Diablo 3 Ultimate Evil Edition Review

An expanded Diablo 3 comes to Xbox One and PS4 alongside releases on last gen systems and includes the expansion Reaper of Souls alongside a host of other content. Take a look at our Diablo 3 Ultimate Evil Edition review for the full picture on whether you should dive in once more.

 

 

Diablo 3 Ultimate Edition Review:

 

Today we’re taking a look at Blizzard’s Diablo 3 Ultimate Evil Edition which sees a release on last and current gen systems and brings forth everything from the original as well as the expansion Reaper of Souls. Gamers who already rinsed out the first four acts of the campaign on Xbox 360 or PS3 can easily import their character into the new game if upgrading to Xbox One or PS4 which means jumping in to the new content right away.

The expansion, Reaper of Souls introduces a new enemy ‘Malthael’ the angel of death, who steals a sealed soulstone which contains the essence of the defeated Diablo and uses it to gain immense power. Your job as  the Nephalem as always is to defeat  Malthael whilst remaining a goody two shows looking out for innocents needing saving. It’s more of the same actions as the previous Acts in the campaign but seems to focus heavily on mob rush attacks which will test one’s mettle when completely surrounded. Seemingly innocent objects unleash legions of attacking foes making for some tense moments when simply exercising the mundane. There’s a new character to interact with who can also  customize your gear, and  a wealth of new enemies to take down which keeps the battles fresh and as always, a number of side objectives to stumble upon.

Once the campaign is bested then naturally players can drop in again using one of the ludicrously high numbers of difficulty levels to choose from. Alternatively, an all new adventure mode unlocks which provides a number of random bounties to undertake across each of the five acts. These mini adventures are great ways of obtaining the best loot, and what’s more some come complete with a boss encounter making the journey much more worthwhile. Once bounties are completed in an area a Nephalem Rift opens allowing he chance to beat down all the monsters and then take on the Rift boss for even more goodies. Players can simply explore these areas at will during a session although they reset once the game is reloaded from the main menu.

In terms of looks and performance, the expanded content adds some decent variety in its interior and exterior locations, with an abundance of darker undertones to reflect the carnage of the Death character. The gameplay is smooth for the most part but with the game’s  extended focus on  mob attacks does cause some dips in frames when things get a little hectic with lots of enemies and magic effects littering the screen.

Audio remains high quality with some cracking performances from the voice cast who seem to take pride in making the characters sound as authentic as possible.  Coupled with the usual assortment of sound effects and a driving unobtrusive score, the game looks and sounds great on next gen systems, pushing the game’s visuals closer to the PC release.

Reaper of Souls adds some hours to an already long game if you start from the beginning and work your way through, so for newcomers or those starting over, there’s simply lots to do before you even get to see the new content which has to be unlocked first. There’s a new Crusader class character to start over with for a genuinely fresh experience through the first four acts and  once players tire of the campaign, then the adventure mode addresses waning spirits by offering more freedom to pick and choose where to go next without being tied to a story. So end game, there’s plentiful content to increase the playtime hours as gamers spend time looking for more experience to a now raised level cap and acquire those elusive rare drops.

Diablo 3 Ultimate Evil Edition offers the definitive version of the game for current gen consoles owners playing for the first time. There’s a wealth of content to explore, a decent character progression system and the chance to team up with others online or go it solo for some ever-present reward. The Reaper of Souls content is vast and adds much more to the core game, making for a well rounded package that’s still viable for those who rinsed out the original version not so long ago.  Diablo 3 Ultimate Evil Edition is simply one of the best dungeon crawling experiences around that will keep you coming back for more and is well worth the investment.

Score 9/10 – Review by Robert Cram

 

Review code supplied by Xbox.

 

Written by: Rob Cram

Rob Cram has hundreds of video game reviews, thousands of articles under his belt with years of experience in gaming and tech. He aims to remain fair and free from publisher/developer influence. With his extensive knowledge, feels his gaming opinions are valid and worth sharing. Agreement with his views are entirely optional. He might have a bias towards cyberpunk.