[LoD v1.09x] Demon Trip v1.0 by Brother Laz

[LoD v1.09x] Demon Trip v1.0 by Brother Laz

Description: Reviewed by Maxx Power for the Phrozen Keep.

Categories: Mod Reviews


After the untimely disaster that was the multi-player
review, it allowed me to appreciate the worth of the single player. It’s
ultimately more convenient for me, and allows for my own, unique brand of
reviewing. I.e. playing once through normal with two completely different
characters, and then hacking the code to see what can be done at higher levels.



Hence this review returns to the more regular routine
before the multi-player test. Stepping up to the plate this week is Demon
Trip
, albeit it’s first guise (fileplanet refuses to let me download Demon
Trip 2
as of yet). One of the more interesting mods out there, it’s
thrusts upon you the ability to wreck havoc on the monsters of Sanctuary as…a
monster. Unless I was sure I am teetotal, I could have sworn I was
hallucinating.



What Works


Perhaps the largest part of this mod to cover would be the
new character classes. Although limited to only four classes (a step down from
the original Diablo, let alone LOD), these new demonic creatures offer a brand
new insight into the Diablo playing experience. As a Succubus, Megademon, Fallen
Shaman or a Cantor, you too can rip up the land, “prime-evil stylée”.



The originality in this mod is uncanny. The fact that my
dreams of tearing away from the usual character classes into, unknown
territories. Finally it appears as though my prayers have been answered. The new
monsters are a joy to get into playing, with the new skills offering an insight
into Diablo not touched upon in other mods. The idea of totally rebuilding the
character classes from near scratch would be frowned upon by many mod makers,
but pushing the envelope forward, this mod should be inspiring people to try
something a bit different with their mods.



New lighting affects added to the mod also add that needed
edge to Diablo. This subject is something I usually don’t look into. After
all, who cares about a bunch of pretty lights designed to rival aurora borealis?
However, the mod makers have excelled themselves. Characters glows bright green
against the darkness of the over-world. Entire areas are bathed in an eerie aura
of dark-crimson. This is something I’ve rarely seen taken into affect on mods.
However, after Demon Trip, I will be a
feature I will look into in the future.



Speaking of lighting effects, another addition to the mod
would be the use of spell affects. Although the original spell effects of
vanilla Diablo were impressive in their own right, the new spell affects to be
found in this mod far outstrip their original Diablo counterparts, for monsters
and…monster alike. Icy-blue bolts fly across the landscape, while a barrage of
lighting charges towards your hapless demonic hero. The effect created through
this has to been seen to be believed, but trust me when I said that it’s worth
seeing in the flesh.



What Doesn’t Work


While Demon Trip

may spot some of the most outstanding cosmetic designs since the tower of babel,
the gameplay side of the mod leaves much to be desired. Whilst amongst the
various effects and spells, it’s easy to forget that, in the long run, it’s
the gaming aspect of Diablo which becomes central.



It seems like the umpteenth time I’ve mentioned this, but
here it goes again. The mod has balancing issues. Constantly I’m reminded that
even the original Diablo was unbalanced in many ways from my adventures on the
realms. However, some of inclusions into this mod leave much to be desired. For
started, the amount of “based on character level” mods are incrediable.
Almost every prefix/suffix to be found is accompanied by its “b-o-c-l”
equivalent. Although this means that items become more useful, and therefore
making it easier to find equipment worth having, it makes many rare items
grossly powerful. On several occasions I found rares that were much more
powerful than their unique counter-parts, having twenty plus mods attached to
them, a large majority of them increasing the my stats by about twenty or more,
with an extra two or three every level.



Not only this, but the new skills found on the characters
are confusing, ranging from the near-useless to the over-powerful. The fact that
any indication as to which skills will be more powerful when you are able to get
to them is unavaible, it’s mainly a hit-and-miss affair. Since damage display
doesn’t show up properly, its almost a hundred percent guess work on your
part. The mod does try to balance this by including three skill points per
level. However, this raises the problem that once you have gotten your head
which skills are worth your points, it means that you can create over-powerful
gods of the underworld, with a combination of destructive skills and equipment
that would make Tyreal himself tremble.



And as final thought, seeing as though your heading out to
destroy the forces of evil using the forces of evil, perhaps as a final irony,
that the actual monsters were replaced by their human counterparts. Adding an
extra edge to the mod, and truly making it a trip down demon lane. Perhaps the
three prime evils replaced with the character classes (though I am sure as to
the sheer amount of speculation there would be as to which character class was
chosen for which boss). Although this doesn’t alienate the gaming experience,
it is an opportunity I believe was sorely missed out by the makers of Demon
Trip.



Conclusion

As a mod, Demon Trip is
a piece of originality rarely seen through the modding community. It offers
players what appears on the surface to be a brand new diablo experience. After
all, how many of us have toiled with the idea of jumping ship and be the ones
dishing out the pain to the “Warriors of light”. For the most part, visually
at least, Demon Trip works quite well.
It gives the player eye-candy and light-shows beyond their normal capacity, and,
in all fairness, does offer something different to the usual array of mods to be
found in the wilderness.



However, Demon Trip
lacks at the very center of Diablo, the ever important gameplay. The hugely
unbalanced equipment to be found, as well as the confusing skills, come together
to reduce the game to either an uphill struggle akin to climbing K2, or a wrath
of destruction that would make the three prime evils cower behind a rock. The
ever elusive happy medium is still out of reach, and Demon
Trip
has quite a way to go before it can hope to see it as a dot on the
horizon.



And before you all ask, I am very well aware of the
existence of Demon Trip 2,
and intend to review it at the appropriate moment. However, after spending
two weeks playing Demon Trip, I’m
going to have to spend a bit of time with my old pals from Diablo. If you are
really interested, fileplanet won’t let me download it. Blame them!



The Demon Trip mod has since been discontinued.

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[url=https://www.d2mods.info/forum/kb/viewarticle?a=106&sid=77cc6426eab8928efad4c675f43a022b]Knowledge Base - [LoD v1.09x] Demon Trip v1.0 by Brother Laz[/url]