By now I’m guessing regular readers of this site would think I’m tired playing Diablo 3, having already reviewed the original PC release and its Reaper of Souls expansion. But I’m not. When I first played it on PC two years ago, I found the game to be a wonderful experience. Roll back to earlier this year when Reaper of Souls came out for PC alongside a huge patch overhauling many elements of the game, and Diablo 3 quickly became yet another addiction that was hard to walk away from. Now Blizzard has released the Ultimate Evil Edition (UEE) for current and last-gen consoles, further refining Reaper of Souls to yet an even better experience.
I didn’t play the initial console port of Diablo 3 when it was released on PS3 and 360 last year, so playing the game with a controller for the first time in the Ultimate Evil Edition was something that took a few minutes to get used to, but has quickly become a preference that I would love to see supported in the PC version (but realize it likely never will). Direct control of your nephalem of choice gives a great sense of movement and connection to the game that mouse and keyboard can’t replicate. Having not played a monk for any great amount of time on the PC, I opted to play one on the PS4 and found getting used to the skills took a little while. Since I don’t have any experience with the monk on PC, having the various attacks unlock and automatically map to the face buttons and triggers kept me from missing a beat. Playing this game with a gamepad controller just feels so good and natural. Adding the ability to roll dodge out of an enemy’s attack with the right analog stick adds a strategic element that is definitely lacking on the PC.
Loot drops from enemies like candy is showered upon attendees of a local parade, often and in great quantities. Managing loot in UEE is streamlined in such a way that worrying about the inventory is a thing of the past. The ability to mark items as junk and then go to either a vendor or Haedrig the blacksmith and choose the option to sell all junk (or salvage all) with the click of one button is pure genius. Similar to the PC version, UEE displays green up arrows or red down arrows to provide a quick glance at whether a piece of gear is better than what is currently equipped, and pressing Square allows for a deeper look at what specific stats are actually being improved or decreased. Like patch 2.0 on the PC, UEE offers gear drops more in tuned with the character being played, so there’s no more worrying about having an item drop that is high in Intelligence while rolling a character that benefits from high Dexterity. (The one downside to this is finding gear useful for the three companions, where gear for Strength or Intelligence rarely drops when playing a Monk.)
Several other features are brand new to the console-only Ultimate Evil Edition. First up, Blizzard has implemented a mail system where items can be gifted to other gamers on your friend list. What is really neat about this is when a boss or Nemesis battle occurs (more on that in a moment) a chance for legendary items to drop as a gift is pretty high. Once the gift loot is collected, a simple “send now” button from anywhere in the game immediately sends off to a friend. It is pretty awesome to play the game for a while, take a break for a day or two, and then come back to find four or five legendary items appear in the mail.
One of the other additions is the aforementioned Nemesis system, which introduces the chance for a rather nasty-looking beast to invade your game. What makes the Nemesis so much fun is the fact that it is spawned by someone on your friend list who has died in their own game. The Nemesis takes on the attributes of whatever creature killed your friend and epic battles can appear out of nowhere. The subtle buildup of a rumbling controller and a unique musical cue signifies when a Nemesis is about to appear. One time while playing with a group of friends, we had just cleared out a section of desert in Act 2 and we were recovering and looking over our new loot when suddenly we were alerted by the signs of an invading Nemesis and everyone in chat all shouted “Oh shit!” just as the Nemesis spawned. That’s some good fun right there.
While not exactly new to the console editions of Diablo (but new to me), UEE supports the ability to play two player (or up to four if I had that many DualShock 4 controllers) locally at the same time in couch co-op. This is fantastic fun. On top of that, the capability of having friends online join into a local co-op game seamlessly is pretty awesome. What blows me away is how good the game looks while playing with multiple people locally as well as friends joining from online at the same time. I teased my son a bit while playing one night together because the PS4 version looks so amazing compared to his copy on his little ASUS netbook (which is still an impressive nod to Blizzard for getting the game to run on both high and low end PCs and laptops). My only complaint about playing local co-op is the fact that when one person wants to change up skills or check out their new loot, the game pauses into that player’s menu and the other person has to wait however long it takes to make any adjustments. Fortunately, playing locally (and without online friends joining) the game world pauses and no threat of monsters attacking occurs.
The final addition (at least to the consoles) is the change of the endgame and the inclusion of the bounty system and the Nephalem rifts. This was a huge boon for the PC version which breathed new life into the endgame experience, as it gave a reason for wanting to keep playing once Diablo and Malthael were defeated. The ability to change difficulty settings “on the fly” also is a nice touch allowing for better gear, more gold, and additional XP to be earned for Paragon points without first having to drop out of the game, which is the only way to do so in the PC version. Additionally, Blizzard has allowed the previous version of Diablo 3’s character progression to be uploaded to their servers so that they can be imported to whichever console of choice you decide to play on. While this is a nice feature, I wish there was just a touch more Battle.Net integration with the UEE so that I can show off my console heroes in the same way I can on PC.
Fans of Diablo 3 should not miss the Ultimate Evil Edition, while newcomers are in for a real action-RPG treat. A nice bump up visually from the previous console versions is one improvement, but the fact that the endgame now includes the bounty system and rifts means there’s more reasons to keep playing. Joining friends online is so simple, but now being able to play local couch co-op is even more of a win.
Pros:
+ Direct control is awesome
+ Visually amazing
+ Local and online co-op at the same time
+ Fun Nemesis system
+ Mail system allows items to be sent to friends
Cons:
– Not enough time in the day to keep playing
Game Info:
Platform: Reviewed on PS4, also available for PS3, Xbox 360 and Xbox One
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Release Date: 8/19/2014
Genre: Action-RPG
ESRB Rating: Mature
Players: 1-4 (local and online)
Source: Review copy provided by publisher
Patch 2.1.0, the first comprehensive update for Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, is now available across the Americas on PC/Mac. Timing for the update on PS4 and Xbox One hasn’t been announced yet, but Blizzard previously confirmed that both consoles will receive ongoing patch support–including some of the 2.1.0 content–and the ultimate goal is to eventually achieve simultaneous multi-platform update releases. The last-gen PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Diablo III, however, will no longer be supported by content updates.
Hit play on the following walkthrough video for a preview of the update’s main feature additions. Or if you prefer reading to watching, the complete patch notes will provide the massive wall of text you crave. (And I do mean massive!)
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When Diablo III originally launched on PlayStation 3 last year, it came packaged with exclusive bonus items themed after Journey and Uncharted. Blizzard’s offering similar perks with the upcoming PS3 and PS4 versions of Diablo III: Reaper of Souls — Ultimate Evil Edition, which launches August 19th.
Believe it or not, this time around the bonus content is even more awesome. As revealed during Sony’s E3 2014 presentation, there will be a Nephalem Rift randomized dungeon covered with a yellow spore fog effect and populated by a terrifying horde of Stalkers, Clickers, and Bloaters from The Last of Us.
Additionally, PlayStation gamers will receive transmogrification plans for Guise of the Colossi, a six-piece armor set themed after the behemoth bosses in PS2 classic Shadow of the Colossus. Now that’s sweet.
I didn’t care much for Diablo III when I first tried to trudge through it on PS3, but this bonus content makes me want to give it another shot on PS4. I’m a sucker for anything Team Ico related.
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls — Ultimate Evil Edition is available for pre-order now at Amazon.com
Source: Diablo III PS4 Exclusive PlayStation Content Detailed [PlayStation.Blog]
Source: PlayStation Exclusive Content Revealed at E3 [Diablo III]
If Breaking Bad has taught me anything, it is that pure, refined addiction comes in many forms. Like regular meth, Diablo III had a pretty strong hook with some serious side effects. Being able to buy items from the auction house took a lot of fun out of doing runs at the end because there was always the option to simply buy what you wanted. With the auction house existing, the idea of replaying the end game over and over again was diminished because items could be fairly readily acquired (as long as you were willing to pay the ridiculous prices). I’m pretty sure Heisenberg was hired by Blizzard, because the typical addictive hook that Diablo III provided has been taken off the streets and replaced with pure blue crystal meth in the form of the expansion, Reaper of Souls.
Patch 2.0.1 was released almost a month before Reaper of Souls became available. What the patch brought to the table was an overall redesign of the loot table drops and the difficulty settings, and prepared the removal of the auction house. I logged back into Diablo III after 2.0.1 was released to see what the fuss was about, and it was like playing a whole new game.
Difficulty settings have been revamped and now include five levels: Normal, Hard, Expert, Master and Torment. For new players jumping in, Master doesn’t unlock until the game has been completed at least once through, and Torment doesn’t unlock until level 60 has been reached by at least one character. Torment then adds further levels of difficulty by offering a slider to set the difficulty from Torment I through VI. Each increased level of difficulty provides tougher enemies that do more damage with their attacks (naturally), as well as provide a greater percentage of gold, XP, and rare and legendary item drops.
Prior to patch 2.0.1, XP earned after 60 added a limited progression in the form of Paragon leveling that at least offered some incentive to continue grinding the endgame. Post patch, XP earned after 60 takes the notion of Paragon levels and includes a meta-boost across all created characters, similar to the Badass Points in Borderlands 2. Each level of Paragon earned allows a point to be applied to four stat sections, including Core, Attack, Defense, and Utility. These core sections then offer more choices to spend the points across stats such as Strength, Intelligence, Percent Chance to Crit, Area Damage, Resistance bonuses, etc. Similar to how skills can be swapped out on the fly for each character, Paragon points can be reset for a character to help rebalance a particular set of attributes. What is really cool in my opinion is how Paragon points earned and spent on one character aren’t diminished or lost on another character. Meaning, my level 70 Barbarian has earned 28 points and when I started a new Crusader, that character had 28 Paragon points to use as well.
Now enter Reaper of Souls, which has introduced a whole new campaign act. As The Prime Evil was defeated in Act IV of the main game, a new evil–none other than Death–heads up the conflict in Act V. Malthael was once one of the high ranking angels of Heaven, but through conniving and selfish acts done to and by Malthael, his soul became dark, twisted, and consumed with wanting to find where the other angels had hidden the Worldstone. Thus the game changes locations once again to a besieged castle town Westmarch, which leads the nephalem hero (in my case my a Barbarian) to stop Malthael. The journey continues from Westmarch through Briarthorn cemetery, the Ruins of Corvus, the Battlefield of Eternity, and concludes in Pandemonium Fortress. Act V is a deep and satisfying extension to the original campaign that provides a fitting denouement for the three followers, as well as Shen (the jewel artisan) and Haedrig (the blacksmith). Act V also introduces Myriam, a new artisan who can modify a stat on any item, and a new playable class, the Crusader. Once Myriam is unlocked for a higher character, she appears in all of the previous acts and offers new lines of dialog and interactions in the first four chapters. The Crusader class also has been retrofitted into the entire game and there are plenty of new books to discover throughout the course of the original campaign.
After playing through Act V with my Barbarian and reaching the new level cap of 70, I decided to give the Crusader a spin. The Crusader can be viewed as a Paladin of sorts as he is a devout follower of Zakarum and his skills are a mix of protection and healing buffs and attacks of righteous judgment with proficiencies in heavy armor and new weapons like flails. Playing a new class from the beginning always felt like a chore prior to Reaper of Souls; the leveling always felt slow and plodding. With the option of increasing difficulty right from the start, XP bonuses apply and thus leveling occurs much quicker and a wider collection of the spells and abilities unlock at an accelerated pace, making the early sections feel much less of a grind.
As of this writing I’ve managed to bring my new Crusader through the first four acts and have had a lot of fun exploring the different skills; however, I have also been torn by where to spend my focus within Reaper of Souls. Adventure Mode is the new endgame feature which unlocks once Malthael has been dispatched. Adventure Mode offers a fast paced set of bounties that are random in each session and provide quick tasks and a bevy of loot. Each act has five random locations on the map that can be instantly teleported to with a variety of tasks required for completion. Some tasks require you to kill a named rare enemy or 50-100 normal enemies in a given location. Once the given bounty is complete, the next area can be immediately teleported to, and the cycle continues. After all five bounties are completed a Horadric cache loaded with loot is offered up as a reward.
During the course of completing these bounties, Nephalem key shards are also collected to be used for entering Nephalem Rifts. These rifts are random and offer a similar incentive of killing a number of enemies until a meter fills up, at which point an elite boss will spawn in. The reward loop for completing bounties and then rifts is the perfect addiction. Each bounty can be fairly quickly completed. Rifts can take as little as 15 minutes, but my experience has put them closer to 40 minutes each. Of course, all the while running through bounties and rifts, XP is being earned to increase the Paragon leveling which provides further boosting across all characters. Between the XP gain, the loot drops (there is a high chance of legendary or set gear dropping), the endgame found in Reaper of Souls is the closest thing a video game can be to Heisenberg’s blue meth.
Blizzard didn’t stop there either. Reaper of Souls also adds an in-game community feature where guilds can be formed to help farm the high difficulty bounties. Joining a friend or guildmate’s game is seamless and easy. When legendary items drop for guildmates the item is announced in guild chat (which is one more incentive to keep playing).
There were many fans of Diablo II that didn’t like what was originally introduced in Diablo III. While it has taken almost two years, Blizzard has pulled out many of the less than fantastic components of Diablo III and added a truly addictive and fun endgame with the recent patch overhaul and the Reaper of Souls expansion. Even without buying Reaper of Souls, Patch 2.0.1 has revamped the core experience enough to make the game worth revisiting. The new content in Act V plus the repeatable, random bounties and rifts only make the decision to expand your experience with Reaper of Souls a no-brainer. Sorry, Heisenberg, Blizzard is the one who knocks this time.
Pros:
+ Adventure Mode, bounties and rifts strengthen the endgame addiction
+ New artisan and Crusader class integrate across all acts
+ Act V offers a deep story and new locations to explore
+ Guild support
Cons:
– Loss of sleep due to staying up really late
Game Info:
Platform: PC
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Release Date: 3/25/2014
Genre: Action RPG
ESRB Rating: Mature
Players: 1-4
Source: Review code provided by publisher
Reaper of Souls has been officially confirmed today as the first expansion pack for action-RPG Diablo III. It will release for PC/Mac in 2014 (no details yet about console plans) featuring a new chapter set in the city of Westmarch, where the fallen Archangel of Wisdom, Malthael, has been resurrected as the Angel of Death and aims to send the world to its doom after taking control of the Black Soulstone.
Players will be able to take on this quest to bring Malthael to justice as the new Crusader character class, a walking tank of righteousness equipped with heavy armor and holy battle magic capable of buffing friends and weakening foes.
The Reaper of Souls expansion will also increase the level cap to 70 and introduce new spells and abilities for the existing character classes, updated loot systems, additional options for item crafting, enhancements to the Paragon progression system to bolster end-game advancement, added replay value in the form of two new modes called Loot Runs and Nephalem Trials, a whole host of new monsters, quests and randomized environments, and more.
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls‘ opening cinematic, debut gameplay trailer and reveal screenshots are posted below.
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