Diablo + Hellfire

Add Hellfire and i buy it! ;-)

I've been waiting to play this game for years. My thoughts, having finally played it? Pretty good. The combat is barebones and the permanent stat debuffs are bound to drive you up the wall, but the syrup-thick atmosphere is more than enough to make up for it. Levelling up is satisfying too. It's a fun game that's worth ten bucks, and it's interesting to get a firsthand look the title that inspired a thousand clones.

Having played Diablo II & III, it was fantastic to finally know some of the inside lore and knowledge on where it all started. This is a bugless version and wishes the Hellfire Expansion was available as well. Brilliantly remastered and quick in loading as well. Go ahead and spoil yourself! Worth it!!

With this new GOG release, I found myself revisiting this game and was surprised how quickly I was sucked in again. I've played my fair share of Diablo 2 and 3, and this game continues to stand on its own. Is it better than those titles? In the grand analysis, I'd say probably not (so perhaps it deserves 4.5 stars). But the atmosphere, combat, and progression here have a certain addictive formula that's different enough from D2 and D3 that those games don't quite scratch the same itch. The graphics here have aged (but remain perfectly fine), and you do have to click your mouse a lot, but otherwise there's not much in D1 that feels dated. If it came out for the first time in 2019, I'm sure it would be considered an indie "hidden gem". And the inclusion of Hellfire deserves much praise. I never really got much time in with the expansion, and it had been impossible to buy legitimately for many years until GOG's work here. Hellfire adds a bunch of things, but really the two huge positives are quality-of-life changes: the addition of the Search spell to find items on the ground, and the ability to play single-player on Nightmare and Hell difficulties, making single-player the go-to choice, and allowing us to experience all the quests that don't fire on multiplayer. So three cheers for GOG, and if this is at all your kind of game, you owe it to yourself to dig in. Even if you've played it before without Hellfire, I'd suggest you take another look now.

If you're tempted: Do it! This game holds up well as the gold standard of point and click dungeon crawlers still requiring a bit of thinking and prep work to avoid death. Interesting charcters, items, and a broad variety of enemies. Be warned: Nightmare and Hell difficulty is online only!