Game research: Diablo

For the first set of research, we will be looking at Diablo, its mechanics and the effect it had on the games market. It is an isometric hack and slash where the aim is to dungeoneer and find rare objects and gain levels, with the aim of doing the same in harder dungeons until they are strong enough to fight Diablo himself. It is a simple concept, in that it essentially requires little thought other than enter dungeon > kill monsters > acquire rare objects > go to town > enter harder dungeon > rinse and repeat. Because of its simplistic but exciting approach to the idea of exploration, letting the player be guided by their want for adventure and the story.

It used a system whereby it was mainly point and click, by left clicking on the enemy it would attack them with your main weapon (which could be a sword, bow and arrow, whatever you had equipped) left clicking somewhere which wasn’t an enemy would move you there. There were also spells which could be set in the spell slot, and these could be used at any time by pressing on it. Lastly, during combat the player could drink either a mana or health potion to gain an amount of either back. These all together made for an exciting fast paced combat mechanic, constantly trying to maintain your health while fighting off hordes of zombies.

The game was rated as one of the single best games in the history of games, with its fiercely addictive game play and replay ability due to the fact that the single player quests are randomized every time you create a new game. It inspired a whole genre of games, simply called “Diablo like games” due to the hack and slash nature. Games like Path of Exile and Torchlight are successful because of the foundations laid down by Diablo.

As a potential avenue for the base IP, it is something which might end up being quite awkward to script. Due to the real time aspect, and the fact that it is interesting because of the huge amount of diversity in enemies and in depth lore and story, it is something which would require more time to create to a decent standard than a different style of game.