The GUI occasionally has a lot of transparent overlays, including spell selections and the area map (which you can keep in two different positions), but the action itself is rarely obscured. The inventory subscreens are very straightforward, there are hot buttons for things like the important potion-quaffing commands (healing and mana rejuvenation), and magic spell selection is handled with a nice Metal Gear-style inventory overlay in one corner. Gameplay At first glance, it's easy to say 'Oh, that's Diablo,' but it's worth noting that the console port of the first Diablo played very poorly, while Dark Alliance controls as smoothly as you please with the interface provided by the Dual Shock 2.

If you're not convinced yet, well, perhaps we'll have to descend a few levels deeper. Even if longevity is a consideration, though, Dark Alliance is a cut above in that respect, with an engaging story, asubstantially different experience for each of the three character classes, and a brilliant multiplayer option. You get the idea, right? I suppose there are some gamers out there who would eventually cool on the prospect of running around, hacking things, building up a character, and charging back out into the fray for more running and hacking, but we'll quietly gloss over that possibility here. It has deep dungeons, twisting passages, tricky puzzles, dangerous traps, a wide variety of opponents, and +3 Masterwork Flaming Long Swords. In terms of depth, there will not ever be anything to touch the glory of NetHack, but Dark Alliance does more than enough to make it a standout in the genre. It is based, after all, on one of the most reliable concepts in videogames.

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