Diablo I
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Diablo is an ARPG game based in a dark fantasy setting developed by Blizzard North and released by Blizzard Entertainment on 30 November, 1996 in North America (2 January 1997 in PAL territories).
The game is set in the fictional world of Sanctuary, centred around the town of Tristram in the Kingdom of Khanduras. The protagonist is a lone hero who takes upon himself to find what is causing distress in the town's cathedral and is taken upon a journey that brings him down into the deep caves beneath the cathedral, all the way into Hell to combat Diablo, the Lord of Terror.
An official expansion pack, entitled Diablo: Hellfire, was released in 24 November 1997 (1998 in PAL territories) by Sierra On-Line (developed by Synergistic Software). However, because it was not created by Blizzard Entertainment, the entire game is considered to be retconned out from the lore of the game world.
A sequel called simply Diablo II was released on 29 June 2000 (NA and PAL) and a third game, Diablo III was announced to be in development at WWI 2008. The release date for Diablo III is currently speculated to be in 2011.
Gameplay
Diablo is probably the most well-known example of the action-RPG subgenre. It's arguably the first game that successfully combined the classic RPG genre with action gameplay and has a very short learning curve. This general "action-inspired RPG" concept has inspired a plethora of other games, sometimes derogatorily called "Diablo clones".
Players choose character classes, level up, assign attributes, learn spells and manage various attributes in the game just like in a classical RPG, but does so in real time, unlike older and more unknown variants of the RPG genre. all commands in the game can be used with only a mouse, but a keyboard can also be used to enhance gameplay with shortcuts, and quick changing of active spells.
Gameplay is structured around a monster-filled dungeon located near the town of Tristram. In town there is no risk of monsters appearing and in multiplayer, no PvP combat can occur. Players may rest, buy items, gather quest intel and repair equipment. There are sixteen levels of the dungeon, divided into four areas. Each area has a different appearance, architecture, light level, monster mix, and musical soundtrack. The first level of each of these areas has an additional exit leading back up to the town of Tristram. In single player, these entrances are blocked until the character opens them from the dungeon side, and the entrance is available for two-way travel from then on. In multiplayer, the entrances to town all start in their "open" position, but with a level requirement to access them from town.
Diablo is highly re-playable due to its randomly generated level layouts, monsters, and items. In addition, in single-player mode there are only three core quests as the rest of them are drawn from several pools, making it impossible to complete every quest in one playthrough of the game. Either way, only the last two quests are compulsory. Given this arrangement, no two playthroughs of the game are ever exactly alike.
Characters
The three character classes of Diablo are the warrior, rogue, and sorcerer. Each character, following typical role-playing conventions, has his or her own particular traits. The warrior possesses physical strength, the rogue has high dexterity, and the sorcerer is oriented towards magic.
- Warrior: The warrior is a powerful melee fighter, master of weapons of war and capable of enduring more damage than the other classes. They range from barbarians of the northern highlands to noble paladins.
- Rogue: The rogues are the best archers in the world of Sanctuary. They can have a higher level of magic than warriors, although not nearly as high as sorcerers. The rogues belong to a group called the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye.
- Sorcerer: A powerful master of the arcane arts, the sorcerer is able to achieve the greatest heights of magic, so that he doesn't have need of physical weapons. Sorcerers belong to the Vizjerei mage clan, and have come to Tristram seeking long-lost tomes of magic knowledge under the cathedral.
Unlike other games that strictly differentiate between classes, a character's abilities are not unique; a warrior can use the same spells as a sorcerer, while a sorcerer can use weapons such as axes. All three classes require the same amount of experience to level up, and there are no class-based requirements for equipping items or using spells. However, different classes have different starting attributes and different maximum possible levels for their attributes, and gain different amounts of life and mana per level.
Four numerical character attributes (Strength, Magic, Dexterity and Vitality) in Diablo affect the characters' combat statistics, which in turn determine how powerful the character is.
With each level up, the player may distribute points among the four base attributes to permanently increase them. They may also be modified by elixirs and magical shrines encountered in the game. Various magical items increase character attributes while these items are being used. Certain items may have minimum attribute requirements before they can be equipped or used.
Characters can learn spells from tomes found in the game, and add them to their spellbooks. Spells can later be cast repeatedly, if the character has enough mana to do it. Spells can also be improved by learning higher levels of the same spell. Different spells, and different levels of the same spell, require varying amounts of mana to be cast. Each class also has a unique skill: Warriors can repair items (although not as well as the village blacksmith, Griswold), Rogues can disarm traps, and Sorcerers can recharge magical staves that have a certain amount of spell charges on them.
The Diablo I article is strongly related to Diablo, but the main bulk of information on this topic is specifically related to Diablo I or Diablo II. Due to the large amount of information that is unique to Diablo I and II versus Diablo III, we have separated them into two wikis. DiabloWiki contains lore, characters, locations as well as general Diablo information and is the main wiki, but a lot of Diablo I and Diablo II information is available in Diablo2Wiki.
This is such a case, and you can find the full Diablo I article on the following Diablo2Wiki page:
- Diablo2.DiabloWiki.net/Diablo I
If you were linked here by a link in DiabloWiki or Diablo2Wiki, you can help out by changing the link to a direct link pointed at the corresponding article in Diablo2Wiki.
If you have any further questions on this, check the Help section or feel free to contact Leord. Any inquiries are welcome.
| Game [e] | |
|---|---|
| |
| Diablo I | |
| Developer(s): | Blizzard Entertainment |
| Publisher(s): | Blizzard Entertainment |
| Designer(s): | Erich Schaefer |
| Composer(s): | Matt Uelmen |
| Series: | Diablo series |
| Genre(s): | ARPG |
| Release date(s): | 1996 |
| Platform(s): | PC / Mac |
| Engine: | 2D, inhouse |
| System requirements: | Windows PC Windows 95, 60 MHz Pentium, 8 MB RAM (16 MB for multiplayer), SVGA-compatible graphics card, 2X CD-ROM drive Mac OS Power Macintosh, 8 MB RAM with virtual memory, System 7.5 or higher, 2X CD-ROM drive |
| Controls: | Mouse, Keyboard |
| Rating(s): | 15+ to 16+ |
| Score: | Unknown |
