|
|
(Expansion game for Diablo II) For PC |
|
Plot. This is a true expansion of Diablo II. It has the 4 Acts of the original, plus the expansion includes 1 more Act, with 6 new quests to complete. The story line is pretty much stated above; Kill everything that moves until you get to Baal, the kill him too. There is some attempt at some minor subplot, saving the town under siege, and killing off the chief of the village, because he has sold his soul to Baal. The ending after you kill Baal was kinda disappointing and abrupt. Graphics. The graphics, though not the cutting edge eye candy of other games, are a small but noticeable amount better than that in the basic game. Major improvements include enhanced display controls for the Automap, contrast, etc, and now you can play in 600x800 resolution, which really rocks. Sound. No major changes in the sound department of which I'm aware. If you have never played Diablo before, the sound, while not exactly up to SDDS, Dolby, and THX standards, is important in that it gives you more information than an average game does. Diablo has an array of sound effects that clue you into all sorts of details, from type of monster, to types of attack, whether one hits or blocks, items being dropped, etc. This is actually a little different from most games, which just use sound effects for realism, and in many cases, the sound could be turned off on such games, and no real loss of information occurs. Gameplay. Control-wise, the game still plays the same. You have a 3rd person point of view, and you walk around and kill stuff a la Zelda. Ok, time for a list of all the spiffy changes to the basic game. In the expansion, there are 2 new character classes, and Assassin and a Druid. The Assassin can do martial arts, ninja type stuff, and set booby-traps. The druid can turn into a werewolf or were-bear, and can summon a legion of furry critters to his aide. There are now all sorts of special rune stones and crystals, as well as class specific items. You can also carry more junk and money in your stash. There are news sets of items, and new monsters. In short, EVERYTHING has been expanded. Difficulty. Act V isn't too terribly hard on normal difficulty, though Baal is much harder to kill than Diablo. The game does have multiple difficulty settings though. I imagine Act V would be ungodly hard at the highest difficulty setting. Spiffy Stuff. Two new character classes, and all new junk to collect! Also you can play Diablo II and the expansion versions off the same disc, so no changing discs to play whichever version of the game you want. Also you can update your old characters to the expansion version, which gives you access to all the new stuff you can get. Replay Value. Diablo has always had a very high replay value because every time you play a new game, all the maps are random generated, as is which enemies you will find in an area, and what items you can find. The game engine has enough random factors to always keep the game fresh. Overall. If you liked Diablo II, then you will like the expansion. For $35 you get a new Act, 6 new quests with rewards, 2 new character classes with new skills, and a whole assortment of new and expanded stuff to kill or find. Diablo II is one of biggest games out there, and I believe the expansion broke all sorts of sales records. And remember, if you get tired of single player, multiplayer or Battle.net is always good for a change. Overall, I've put in *way* too many hours on this game since I bought it earlier this month. Final Ratings:
|
|
| [Back to Collector Times] |
| [Prev.] | [Return to Reviews] | [Return to Gaming] | [Disclaimer] | [Next] |
|
|
|