Diablo II
Diablo II is an action role-playing hack-and-slash video game developed by Blizzard North and published by Blizzard Entertainment in 2000 for Microsoft Windows, Classic Mac OS, and OS X. The game, with its dark fantasy and horror themes, was conceptualized and designed by David Brevik and Erich Schaefer, who, with Max Schaefer, acted as project leads on the game. The producers were Matthew Householder and Bill Roper. The game was developed over a three-year period, with a crunch time of a year and a half.
| Diablo II | |
|---|---|
Cover art depicting the Dark Wanderer by Gerald Brom | |
| Developer(s) | Blizzard North |
| Publisher(s) | Blizzard Entertainment |
| Director(s) | David Brevik Erich Schaefer Max Schaefer |
| Producer(s) | Mark Kern Kenneth Williams |
| Designer(s) | David Brevik Erich Schaefer Max Schaefer |
| Programmer(s) | Rick Seis |
| Artist(s) | Phil Shenk |
| Writer(s) | Kurt Beaver Stieg Hedlund Matthew Householder Phil Shenk Robert Vieira |
| Composer(s) | Matt Uelmen |
| Series | Diablo |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Classic Mac OS, OS X |
| Release | Microsoft Windows Classic Mac OS
|
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing, hack and slash |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Set shortly after the events of Diablo, the player controls a new hero, attempting to stop the destruction unleashed by Diablo's return. The game's four acts feature a variety of locations and settings to explore and battle in, as well as an increased cast of characters to play as and interact with.
Building on the success of its predecessor, Diablo (1997), and improving the gameplay, both in terms of updated character progression and a better-developed story, Diablo II was one of the most popular games of 2000 and has been cited as one of the greatest games of all time. Major factors that contributed to the game's success include its continuation of popular fantasy themes from the previous game and its access to Blizzard's free online play service, Battle.net. An expansion to the game, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, was released in 2001.
Diablo III, the sequel to Diablo II, was released on May 15, 2012. Diablo II: Resurrected, a remastered version of Diablo II which also includes the Lord of Destruction expansion, was released on September 23, 2021.