Diablo had a catastrophic effect on the video game industry when it was released in 1996. It took the mass mob combat from arcade games like Gauntlet and the Dungeon Delving from text based rogue-likes and birthed the isometric action RPG. The following are amazing games in their own right, they are not exact copies of Diablo but do feature a lot of elements pioneered byBlizzard’s beloved franchise and we feel they are extremely worthy of any isometric action RPG fan’s time. The following games as a rule must feature: an RPG statistics, isometric perspective and real time combat so don’t expect to see the Neverwinter Nights.

Winners:

1) Titan Quest & Titan Quest Immortal Throne

Photo courtesy of THQ

Titan Quest was a shot in the arm for Diablo fans. After so many years of lackluster Diablo clones Iron Lore Entertainment went out to create a loot fest worthy of the void. Titan Quest took the modern approach and created its world in full 3D and while it wasn’t the first of the genre to make the leap it definitely was the first to do it right. Titan Quest gave us a beautiful world of ancient mythology to explore, you take up the role of a warrior of antiquity and strike out against the god rebelling titans. Titan Quest provided a unique approach to character building with an open “tree” approach that allowed you to mix and match classes. Titan Quest was critically acclaimed but many felt it was a little too close to Diablo. Regardless it’s worth your time. You can get Titan Quest Gold on Steam for20 bucks.

2) Sacred Gold

Photo courtesy of Encore

Sacred took another approach to filling the massive PC action RPG boots – by adding more CRPG elements. Sacred is at heart an action RPG like Diablo but it provides a world more in line with classic RPGS; choice, branching paths, an open world and a living world provide something Diablo only touched upon. One of my favorite things about Sacred is the games eight characters, who all feature multiple character build options. Each of the characters will start the game in a different part of the world and begin the game’s main quest in a different way. To have the Wood Elf character start the game amongst the wood elves seems like a no brainer but Sacredwas the first game to give the games characters a sense of geographical realism. Sacred didn’t quite make the radical leap that Titan Quest did, it contains pre rendered backgrounds and 3D characters allowing you to zoom in on combat action or pull back the camera for travel. Kudos for horse travel and the amazing underworld expansion pack. You can get Sacred Gold at gog.com for ten bucks.