The time has come! Well, kind of. Blizzard, they have finally brought us ‘Diablo 2: Resurrected’ in the form of their Early Access BETA. A labour of love for the Diablo series, the hard-working team at Blizzard has remastered this timeless, classic RPG. Diving into the Early Access BETA, MKAU gives you our first impressions and preview.

The cut scenes are so cinematic you will be blown away. This will be the first thing you notice as you load up the game, just the pristine clarity and detail in each scene is breathtaking.

Running at up to 4K Resolution on PC, the graphics have been completely overhauled, and even on the Xbox Series X, all environments, creatures, spells, and even fire textures have been rebuilt from the ground up. When compared to the older version the clear difference is like two different games. The graphics are just that impressive.

So far, the BETA gives you access to the first 2 Acts to work your way through with hours and hours of content and objectives. With 5 classes available; Amazon, Barbarian, Sorceress, Druid, and Paladin, you will find the Assassin and Necromancer locked until the full release. Understandable as they are fun as hell classes. The story and gameplay are the same classic tale we know and love, however, it would have been nice to see a reworked map, something I found tedious compared to Diablo 3.

What has been reworked though are the ladders for season progressions, the stash, and the user interface. This means now you can store more items in your upgraded private stash at base and also the character stat page and item comparisons are a lot cleaner and user friendly. This is a problem a lot of retro games had with menus so it was a joy to see it simplified.

Totally unexpectedly, I was shocked at how fabulous the music and atmosphere was. The music slapped hard, with drums and guitars delivering bangers as you battled demons from below. The atmospheric background noises of murky dungeons and creepy forests also fit the theme too appropriately and set every scene’s mood perfectly.

The game will offer both online and offline play, a solo journey, or with a private party. More sneakily, Blizzard has also decided to quietly remove peer-to-peer multiplayer meaning no LANs and the constant need to be on battle.net. Something I loathe the idea of. It’s Diabolical that companies try to lock consumers in but hey that’s the future sadly.

Diablo 2: Resurrected also boasts all the extra content of old too with the full release on September 23rd also including the expansion Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction and cross-progression so your saves can cross no matter what platform you choose as your weapon against the demons of hell.

Overall, the BETA was a decent experience, despite my chronic deaths to the spawns of primes. I truly look forward to the full release and to see what else is up for offer as this little taste was not enough.

Written by: Stacey