Diablo: The Hell 2 Is the Ultimate Way to Play Diablo 1

I think I might have posted about this several years ago. 

Diablo 1 is a pretty old game that redefined the RPG genre for decades to come. Released in late 1996, most of its systems and features still hold up today. But it does feel dated. 

By default, nowadays, the game's resolution is pretty low and it's in 4:3, so it's stretched out when you play on a widescreen monitor. And it's pixelated. A lot. Add to that the fact that it's a 1996 game, and you'll notice weird user interfaces, like the way you trade with NPCs by scrolling down lists of items without much detail. So weird and outdated. Not user-friendly at all. That's just a small example, here. 

Now, a guy known as Mordor created an extensive, giant mod, that brings Diablo 1 back to today's standards. Again, it's a GIANT mod in active development as we speak. Pretty crazy when you think about it. 

It's amazing. Once you've tried it, you can't go back to old vanilla Diablo 1. I promise. 

Let's check it out. You'll find links to download the mod and everything you need to know at the end of this post. 

First, the atmosphere

It's still there, 100%. Tristram has never felt so crisp, especially in 4K resolution. It's now possible to set up the game's resolution to pretty much anything, even widescreen resolutions. Do you want the classic field of view? Fine. Do you want to see a whole mile around your character, in 4K resolution? You can do that too!  

The music and sound effects are still the same, in high quality. Additional ambiance tracks were added by Mordor. It feels amazing. It all blends perfectly. 

The dungeons, catacombs, and all classic levels are back, harder and better. Feels all right. 

Here's a screenshot of the game in 4K. Let me tell you, it feels perfect. It's Diablo 1 as it's always been. As it's always felt.  Notice how small the UI is compared to the screen, and also, how far we see around the character. 

The town in Diablo feels amazing,  there's something about it that you can't find anywhere else. 

Then, the GUI

Alright, let's face it, some of Diablo 1's interfaces were crap. As mentioned earlier, think about trading with NPCs. Scrolling through lists of items, not always sure which one is which. Oops, sold something you wanted to keep! Bought something you thought would be good, but it's absolute shit. Ah, good memories! 

Here's a screenshot of the interface you're presented with in the original game. It works fine, but it's not user-friendly according to today's standards. 

Now in Diablo: The Hell 2, we have GUIs similar to those we had in Diablo 2. Check it out: 

It almost feels uncanny when you look at it carefully. They even split the basic and premium items into 2 separate tabs, to keep things close to how they were in vanilla Diablo. 

Numbers are also displayed in your life and mana orbs, as shown above. Small details that make sense. 

New features? 

Yes, tons of them! 

One of them is the new game changers, that allow you to customize your experience. They're like modifiers, so to speak. And they make the game harder, basically. Because, why not? Diablo 1 was moderately hard. Harder than D2. Well, here with The Hell 2, it's super hard. So thanks to those modifiers, you can make it even harder. Have fun! 

Most spells have been revamped, and many new spells were added too. I didn't try much of them, though, because I haven't played the mage class in The Hell 2 yet. 

As you level up your character, you also gain perk points. It's very reminiscent of Path of Exile's passive skill points but in a list instead of a skill tree. Bonus stats, more luck finding items, more accuracy, more armor, etc. It makes things way deeper and more engaging. 

Gems have also been added to the game and Griswold the blacksmith will offer you to craft them to refine their quality. 

Also added to the game is a personal stash for your hero. No need to dump items you want to keep in town. You can now talk to Gillian and she'll offer you to store items in a stash. Whenever you need these items back, talk to Gillian to pick them up from your stash. The stash used to be shared between all your characters, but that's not the case anymore, as far as I know. 

Here's a screenshot showing some of the game changers available when you create your new hero: 

Here's one of the perks you unlock when leveling up: 

Diablo The Hell 2 requires Diablo 1's expansion pack, Hellfire. So it includes everything the expansion had to offer and more. You'll find several new dungeons, new quests, and new character classes. 

Here's a screenshot of the Crypt. It's the level 21 dungeon, after the Hell levels. It looks creepy and ominous.  

Same good old gameplay?

The gameplay is pretty similar, yet very different. In non-combat situations, your character is now able to run. That's kind of a revolution compared to your old D1 character dragging ass around town for endless minutes. You'd walk forever in town, going from one NPC to the other... Let alone walk in dungeons while lost. 

So yeah, that helps a lot with the flow of the game. In combat situations, your character walks at the usual, classic pace. Speaking of combat: Take note that as long as there are active monsters around you, you can't leave an area. You can no longer escape certain death by using a town portal. The only way out is through! 

The overall combat experience remains the same. It's just as good if not better. Except it's harder. Like, much harder. Punishingly harder. I'm not kidding. lvl01 has never felt as hard as this, it's a constant struggle to stay alive. Down to the Catacombs? Get ready to get wrecked by hoards of goatmen. Down the caves? Oh boy! I mean... Even the Infested Cellar is dangerous, can you believe it? And The Butcher! LOL "Aaah! Fresh Meat!"

Another thing that overhauls the gameplay, is the new nearly infinite variety of items and their quality. It's now way more interesting to pick up stuff and check it out, identify it and sell it. In my opinion, it no longer feels like a kind of useless, endless grind. Add to that the redefined economy, and it's required to trade with NPCs as much as possible, more than ever before. 

Memories, memories! 

The items you sell are worth a lot less in this mod, so make sure you return to town with valuable items that NPCs will give you good money for. Especially considering the $100 cost of identifying individual items. 

Oh, no more piles of 5,000 gold in your inventory. The inventory now has a dedicated spot for gold, like in Diablo 2. 

Any dealbreakers? 

Let's get serious here. Diablo The Hell 2 is amazing in every regard. It's a masterpiece of a mod. It brings Diablo 1 back to the 2020s. It makes Diablo 1 better, period. It's D1 at its ultimate peak. 

Anything weird, that doesn't work properly? As far as I know, The Hell 2 doesn't introduce anything that breaks the game or makes it any less good than it could or should be. It's that good of a mod. 

So, short answer: No! 

My only gripe with Diablo The Hell 2, is actually with Diablo 1 in general. It's the XP grind. Oh my God... When you're used to playing Diablo 2 or Path of Exile, you get used to leveling up relatively fast. In Diablo 1, you level up slowly. Very slowly. Monsters give so little XP, and leveling up requires SOOO MUUUCH XP, it's incredibly long to level up a character. Huge time investment, here, from my experience. But, that's just me being used to other games. I'm not patient enough anymore. 

It's the only negative thing I'll ever say about Diablo 1 and Diablo The Hell 2. I wish Mordor would have made things a little faster XP-wise. Maybe not as fast as Path of Exile, but perhaps something closer to Diablo 2. That's again from my own personal experience. 

Alright, I think that's all I had to say about this amazing mod for now. Down below are the links to acquire Diablo 1 if you don't have it already, then download and install The Hell 2 mod. 

Links, setup, and requirements

To play Diablo The Hell 2, you need the original Diablo 1 and its expansion, Hellfire. If you're super old-school and own a CD copy of the game, then you can install it this way. If you don't, here's a link to GOG.com, a site where you can buy a digital copy of Diablo 1 and Hellfire: Diablo + Hellfire on GOG.com

Then you download The Hell 2 on moddb.com: Diablo: The Hell 2 mod - Mod DB. Scroll down a little, and you'll see the download links for the current official release and the optional music pack. These are ZIP files. 

Now all you have to do is install Diablo 1 and Hellfire using the GOG installer. Then you extract The Hell 2 and its music pack inside the folder you installed Diablo 1 into. 

Run TH2.EXE, and you're ready to hack and slash like it's 1996! 

Have fun!