Adventuring once again in Diablo 2

Every so often I find a reason to reinstall Diablo 2. Since Diablo 3 was announced this weekend that reason smacked me upside the head leaving me little choice. The urge – no – the CRAVING to crawl through dungeons in a game that manages to pull off a storyline at the same time it delivers an online loot driven experience is a strong one.

This time around I am not going at it alone. I have Graev and my good friend Bartlebe hacking and slashing alongside me. Well, Graev is doing more summoning and cursing as a Necromancer and Bartlebe is smashing and smiting our foes as a Paladin. I originally created a Barbarian thinking I wanted to whirlwind and just slash stuff the whole time but I recently (this morning) decided to remake as a Werebear Druid because I have truly never played a Druid in D2. (Bartlebe, if you’re reading this you now know I have rerolled and I’m all caught up on a Druid!)

So far we have nearly completed Act 1 and plan to take it at a casual pace while enjoying the subtleties of the storyline (I say subtleties because we’ve all played through a dozen times and know it by heart). That’s something I like about D2 though. I always find something new in the story like a word, phrase, or name that forms a connection and gives me new insight.

For the first time ever the graphics of D2 looked old. I think that could be because I have been gaming on a widescreen monitor for over a year now and haven’t even looked at a game at a resolution lower than 1680×1050. Diablo 2 is limited to 800×600 and that really looks awkward and pixelated more than it ever has to me on this current monitor. I’m also playing an older game for the first time on Vista but I’m happy to report that I have had no issues. I simply run it in XP SP2 compatibility mode and run the program as administrator and it works perfectly.

This blog post officially adds Diablo 2 to my list of games I’m currently playing while waiting for something new. Not a bad place to be considering the game came out exactly (well, as of yesterday) eight years ago in the year 2000.

  • If it’s limited to 800×600 you may want to run it in windowed mode so it doesn’t get so pixelated trying to stretch the resolution to fit a widescreen.

  • Woo. Druids = awesome.

    Especially druid tanks and destroying people with the power of Werebear. Nice choice.

  • haha nice, I had no idea it was even a nice choice. It just sounded cool.

    Any Werebear suggestions for a non-twink? Also, how do I run in window mode?

  • I just reinstalled D2 on my comp and found it to look dated as well. Definitely the limitation of 800×600 on my nice HP 2207 LCD wide screen is the reason. Still it has been fun replaying an old and familiar game.

    Druid is a great pick as it offers some good variety in game play.

    Blackwing – good suggestion.

  • Keen – To get in windowed mode add “-w” (just the -w not the quotes) to the desktop short-cut used to start D2.

    That starts it in windowed mode but now I have to figure out how to adjust the gamma because it is very dark when running that way. Atleast on my monitor.

  • Sweeeet! The game looks AMAZING in window mode. Exactly how I remember it from years ago. Thanks. 😀

  • I am also trying out D2 again. But I also purchased the Titan Quest bundle pack for $20, its like D2 with different settings and a little better graphics.

  • Titan Quest is a great game. Graev and I loved playing through it together.

    It’s a real shame the company that made it went under.

  • I never did get past Act one in the game with out cheating. I was 15 when the game came out, and i guess i just couldn’t get in to it with out fast forwarding to the end.

    I should definably give it another try.

  • I’m scared to make my necromancer, get fired up about the class and then find it got cut from the new line-up.

  • Bah! Now I’m going to have to go buy D2 again, I have no idea where my old CD’s are. This was Blizzard’s plan all along, devious!

    If I do I’ll have to find you guys on BNet to hack it up with.

  • Dont make a werebear, they suck. Atleast I managed to botch one so completely it couldnt kill anything in tier 4.

    Whereas werewolf kill hundreds.

  • I’m replaying Diablo 2 now too. Started last night and I’m dragging my wife through with me. She is a relatively new gamer, so I told her she has to learn her roots and I want to introduce her to real RPGs. The fact that the only games she has played are SWG and WOW is embarrassing. =)

  • @roXet

    I can feel your pain. My girlfriend is of The Sims generation. That is as far as her gaming experiences go.

  • I reinstalled d2 saterday after watchin the d3 gameplay video. I couldnt help myself. Ive got a mid-20s elemental druid in act 3. The game still amazes me. I cant wait until d3.

    Ill definately have to try windowed mode. Ive gotten used to the crappy resolution, but ill try anything that makes it look better.

  • Kyyneva, a werebear only sucks if you do it wrong.

    Leading up to level 20, alternate health and strength, and after that, mix dexterity in. Since weapon speed still effects attack speed, pick up some sort of mace, since druids are fast with maces, which therefore makes you faster with werebear. Then get abilites like maul and such, and put quite a bit in lycanthropy. Also, on the Summoning tree, or whatever it’s called, be sure to get the…I think it’s oak sage, and move on to the heart of the wolverine. You can have like, so much health that it’s crazy.

  • I reinstalled (fourth time, I think), but couldn’t find my expansion disc. Otherwise, I’d join you.

    Sometime this week, I’m going to try to explain how Diablo 2 is such a phenomenal game and why it’s still (seven years since the expansion!) on the game bestsellers lists. The Diablo Battlechest is the #1 top-selling PC game on Amazon right now.

  • I play USwest.

    I just started my new druid, so if you every feel like it, and you know, because I don’t…look for Krimm…if only I could find my password to my old Bnet account…

  • 19. That is prolly what happened to me. I dont even remember how young I was when playing d2 with my failure werebear 🙁

  • Need . . . to install . . D2 . . rising . . .

    Gah. I already have Titan Quest Immortal Throne and Mythos installed on my comp, why do I need to install an ancient action RPG like diablo 2!

  • I fear D3 may take my interest away from WAR, not sure yet. They are the same type of game by far, but I think D3 will fill all my online needs. Guess I will be in a predicament!

  • god damnit this makes me want to paly but i dotn own it i only ever borrowed it XD