Diablo 2: Resurrected was announced during BlizzCon 2021’s opening ceremony, and the updated version of the classic dungeon-crawler makes significant improvements to the visuals–to the point that it almost looks like a brand-new game. However, Blizzard’s track record with remastered games is spotty, particularly after Warcraft III: Reforged released to a negative reception due to missing features and few meaningful improvements. Blizzard is looking to avoid a similar fate for Diablo 2: Resurrected.
Speaking to GameSpot’s Alessandro Fillari during BlizzCon, designer Andre Abrahamian said the team knew it needed to maintain the core gameplay of the original Diablo 2 when it started on the project. It isn’t designed to replace that game, either, as both will still be available through Battle.net. If players prefer the older version, they’re still able to play it, instead.
Producer Matthew Cederquist added that there will also be a technical alpha test happening shortly that will allow players to provide feedback on the game so far, which Blizzard will then do its best to implement. If the developers felt something was straying too far from the original formula while designing the new version, however, it wasn’t implemented, so it should still feel like Diablo 2 for veterans.
Diablo 2: Resurrected is coming to PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, and PS5 later this year. The game’s development team includes Vicarious Visions, which was folded into Blizzard recently. It previously created the excellent Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 remake, so it has experience with giving older games a makeover.
GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.
