Story/Graphics/Audio
The PC gaming crowd have already spent countless hours playing Diablo 3 and its 1st expansion pack, Reaper of Souls. Current and past-gen console owners who are diving into this popular action-RPG for the 1st time won’t have to wrap their heads around an intricate plot. All there needs to be known is this – an overwhelming evil presence is beginning to take shape in the dark fantasy realm of Sanctuary. You and your chosen avatar (Witch Doctor, Barbarian, Wizard, Monk, Demon Hunter or Crusader) must venture into a wealth of different locations and eventually vanquish Diablo himself.
As for the added expansion pack, it centers on another simple storyline that’s all about taking down the sole antagonist of the story – Malthael aka the “Angel of Death.” There’s no need to get too involved with this package’s tale since you’ll be too busy laying waste to disgusting hordes of baddies.
The visuals for this console release look just as good as its original PC counterparts. PS4 and Xbox One owners will undoubtedly be pleased with the higher-resolution for their edition of the game. The familiar top-down perspective, miniature heroes and villains, mixture of dark and brightly lit environments and massive boss enemies all look just a bit more prettier on current-gen consoles.
You won’t have to deal with any of the issues that were present in past versions of the game (there’s a lack of framerate drops, plus the loading times are seemingly cut n half). Listening to the epic orchestral soundtrack and all the sound effects that emit during intense battles all play a huge part in making this release as enjoyable as possible.
Gameplay
All in all, this simply IS the ultimate edition of an already excellent game. Venturing into dimly-lit caverns and other huge locales with a party of four is still as fun as ever. A slew of changes have come along with this console update release. The 2.0 game patch brings all of the extensive changes and fixes from the mainline PC release. And there’s no need to make an additional download of the Reaper of Souls expansion since it’s already available on the physical disc. The newly added gifting system is a cool addition to the game that allows players to exchange gear and other miscellaneous items.
Another cool feature from this full update is the Nemesis system. A all-powerful enemy will wreak havoc across multiple players’ campaign and gain more power as it kills. Once a human players eventually defeats it, everyone that encountered it in battle will be granted some helpful loot. This cool implementation to the overall journey of solo and co-op players adds a welcome challenge for both veterans and newbies. The apprentice mode also plays a big part in getting all types of online players together, thanks to its ability to strengthen low-level characters when they fight alongside high-level characters.
Once players make their way through the dual campaigns, Adventure Mode will open up and give them an even more addictive mode to get sucked into. There’s no need to engage in NPC dialogue and deal with a storyline; you’ll be having a fun time venturing into assorted locations from the main campaign. You’ll spend even more time feeding you Diablo addiction as you fulfill bounties. The core game has gotten even better. For 1st-time Diablo 3 players, you’ll understand the hype real quick after just a few minutes of monster killing and loot collecting.
PS4 owners of the game have some substantial features that make their version the one to play. Remote Play via the PS Vita works damn near flawlessly. The game still looks good enough and runs at the expected rate it performs at on consoles. It may be a little bit more difficult to read the text on the PS Vita’s small screen, but that’s a problem that won’t hamper your handheld experience of the game all that much.
The Last of Us Nephalem Rift dungeon is a cool exclusive for PS4 owners and a fun diversion. There’s a lot of fun to be had when it comes to tearing down hordes of Stalkers, Clickers and Bloaters. And the Shadow of the Colossus-themed armors? Pure, awesome fan-service for PlayStation fans.
Final Verdict
PC owners who’ve already played this game to death won’t have too much new content to experience on this console edition. As for everyone else, this is the version of Diablo 3 that’s perfectly suited for series newcomers. All of the added features, present system update, nifty PS4-only content and already excellent gameplay does a good job of upholding the original releases quality. It’s time to get sucked back into Diablo 3 (or get into for the very 1st time). Xbox One and especially PS4 owners will benefit the most from this release.