Diablo is a 1997 action role-playing game developed by Blizzard North and published by Blizzard Entertainment for Windows. It is the first installment in the video game series of the same name.
Set in the fictional Kingdom of Khanduras in the mortal realm, the player controls a lone hero battling to rid the world of Diablo, the Lord of Terror. Beneath the town of Tristram, the player journeys through sixteen randomly generated dungeon levels, ultimately entering Hell in order to face Diablo.
An expansion pack, Diablo: Hellfire, was released in November 1997 by Synergistic Software. In 1998, Electronic Arts released Diablo for the PlayStation.Gamespot , Gamespot online games magazine, review of Diablo PlayStation This version, developed by Climax Studios, featured direct control of the main character's direction using the PlayStation controller, as opposed to point-and-click movement. Also, the PlayStation version added a local multiplayer, which allowed players to utilize both controllers for a cooperation mode on a single screen. A Sega Saturn version was considered by Electronic Arts but never released.Sega Retro , E3 '97 Sega Press release: 1997-06-19: SEGA INSTITUTES FIVE STAR GAMES POLICY Diablo has been considered one of the greatest games of all time for its randomized assignment of quests and enemies on each playthrough, online multiplayer, and graphics. The game's success led to several sequels: Diablo II in 2000, Diablo III in 2012, Diablo Immortal in 2022 and Diablo IV in 2023.
Gameplay Diablo is an action role-playing video game with dungeon crawl elements. The player moves and interacts with the environment primarily by way of a mouse. Other actions, such as casting spells, are performed in response to keyboard inputs. The player can acquire items, learn spells, defeat enemies, and interact with non-player characters (NPCs) throughout the game.
The dungeon levels are procedurally generated with themes for each level; for instance, the catacombs tend to have long corridors and closed rooms, while the caves are more non-linear. Players are assigned a random number of quests from several tiers; these quests are optional but usually offer powerful unique items as rewards and help to level up the character and/or reveal more of the backstory. The final two quests are mandatory in order to finish the game.
Classes
Diablo has three character classes: the Warrior, the Rogue, and the Sorcerer. Each class has a different level of assigned attributes along with a unique skill. Each class is capable of using almost all of the same items and spells, in contrast to later titles in the Diablo series, which have class-specific items and spells/skills. However, the limitations in the attributes for each class reward play that utilizes them efficiently; for instance, the Warrior's low maximum level of Magic prevents him from learning the higher levels of powerful spells like the Sorcerer. Warrior: The most physically able of the three classes, the Warrior is primarily a close-quarters fighter. His primary character attribute is Strength, of which he has the highest maximum value among the three classes, allowing him to equip the heaviest weaponry and armor. The armor available to the Warrior, combined with his higher Vitality, which gives him more hit points, allows him to withstand the most physical damage. The Warrior starts with the skill to repair objects in his possession at the cost of overall durability. Rogue: A master of ranged weapons. While not as strong as the Warrior, the Rogue is very effective at attacking enemies from a distance with the bow. A jack-of-all-trades class, the Rogue has moderately higher Magic than the Warrior, so she can make better use of spells, while her somewhat higher Strength and Vitality enable her to fare better in melee than the Sorcerer. The Rogue's primary character attribute is Dexterity. The Rogue's unique starting skill is the ability to disarm traps. Sorcerer: A spellcaster, the Sorcerer's primary character attribute is Magic, which can be raised much higher than that of the other classes, enabling him to learn spells and raise them to higher levels. It also grants him the largest mana pool, allowing him to cast spells more often. The Sorcerer is the physically weakest of the three classes, with the lowest maximum Strength, Dexterity, and Vitality, but compared to the other two classes, he can make the best use of the "Mana Shield" spell so that enemy damage is directed to his mana reserve rather than his health. The Sorcerer's unique starting skill is the ability to recharge spell staves at the cost of lowering the maximum number of spell charges that a staff can hold.
In the expansion set, Diablo: Hellfire, the Monk was added. The Monk is proficient at melee combat with the staff. Two other classes, the Bard and Barbarian, were unfinished but remained hidden characters in Diablo: Hellfire, and could be enabled using a hack. Using the in-game sprites of the Rogue and Warrior, respectively, the Bard is capable of dual-wielding weapons, while the Barbarian is a two-handed axe specialist.
Items White-colored items are normal items, blue-colored items are magic items, and gold-colored items are unique items. Any items that are not white in color must be identified to make use of their magical effects, although characters can use unidentified items as they would the base item. Magic items can have a maximum of two of these effects, while unique items can have as many as six. Furthermore, unique items can have special properties, or properties not found in the usual prefixes/suffixes for that item type; most unique items have a very rare chance of being dropped, although certain unique items are guaranteed quest rewards. Items wear down through use and have fixed amounts of durability that decrease as they receive damage; when an item's durability reaches zero, it is destroyed. Players can return to the town and pay a fee to an NPC, Griswold the Blacksmith, to have the items restored, while the Warrior can repair objects in his possession at the cost of overall durability.
Bows are the ranged weapon of the game, best used by Rogues. Staves, while capable of physical attacks, are mainly used for the spell charges they contain, as casting from a staff does not require the player to learn the spell or use mana. A staff's spell can only be cast a certain number of times before it requires recharging, usually by returning to town and paying an NPC, Adria the Witch, while the Sorcerer can recharge a staff at the cost of lowering the maximum number of spell charges it can hold. Swords are typically one-handed (though two-handed varieties also exist), while axes are all two-handed. Maces and clubs add a 50% damage bonus against the undead. Two-handed melee weapons allow the player to inflict more damage. Shields, when paired with one-handed weapons, allow attacks to be blocked. There are three classifications of armor: light, medium, and heavy. Characters are also allowed to wear a helmet, two rings, and one amulet. Many higher-level weapons and armor can only be equipped if the player meets the minimum Strength and/or Dexterity requirements.
Books contain spell formulae and cannot be used more than once; reading the first book places that particular spell in the character's repertoire, while using multiple books of the same spell increases the spell level, up to a maximum of 15. A character needs a minimum Magic attribute level in order to read spell books, particularly to raise spells to higher levels, where they are typically more powerful while consuming less mana per casting. Scrolls allow the use of both spells not yet learned and spells not available in book form, but vanish after one use. Many potions are available, including those for health and mana restoration, as well as elixirs that increase attributes.
Multiplayer Multiplayer is available for up to four players. Multiplayer characters' states are saved periodically. Players can either be aggressive toward, or play cooperatively with, other players. Players can connect via direct connection, modem connection, Battle.net connection, or IPX network connection. The game lacks the stronger anti-cheating methods of Blizzard's later games and, as a result, many online characters have been altered in various ways by common third-party programs known as trainers and/or game-editing programs such as Cheat Engine.
Plot
Setting The setting of Diablo includes the mortal realm which is the world of Man as well as the High Heavens and the Burning Hells.:61, 62, 64 & 72 After eons of war between angels and demons, the ascension of man prompted the three Lords of Hell (including Diablo himself) to seek victory through influence, prompting their exile into the mortal realm. There, they sowed chaos, distrust, and hatred among men until a group of magi, called the Horadrim, trapped them in enchanted crystals called "Soulstones". Diablo's soulstone was buried deep in the earth and a monastery was built over the site.
Generations passed and the purpose of the monastery was forgotten. A small town named Tristram sprang up next to the monastery's ruins. When King Leoric rebuilt the monastery as a cathedral, Diablo manipulated its archbishop, Lazarus, to destroy his soulstone prison. Diablo briefly possessed the king, sending out his knights and priests to battle against peaceful kingdoms, and then possessed the king's son, Prince Albrecht, filling the caves and catacombs beneath the cathedral with creatures formed from Albrecht's nightmares.
Tristram became a town of fear and horror, where people were abducted in the night. With no king, no law, and no army left to defend them, many villagers fled.
Story The game starts when the player's character arrives in Tristram. Several of the remaining townsfolk assist the player such as Deckard Cain the Elder.Cain the Elder reveals to the player that his full name is Deckard Cain toward the end of the game. After picking up the Staff of Lazarus from the Vile Stand in dungeon level 15 for the Archbishop Lazarus Quest, the player can talk to Deckard Cain back in town to hear him say, "This does not bode well, for it confirms my darkest fears. While I did not allow myself to believe the ancient legends, I cannot deny them now. Perhaps the time has come to reveal who I am. My true name is Deckard Cain the Elder, and I am the last descendant of an ancient brotherhood that was dedicated to safeguarding the secrets of a timeless evil. An evil that quite obviously has now been released." In a video that was published to YouTube on October 6, 2008, this quote by Deckard Cain starts at the 0:10 mark of the video, and the quote ends at the 0:45 mark of the video. In a different video that was published to YouTube on January 11, 2012, this quote by Deckard Cain starts at the 15:57 mark of the video , and the quote ends at the 16:32 mark of the video. The labyrinth under the Cathedral descends from the dungeon/church, to the catacombs, followed by the caves, and finally Hell itself, each with a mixture of the undead, animals, and demons. King Leoric has been re-animated as the Skeleton King.