Top 5 Best Diablo Clones

As everyone awaits more Diablo III goodness to be trickle down Blizzard's milky teat, there are more than a few games out there to provide us with our Diablo "fix", as I like to call it. A legion of Diablo "clones" that are simply waiting to be played. While not clones in the strictest sense of the definition, they most certainly borrow the core concepts that made the Diablo series a success. They're good games, and if you're a fan of Diablo, you'll definitely want to play them.

Mythos
Developer: Flagship Studios Seattle

Mythos certainly deserves a place on this list as it was arguably one of the most faithful ‘clones' of Diablo. It was under development by Flagship Studios' Seattle branch. Travis Baldree, who had previously worked on the popular indie Diablo clone Fate oversaw the development of Mythos.

Mythos had a lot of things going for it, including a persistent online environment, unique races and classes with different skill trees, practical achievements, and extensive crafting system. Mythos' closed beta was well underway, and had Flagship Studios not suffered financial difficulty due to the problems relating to Hellgate: London, Mythos would have seen the light of day in only a matter of months.

Not perfect in its Beta state by any stretch of imagination, Mythos did however deliver a fantastic hack and slash experience with the classic elements of unique loot, random quests and cooperative gameplay.

Despite the fact that Mythos is more or less over with the dissolution of Flagship Studios, the developers responsible for the game including Travis Baldree have since reformed as a new company called Runic Games and have stated their intent to develop a newer and better online action RPG. With no intentions to go directly head to head with the upcoming Diablo 3, the new game is set to feature a persistent online environment and a bunch of other things. We hope.

Divine Divinity

Developer: Larian Studios

Release Date: 2002

Official Website

Here's an RPG that borrows as much from Diablo as it does from Origin's RPG classic, Ultima VII. Despite the game's role-playing features and interactive environments, much of the game consists of hacking and slashing random monsters, Diablo style.

The one thing that really sets Divine Divinity from every other game on this list is its strong storyline and fleshed out setting. It's rare enough to find a game that puts so much emphasis on its story, much less an action RPG which does so.

Divine Divinity foregoes the typical high fantasy setting for a dark age fantasy setting, in a world ravaged by plagues and set in the aftermath of the king's death. I'd say more, but I'd be entering spoiler territory. Needless to say, it's a cool setting rife with politics, treason and all that fun stuff.

Another thing that really makes Divine Divinity a very neat game is that it really rewards you for exploration. You can actually move stuff like furniture around. How cool is that? There are plenty of hidden caches lying around. On top of that, doing certain quests and discovering things can also lead to the discovery of new skills and other hidden features.

Skip the faux-'sequel', Beyond Divinity, though. It just doesn't measure up to its predecessor.

A real sequel is currently in the works, with dragons.

Dungeon Siege 2

Developer: Gas Powered Games

Release Date: August 16, 2005

Official Website

Let me say right off the bat that I hated Dungeon Siege. It wasn't a bad game by any means, but nonetheless, I did not enjoy it. It played itself and all you had to do was click to move and spam the heal potion button every once in awhile. In stark contrast, Dungeon Siege 2 does not in fact play itself. In fact, I'd say that Dungeon Siege 2 is a lot of fun.

It's set in a fantasy-steampunk world with clockwork devices, Uruk Hai-like legions of bad guys, crossbows, dryads who live in trees and elves. The story's pretty run of the mill, but the locations are varied enough and the NPCs are somewhat interesting, though they are nowhere close to reaching Bioware-levels of character depth.

You don't control a single character in the game; you control a party. While the game does operate with a pause-and-play mechanic, you'll find yourself simply plowing through the game in real time. It's kind of like what Diablo 2 would be if your mercenaries and followers had special attacks that you could use every once in awhile.

Personally, I liked the loot. The loot was randomized and you had to grind for it in multiplayer just as you would in Diablo 2, but it wasn't too bad. If there's anything bad about it, it'd have to be the unstable multiplayer mode. I just don't know what the deal was with that, but I couldn't enjoy it because of the lag. It was fun on LAN and single player, though. So there's that.

If you had reservations about Dungeon Siege 2 because you played the previous game, just give the demo a try. Trust me when I tell you that it's not the same game. Did I mention that there's gore and giant boss fights?

Titan Quest

Developer: Iron Lore

Release Date: June 26, 2006

Official Website

Titan Quest is arguably the one Diablo clone that manages to capture the visceral feel of Diablo's combat and take it to a whole new level. **** goes flying when you hit it with a bat. The only problem with all this hilarious brutality is that there's no blood or dismemberment, so they feel like little more than indestructible ragdolls.

On the one hand, it's very satisfying to see a monster go flying after you swat it with a maul, but on the other hand it's very disappointing when they don't explode into a fine bloody mist or have body parts flying away when you throw a fireball at them. It's simply not vicious enough.

Now don't get me wrong. It's just that I'm the kind of person who enjoys graphic violence and Titan Quest is just one of those games that doesn't quite do it for me.

Regardless, Titan Quest almost manages to make up for its lack of proper violence with a healthy amount of phat loot. The amount of loot you'll find in the game is just staggering. Each and every item meticulously modeled and skinned to ensure that your character looks unique with the equipment you have equipped.

There are 8 unique classes in the game or 9 classes if you include the expansion pack. What separates Titan Quest apart from other games is the fact that you can mix and match classes as you see fit. Each class has different skills to mix things up. Building characters is half the fun. At least I found it to be so. Because there are so many different combinations of skills and classes, it's good that the game even allows you to retrain your skills down the line for a fee.

One problem this game has is that it all starts to feel very stale after awhile. The locations are too limited in number and they're all static locations. I have no problem with the game's seamless, transition-free outdoor locations. It's just that there are no randomized dungeons to mix things up.

Another problem is that the security in the game's multiplayer mode really sucks. Unless you're playing with friends, expect to encounter nothing but cheaters.

It's a pity that Iron Lore no longer exists, but it was a good run. 

Sacred

Developer: Ascaron Entertainment

Release Date: 2004

Official Website

I like Sacred for many reasons. What sets Sacred apart from many of its counterparts is its seamless open-ended environment. There are a number of unique classes with separate vignettes and individual back stories.

The game's pretty big, split into multiple chapters loosely strung together by a story that doesn't really attempt to be anything more than a plot created to cue various dungeons and locations. It's got plenty of humor in it, though. If anything is for sure, it's that the game doesn't take itself very seriously.

The game is not however without features that rather detract from the overall experience. The skill system that exists in the game is also somewhat confusing. Instead of using traditional skill trees, skills are learned from drops that you pick up like loot. Trying to find the right skills for your character can be pretty annoying.

Did I mention the mounts? Yeah, they're in the game, but they're useless for anything apart from getting you from one place to another.

All in all, the game is fun to play, and in the end that's the only thing that matters. It's got a few features that miss the target but the gameplay really makes up for it. It's not one of those games that begin to feel stale after awhile, either. There's enough violence and dismemberment to mix things up. Did I mention the gore? There's giant dragons, too.

The sequel, Sacred II, should be out pretty soon.

In conclusion, if you need a Diablo fix, these are some of the games that should keep you occupied for awhile until Sacred II comes out. With any luck, we might even see Diablo III next year.

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Tags:

Diablo 3, World of Warcraft

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