This is undeniably an excellent expansion and a definite must for a Diablo 2 fan. I bought this just a few days after it came out for the hefty price of $34.95...a little too much in my opinion.

Here's the rundown of the positives and negatives.

Pros -

1) Two definite pros are the Assassin and Druid class. These two classes add a lot of fun to the game. The new druid class is one of my favorites. He's somewhat like a Necromancer in having summoning abilities, but is also powerful as a result of his ability to shapeshift.

The assassin on the other hand is a bit more dull but I still enjoyed using her. She's very much like an Amazon in her form of fighting. Her close-up fighting skills are so-so, but she can set traps and boost her speed/resistance, etc. to make up for it. Traps are a must for the Assassin. It allows her to set up an invisible sentry that shoots lighting, fire, etc for around 6-10 times depending on spell. These traps do a lot of damage (I killed Diablo using just traps) and are pretty much the staple attack in my opinion for the assassin.

2) A lot of reviews don't have much to say about the new act, but I've beaten the expansion already, and I can say it's a good one. The barbarians are basically under siege by Bhaal (overlord of all evil) and it's all shown in a long FMV that looks simply amazing. The only negative is that the final act doesn't tie in much with Diablo 2 at all and has a short but unsatisfying ending.

3) Quests in the new act are interesting, far more than any of the previous ones. Most of the quests are rescue missions but have many steps to complete them, sending you to many places. The rewards of the quests are very cool. One allows you to personalize an item with your name on it, and another allows you to add sockets to any item (including magical ones), which can really boost a powerful unique or rare you might have.

The new Act set in the Barbarian Highlands features a huge landscape to explore, and there are many portals to go through branching off to different environments. It is slightly longer than playing a single act but shorter than playing two acts. As Blizzard promised, the new Act does have more of a battle-like feel. AI controlled barbarians are seen fighting in the battlefield and catapults shoot fire and ice from afar. There are miniture castles to run through as you advance on the battlefield and different gates and guard towers to destroy as you make your way through. The action is more intense than the other acts featured in Diablo 2.

4) The other pros of the expansion come in more subtle forms. An expanded stash is crucial for constructing perfect skulls and perfect gems, and also storing the new variety of items available in the expansion.

5) The new items are unique and interesting. There are items that repair themselves automatically, and rings that have a 30% chance of casting cold frost when hit. There are also ethereal items; items that can't be replaced but usually have a Def of around twice your best item. Nothing here significantly changes the gameplay of the original, but simply adds a new flavor.

6) The best pro I would say is in the helper characters. The characters that you hire no longer are mindless suicide drones but actually fight better and level up. They can also be equipped with items: a helmet, body armor, and weapon. This allows you to better customize you hireling. If they die, they can be resurrected for a price according to their level. You stick to the same hireling, so if you hired an archer in Act 1 you can continue to use the same archer in other acts. If they die, they keep the armor/weapons they had when they are resurrected. I had my archer to level 40 by the last act, and it was pretty useful in fighting in normal battles. However in boss battles, my archer died almost instanteously...the AI still sucks against bosses. Another bonus is that hirelings can be healed. However there is no shortcut key in doing so, and you'll need to run away and drop a potion on the mini-portrait in the upper left to do so. (If anyone knows a shortcut key or a faster way please tell).


Cons -

1) This one is a killer, and it's part of the jump from 640x480 resolution to 800 x 600. The game slows down and clips!! I've tried everything I could to optimize my PC, I have an Athlon 700 with 384 MB of RAM and a GeForce card and I still get clipping. This isn't fixed in patch 1.01 either, it's apparently a pretty big problem. The clipping can be a matter of life and death in certain situations and can get you killed. The so-called higher resolution is probably not worth it, although it does look significantly better.

2) Act V ending was a bit of a disappointment. The FMV was short but somewhat cool. However it was not quite related to Bhaal's death and didn't have much closure. It showed something along the lines of good destroying evil and then faded out and congratulated me on winning the game.

3) It's darned pricey for something that only adds 3-4 hours of new gameplay. However for the bonuses I suppose it's a must-have...you won't get far in battle.net anymore without this expansion.

4) The new bad guys are somewhat of a disappointment, especially Bhaal. I completely destroyed Bhaal my first time through with my Assassin on level 40. I simply set lightning traps, hid behind the pillar and within 5 minutes he was dead. He's nowhere as cool looking as Diablo and not really quite what I expected...I was expecting a bigger more scary creature as seen in the beginning FMV. However the actual sprite is tiny, and looks pretty pathetic, especially when he blows up into a strange green pool of light.

5) It's still ugly. Diablo 2 was grainy and folks complained that the graphics were almost the same as Diablo. Well the trend is still there. Same grainy, hard to see characters, even with the resolution on 800 x 600. It's amazing! The new bad guys are even grainy and yes even Bhaal is a strange pixelated blob.

6) Finally- there's no drool material. Most of the time Blizzard makes you want to buy the next game by showing some stunning FMV or leaving you with a pretty annoying cliffhanger. None here. It would have been nice just to see a tidbit of Diablo 3 or more of Warcraft III.

Final Score – 9.5

Overall a fun addon, not really worth the price in my opinion, but if you are a hardcore battle.net type, everything you’d want to see in an expansion is there. Some minor glitches with the resolution, and a patch needs to be applied right away, but otherwise a perfect continuation of everything Diablo 2.




Recommended: Yes