A Sanctuary long ago.

So! Let's talk about games.

There's one out at the moment, you may have heard of it, it's called Diablo 3.

Years ago, years and years, the predecessor to this game, Diablo 2 laid it's foundations and spewed forth the armies of hell into my world. Admittedly I wasn't there for it's release, I did not take part in the dedicated grind to get from level 90 to 99. It was a game I picked up by accident, through a friend, as so often happened when you were in high school without any real money.


I picked up Diablo 2 in 2003, I was in year... 9 (I think?) and I'd just gotten over games like Zelda and Mario on my Gamecube/N64. It was time for something new, I had a new PC I'd saved up for and was looking to test its worth. A friend told me that in Diablo 2 you could have like 50 enemies on the screen at once, alongside 20 of your own (the necromancer was so FUN in those days) and this seemed like a good benchmark for my computer.

After starting up I spent 2 solid weeks of evenings grinding my way to Diablo, and then to Baal in the expansion pack, it went by so fast. This was the first time I'd played a game like this and it took me a long time because I wanted to see everything, kill everything, try out all the abilities and just generally look cool (which I did, even though in reality I was in a cold room in the eastern suburbs, procrastinating on study).

So, now we have Diablo 3, a successor in every way to the polished experience that Diablo 2 was nearly 10 years ago. It's sleek, smooth, modern - streamlined in every aspect to provide a very professional experience that fits into 2012. It has to be; it's up against hundreds of other games, me-toos like Torchlight 2 and Path of Exile, not to mention up against Blizzard own MMORPG World of Warcraft (which is ageing, but it's millions of subscribers still jump on every night) and people have less time now than they used to.

But you know all of that; and if you don't there's a million places online you can read about it. Diablo 2 however, is much more than the father of this new game. Unlike most other prequels it hasn't been consigned to the graveyard of games just because it's 10 years old. It's still a good old game that, if you still have the time in this crazy, busy world, you can still lose yourself in the game and the rich stories within.

Where to begin... You're dumped into a game world where you click on enemies to kill them. You click on people to talk to them, you click on money to pick it up, you click on equipment to move it around your inventory, you click on gems to arrange them and on a cube to combine them. Is this sounding repetitive to you?

There's a lot of clicking in Diablo 2.

"That sounds boring!" you say, and it would have been if that's all it was. But with every kill came the prospect of loot, you came closer to levelling up each time you demolished a pack of monsters, each rare boss killed was it's own sweet success. Diablo 2 gave achievements in the form of action and success; none of the named, contrived achievements you find in games now (I'm looking at you, new Diablo!).

Woven around this was the story; a futile chase to prevent the Lord of Terror from rising again and when that fails, to vanquish him from Sanctuary. It was involving, desperate and at the onset intriguing. Much of it you pieced together on your quest, with tidbits gained from NPCs along the way, ancient scrolls and whispering spirits in the deepest dungeons. Exploration was enthralling.

Does it hold up still as an experience? I think it does; but it's hard to separate my nostaglic feelings from that first time playthrough. Certainly if you have the time on your hands you can throw yourself into this world and aside from all the time consuming upkeep on your items - the gems, the sockets, the upgrades, the runes, the scrolls, the tomes  - this game is an absolute joy to play for me still.

Who should play it? If you have a couple of evenings free, maybe a friend as well who hasn't played it before, if you enjoy levelling up, killing monsters and experimenting with abilities this is a game for you can get comfortable with. It's an engrossing game that will captivate you till act 5; beyond that I think you can just play D3 for something more complete.

Can you tell me what you think? Your first Diablo experience? Are you scared of playing an old game that you might be alone in the dark with?