cumbersome
process), download one of the characters that has been made
available at Sierra's web site, or trudge through the old levels
with a new character if you want to survive the new levels. In
addition to the new character class, items, and shrines, Hellfire
provides a number of refinements to Diablo's gameplay - you can
now jog instead of merely sauntering around town, cast spells to
quickly find an exit to a level or to locate a tiny ring that you
vaguely heard drop nearby, and can buy more useful items from the
town's ever-greedy merchants. Synergistic has also added
difficulty levels into the single-player version of the game, a
feature inexplicably lacking from the original game. Gamers who
are still playing Diablo will definitely appreciate these
enhancements more than those who put Diablo back on the shelf
long ago.
The most notable absence from Hellfire is multiplayer support,
an especially surprising omission considering that Diablo is one
of the most popular multiplayer games of all time. Given the
a of player hacking the original game underwent, it's not
surprising that an unofficial hack has already appeared to let
you use the Monk character class in a multiplayer game (but not
on Battle.net, Blizzard's free Internet server). Future hacks may
succeed in making the new levels and monsters accessible in a
multiplayer game, but such hacks won't receive official sanction
or support. For now, you'll be forced to play the new levels
solo, which is reason enough for a significant portion of
Diablo's fans to stay away from this expansion pack.
Hellfire includes a couple dozen new enemies, over 30 new magic
items, seven new spells, and a handful of relatively simple new
quests. The Monk character class is a very powerful fighter-mage.
In addition to being a formidable spell-caster, the Monk is an
adept martial artist who can use a staff to attack multiple
nents at once and is skilled in unarmed combat (yep, now you
can kick Diablo in the head). The new spells include a y
mix of defensive enchantments, devastating new offensive weapons
(the original game's most powerful spells, Apocalypse and Nova,
are now also available as spell books), and spells that just make
wandering through the labyrinths more convenient.
Unlike the original game, most new monsters are represented by
original artwork and are not just differently colored and powered
variations of monsters previously used in the game. But there's a
price to be paid for all the new art, as the monster animations
and death sequences, in particular, appear to be less detailed
than those included in the original game (although there are some
great additions, such as the Liches, Crypt Demons, and Orbs). The
new Demon Crypt tileset works well and is as detailed as any of
the four tilesets in Diablo, but the Festering Nest tileset is a
bit too disorienting and cluttered. There are, however, some nice
graphical touches. For example, the barrels that appeared
throughout the original game are replaced in the Festering Nest
levels with body-snatcher-ish pods and by suitably gothic
urns in the Demon Crypt. Hellfire adds some impressive new spell
effects, such as huge glowing fireballs. The new levels also come
with their own musical scores, which mainly consist of ambient
sounds and don't measure up to the quality of the music in the
original game.
Hellfire fails to provide as compelling an experience as Diablo,
but does provides a good quantity of new monsters, items, spells,
and settings, and a number of gameplay enhancements that
eliminate a few annoyances of the original game. These additions
and enhancements may not be sufficient to breathe new life into
the original game, but if you are a single-player Diablo addict,
Hellfire will enhance your enjoyment of Diablo. Hellfire is
definitely more of the same, but that's not necessarily a bad
thing, considering that Diablo was GameSpot's 1996 Game of the
Year. Multiplayer aficionados, however, should pass on Hellfire.
--Desslock
--Copyright ©1998 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction
in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written
permission of GameSpot is prohibited. -- GameSpot Review