The Diablo series consists of three action-adventure RPGs (plus expansions) set during a biblical medieval war.
Sex, Drugs & Rock n’ Roll
Violence: Realistic violence and blood is present in all three games. Torture is a common theme.
Horror: Specific religious imagery is present consistently. The protagonist literally descends into hell; possession is a common theme. Although the Diablo games are not considered horror games, much of the imagery is horrific.
Sexual Content: Sexual content is hinted at (for instance, through the presence of succubi) but never elaborated on.
Substance Use: A character in Diablo (the first game) is explicitly drunk the entire time. It is presented as a negative, however.
Nudity and Costuming: There is a substantial amount of waist-up nudity in all three games.
Player Interaction: All three games have a multiplayer component.
Savepoints
In Diablo, players may save at any time, including during fighting. Diablo II allows players to save any time as well; however, they must exit upon saving, and all monsters will respawn. The character will appear back in town, thus losing any progress they may have made in the game since they discovered a “waypoint.” Diablo III saves automatically at intervals (although any gold or objects acquired will remain, regardless).
Story & Themes
The Creators
Blizzard Entertainment
Controversies
Despite the biblical imagery and influences, some of the biggest controversies have been mechanical. Players said that the third game was too colorful and didn’t have the same dark atmosphere that the previous games had. Diablo III also suffered from connectivity issues; you had to be connected to the Internet while playing, even when not playing online, and players were constantly being kicked off servers.
There is also an real-money component to the auction house in the third game, which many players rejected. The auction house will shut down in the early half of 2014, and was not even present in the South Korean version of the game because it would have violated South Korea’s anti-gambling laws.
Conversation Starters
- Where do you think fears of corruption and possession come from? What, historically, might have given rise to these fears?
- Do you think it’s okay for stories to use religion as an aesthetic or setting, without respect for the people who follow those religions in real life?
Jargon
Cow Level is a common term for easter eggs in games. The term comes from the first game, in which a mythical level where players can fight cows with pikes is accessible only via a specific order of operations.
Wirt’s Leg is a recurring theme in Blizzard games since Diablo. A young scammer with a wooden leg named Wirt is a character on the outskirts of town. It is implied that he has died in the second game, since players returning to the town uncover his wooden leg (the leg is necessary in the equation that unlocks the second game’s cow level). In other games it sometimes appears as a special weapon.
Fun Facts
All three games contain a mythical “cow level,” accessible only through secret mechanisms. The cow level is meant to be humorous, and the phrase is sometimes used to refer to easter eggs in general.
