As you travel the land looking for ‘The Wanderer’, play as one of the five character classes: Amazon, Barbarian, Necromancer, Paladin and Sorceress. The hero you played as in the original Diablo has been possessed by Mr. Evil himself, and you have to stop him before he opens the gates of hell upon the world. Each class has its own abilities and skills to aid in battle to stop evil trough the four acts.

The things that made the original game great are still here: the simplicity, good story, and role-playing elements. What has changed is just about every bad part of the original. There are many improvements scattered throughout the game to make this title a very worthy sequel.

One of the more notable improvements includes four full acts. Instead of being stuck in one town with multiple pathways to different dungeons, each of the acts have their own totally unique towns, environments, monsters and more. Shopkeepers now show the item when you are browsing their wares, unlike the first Diablo, which had you purchasing items through a text menu. For those with a fair amount of gold, the option is now open to gamble and hopefully gain a rare item.

Speaking of rare items, you can collect ‘Item Sets’ in the game. Certain separate items can become a full set once you find all the parts, with a nice bonus gained with the completion of the set. Unique items are equally as hard to find, but are usually very powerful types of weapons and armor.

The music is just plain amazing and it is perfect for the game. It is very moody and dark at the right places. Those lucky enough to get the Collector's Edition will not only have the amazing DVD, full of all the cinemas, but a soundtrack with the wonderful tunes from the game. It’s nothing too catchy though, as in something you would want to listen to over and over; just more of the type of music that makes playing the game a little more enjoyable in the long run.

Multiplayer is extremely fun. Even just going around with some buddies, searching for unique and rare items is entertaining enough to make it a daily ritual to go on treasure hunts. Of course the extra experience points don't hurt either.

Playing over TCP/IP is pretty good, even if you are on a plain old modem. Someone on a 56K could host a game server just fine with little lag. The only problem with TCP/IP is if your computer/ISP isn't that great and if that is the case, don't even try playing TCP/IP as the game is pretty picky.

Are there any problems with the game? Yes, there are some. Most are not major at all, unless you are being picky. The fact that the game uses few colors at a 640x480 resolution and 800x600 for the menus has irked some graphics hounds, but most people realize that it's fine the way it is. It's part of the "Blizzard Trademark".

Another problem is that the game is a little too short. While the four acts take a while to get trough, you end up realizing how short the game was. Nightmare and Hell mode add to the replayability though; to those who love to collect the biggest and best things for their avatar. The quest to be the best and have the best is one of the main features of the Diablo titles that snares people in.

I personally recommend this game to everyone who loves quality, fun games. The only people who might not like Diablo II are those who totally hated the original Diablo, but even those people should try the new and improved sequel. It doesn't hurt to try new things. That is unless it's the hidden Cow Level, which might hurt your death count a bit.