The Horror of the Diablo Series - Hellforge

The Diablo series has become a legend, played by young and old gamers alike. But where did the series start, and where is it headed?

It may be that only a few of us faithfully remember the very first Diablo game. It truly was a terrifying experience. Perhaps it was the fact that the games only style of play was ‘hardcore’ (the death penalty of dieing is…. Death!). Perhaps it was the gruesome way in which your character died, all possessions being tossed to the ground as your hero let out his final scream, heard only by the demons surrounding him. Perhaps it was the torn human carcasses lying about, the hacked soldier that triggered the most fearful quest of all, the rooms filled with blood, the near-naked succubae or the human bodies impaled on poles. Or maybe it was the plain fact that Diablo I was just simply designed to be more gruesome and terrifying than Diablo II. Let’s look at the design decisions between each game to better understand the evolution of Diablo and what we can expect of Diablo III.

To begin lets look at where the current two games took place. Diablo 1 took place in a church (which is creepy as it is) that was filled with demons and zombies. Players continuously travelled downwards into the fiery abyss of Hell. Truthfully, the hero did not know what lay before him, and every few levels the hero would let out utterances like “It’s getting hot down here.” There were no set skills or abilities that the hero began with, the hero had to find these in the form of books or scrolls within the church. The only way to level these skills was to find more books. Additionally the hero never knew what quests lay before him. There were a number of random quests, each having a varying difficulty with very different rewards.
Some quests provided a reward that was well worth the battle to obtain. While other quests, like the infamous Butcher quest; triggered by a hacked soldier’s pleas for vengeance, left players questioning whether or not they should restart the game. The butcher battle alone was petrifying and I’m sure every player’s first encounter with the butcher has become photographed in their minds. The hero sees a room full of naked men and women hacked to pieces stuck on poles and against the wall. Upon opening the door, a giant freaky demon answers with “Ahhh fresh meat!” and then chases you, unrelenting, until you either glitch him or die during your process of kiting. Very few players were strong enough to face the butcher that early in the game. From the butcher onwards the game kept getting darker and the storyline began to unfold. I’d hate to spoil anything, but the storyline involves a young boy having a gem shoved into his skull by a crazed man in the form of a sacrifice, leading to the birth of Diablo.

Now let’s compare Diablo 1 to Diablo II. Players are presented with many different towns and cities rather than just one. They are given a variety of locations to travel to from dark jungles to monasteries to hell itself. Sounds like an improvement already doesn’t it? However, these areas were essentially unmemorable. With the exception of the Durance of Hate of course, which was most like the lower levels of the church in Diablo 1. Not only were these areas relatively blah, they were also wide open. With exception to a few dungeons like the maggot lair and the dark passageway/cave/pit/den of evil the areas had no sense of that claustrophobic feeling Diablo 1 constantly provided. Additionally players always knew what would happen next. Instead of being told to explore the church, they’re told ‘Andarial is in the monastery go kill her’ or ‘Diablo is found in the Chaos Sanctuary at the end of the River of Flame’. Players never experience that ‘oh no what’s going to be waiting for me up ahead.’ To be fair though, there is one situation in which players don’t know what to expect. And that’s the act 2 end boss, Duriel. You’re never told about a giant slug with giant claws waiting for you in a tiny little ‘arena.’ You’re just told Tal Rasha should be on the other side of the entranceway. To me that is one of the only moments that provided the same horrific excitement as Diablo 1.

Also the storyline just doesn’t have that same ‘freaky vibe’ to it. Instead of an innocent having a gem shoved in his head, we have a wanderer spreading evil who eventually becomes Diablo. The story line just isn’t…. as evil, for lack of a better term. Although good in its own right, I would label the Diablo II storyline more of an action/adventure style story rather than the Horror story of Diablo 1.

Additionally, hero’s come with a set of abilities and skills that the player must pick from. This gives the players the ability to create their hero as they see fit. There is no longer that feeling of great joy upon finding a library, hoping that you find another book of mana shield. Every level the player can choose to increase the skill level of one of their hero’s abilities. Unless the player made some terrible mistakes, it was no longer possible to have a well-played hero become useless due to a lack of books found as in Diablo 1.

Essentially, Diablo II was watered down compared to Diablo I in terms of gore/horror. It was a better game for sure, providing more opportunities in character planning and allowing for large variances in tileset and mood. However, in my opinion, the magic of Diablo was the sheer horror the player could feel while playing. Hardcore mode in Diablo II brings some of that back, but it’s still not the same. I for one miss the rooms full of blood and impaled bodies. I think we can all agree Diablo II was made for the masses, it was given a mature rating, but it really didn’t earn it.

I think we can expect the same for Diablo III. The storyline may be full of twists and turns, but I wouldn’t expect any horrific events. Think of a story more like Indiana Jones instead of The Shining. I think the days of sacrificing young princes are over. We’ll have our blood and exploding demon bodies, but don’t expect to find rooms full of naked hacked human corpses. In my opinion we should be expecting an adventure game rather than a Horror RPG; it is the logical direction the Diablo series is taking. With the current rating systems I imagine Diablo III would likely be banned with even one horrific moment. Hell, Hilary Clinton will probably try to ban it anyways, even with all the rainbows.