Diablo 2 Expansion: Lord of Destruction

Rating:
Summary: Lord of Destruction (of free time and social life)
Review: Many people complain about the high price of the Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction (LOD) Expansion set. To do so, I think, is to miss the point. You buy the game to play it, and its playability is what matters. People tend to think that an "expansion" merely adds a "10% more" to a game - but the fact is, LOD adds so much to the original game that you will probably never look back.


Why would you give up a doubled stash? The 800x600 resolution pestered for way back in 2000 when D2 Classic was released? Instant switching between two sets of weapon/shield? New class-specific items, new uniques, greatly improved set items (gain bonuses as you collect each item, instead of having to complete them), elite items, runes (and runeword items), crafted items (i.e. make your own rares)? Two new classes (a druid who can summon creatures, cast elemental spells and shapeshift; an assassin who practises martial arts, lays traps and hones shadow disciplines), and an entire new act set in a wintry landscape (bunnies included)? Afraid to play alone? Don't worry, now your hirelings survive more than their first hit, and can be equiped with weapons and armour - they can even teleport when you walk too far! And some even have paladin auras! And they can be resurrected!


How about little little details like: you can now reset the gambling screen at will; gambling prices scale with your level; a repair-all-equiped items button; blue items now get the most powerful prefixes/suffixes, giving them renewed value; click an item on the Horadric Cube to place it inside (you have to do it to realise the convenience); Act 2 Desert Warrior hirelings cast paladin auras; Act 5 Barbarian hirelings use Stun and Bash; town NPCs now sell more items; Act-end bosses can now be repeatedly killed for chance to find top items (in D2 Classic, great stuff only drops once); you can walk through your hirelings/minions (no more traffic jams in the Maggot Lair)... and the list goes on.


Let's be honest though - everyone knows that the game code is not perfect; it has its bugs. Few games (especially of this scale) can claim to be bug-free. But despite this, the game is totally playable. I myself have not stopped playing D2 since June 30, 2000. The important thing to savour is the fact that the developers, Blizzard, are keen on resolving technical problems and gamneplay issues: think about it - Blizzard has released NINE patches to date. This may seem to suggest that the game is wrought full of bugs, but change your perspective - what it ultimately says is that its developer is conscientious enough to keep working at it. How many software developers can claim this level of diligence?


Ultimately, the game is super-fun. As I suggested in my review of Diablo 2 (Classic), the game rewards all kinds of players, from the undiscerning clicker to the meticulous strategist - that is one of Blizzard's secret ingredients: allowing every style of player to find something that suits them in the game, and yet never fully satisfying them. I suppose that's why, after countless games, my wife is still trying to perfect her (deceptively simple?) mace-stunner barbarian...

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste time reading, pre-order or buy it now!
Review: Ok, Diablo 2 was my BDay present from my dad. I thought it was cool and fun, but set it aside for some odd reason. (Probably our trip across the globe). I recently continued my Diablo 2 playing - but this time on Battle.net. It is VERY important that you play Battle.net, otherwise the game isn't as satasfying. It's my second favorite game ever, (First is Final Fantasy 7). Now there is an exp pack! White Items: Normal, Blue Items: Magic, Yellow Items: Rare, Orange Items: Found only by making in Horadric Cube, Gold Items: Unique (Very rare), Red Items: Elite (Best in the game, found only in the Hell difficulty). There are also new weapons for each class! The barbarians have executioner swords, polearms, and axes. Amazons have Ceremonial Javelins, and those bows that were mentioned above. Sorc's have Orbs now. Druids, I'm not sure. Assassins have wrist-bladez. There are all kinds of new monsters, wacked uniques, etc. I'd like to mention this also: Now weapons feature something like this: 125-160 Damage - 5% chance of casting L5 Frozen Orb - Freezes Target - +20 Life/Mana. Thats a new unique, that totally rocks. Anyway, if you're considering buying your son, or daughter, this, don't hesitate. It's a great game, and is NOT satanic or anything. You are after all, killing the devil :).

Rating:
Summary: Blizz has fallen
Review: The best game ever: StarCraft. No one could have asked for better. Then Brood War came out as an expansion, and Blizz couldn't get better.

They didn't.

Diablo II, for most people, is fun for the first week. It seems awesome to them, because now you get to go further than the twenty-two-billion-thousanth level of the castle dungeons. But in reality, Diablo II is nothing more than clicking.

You beat Baal for first time. You feel you want to make a Hardcore character. Is that right? (hint - Blizz Tech Support: First come, first serve) WRONG! I stopped playing all Blizzard games because of hardcore. If you want to play this game, you had to have been there when it came out. Otherwise, you stand no chance to have any fun. Blizzard has no control over what ******** on the other side of the world can do. Hardcore, enter a game, join the party, step into the tp: 2 seconds later, your deeds will be remembered, but u were pked by an assasin. Yippee!

And after Diablo II, came WarCraft 3, which did not have the magic of StarCraft either. And no need to even talk about Blizz's GBA games and StarCraft Ghost. I'm sorry, Blizzard, but I'm not sticking with you anymore. Not even for StarCraft. In the future, I'll stick with safe games far away from Battle.net, which every day is containing more and more filth from h*ll.

Rating:
Summary: Brought back the Addiction
Review: I thought I was done with Diablo 2 until I started hearing about the Expansion. I thought it was just another stupid add on to a game until I saw what it had to offer. They have 2 new classes, Druid and the Assassin. I played the Assassin and i like the character for several reasons. She can set traps to wound an enemy, also she is very skilled in close combat using fightingskills and claws to slash and bash the enemies. This is wat I thought the game lacked the first time around, a girl who was willing to kick a little butt. The Druid was a decent character. He is like the necro in a lot of ways. Hecan summon bears and wolves, but can also do a lot of harm with the other skills he has. I liked the Assassin more than the Druid. They both have 30 new skills and look great. Also they have improved th color to 800by600 which will make the game a lot more detailed. Also another act hs been added. Act 5 will let you finish the game letting you go to the Barbarian Highlands and fight Baal, the Lord of Destruction. It will add six new quests in the 5th act one letting you socket an item and a quest that when compleated you will get a classspecific item, im dieing to se what it is. But the most exciting part to me was the all new weaponry. They have a lot of new weapon classes and types, new uniques including alot of new uniques and set items. I love how they broght back a lot of the old weapons and armor from the old game like the mighy Arcanes Valor, an armor used by a great warrior with god-like stats. Over all this looks like the perfect expansion for the almost perfect game. I think that this will excite and inspire the Diablo player too keep plaing for at least another year.

Rating:
Summary: Diablo 2, Lord of action RPGs
Review: I have played many other RPGs like Shining Soul and Golden Sun, but none of them have this level of fun and replayability. You might be thinking that this game is just a gimmick, but it is a vastly compelling and very fun action RPG.

Probably the best part about this game is the amount of different character classes you can play as. They are the assassin, amazon, barbarian, paladin, druid, necromancer, and sorceress. All have the same amount of strengths and weaknesses. For example, the sorceress is very weak when you start out with her, but at a high level and with the frozen orb move she shreads everything on the screen in moments. Also, the barbarian, while unequaled in melee combat, has a major disadvantage against ranged enemies like archers.

What I believe to be the only bad part about this game is that there should be a little more to do on battlenet besides creating the secret cow level and trading items and being forced to do "Baal runs" for some decent experience at higher levels. But, overall this game has a little something for everyone and should definatly appear on a PC gamer's favorites shelf of games.

Rating:
Summary: REAL review
Review: Most of the reviews that i have just read were not helpful. The expansion to Diablo 2 is a vast improvement on the most part from the classic game. Lord of Destruction adds many new possibilities by adding 2 new character classes, bringing the total to 7, and thousands of new items. These new items include such things as runes (artifacts that fit into weapons, helms, armors, and sheilds to make powerful uniques if done correctly), charmes (which can be held in your stash to give you bonuses the same way rings and ammys do), and many new character-specific items. Although many believe that the just released patch was made the MAKE people buy the expansion, this is a blatant lie. The version 1.08 patch updates classic Diablo 2 to be more like the expansion so that not everyone has to buy the expansion to get some of it's updates. I encourage everyone that has played or does play Diablo 2 to purchase Diablo 2: LoD.

Rating:
Summary: Reigning classic of role-playing games
Review: I'm writing after having played Diablo II and Lord of Destruction on and off for a few years. I've bought several other games, including Baldur's Gate II, but Diablo II with LOD keeps pulling me back. It's probably the best combination of action and role playing (in the light sense of the term) ever created.

This expansion pack is essential. Don't buy Diablo II without it, because the technical improvements change the complexion of the entire game. The increased resolution -- 800x600 -- isn't simply cosmetic. It widens the field of ranged combat. And Act V, added in the expansion, is likely the best of the lot.

Why does Diablo II/LOD live perpetually on my hard drive?

First, while the graphics are no longer state of the art, the mood of the whole game just works. I'm not a graphic artist and can't tell you why. But this is a very immersive game. The first time I played through Act IV (Hell), I really felt like I had spent a few hours in the grim, volcanic wastes. The Flayer Dungeon in Act III still scares the cr@p out of me.

Next, DII/LOD is extremely easy to learn and takes a long time to master -- the mark of a good game. Replayability is fair to good, because each of the character classes requires different strategies. You'll never get the "right" skill mix the first time through as a sorcess, paladin, etc. It takes practice. If the fixed maps and quests don't add variety, the character development makes up for it nicely.

Finally, while the role-playing aspect is kind of light -- you can just go out and hack and slay until your heart's content -- it's enough. Baldur's Gate II bogged down in a heavy story line that made me feel like I was working. Diablo II has a straight line story, but it's secondary. Mostly you just revel in how your character improves and acquires more powerful items. If you read the forums on Blizzard.com, you'll see that DII/LOD players are extremely attached to their characters. Is this psychologically healthy? I think it's fine and speaks to the success of the game.

After three years or so, I can still recommend Diablo II with its expansion. Every time I thought I was through, I end up digging up my installation CDs and loading it for "just one more run."

Rating:
Summary: Consider Yourself Warned
Review: Alrighty, how do I begin? I feel it is necessary for someone to explain the fact that this is, without a doubt, the single most addicting game ever made (assuming you like RPG's). I have owned this game for about a year and a half now and I can still play it non-stop for five hours a day (yes, I have befallen to RPG nerdiness to play this game). If you are considering buying this game, consider this:

It is not a complete waste of time (at least that's what I tell myself). When you build your character you are building something that has some value. It is unique and it will kill you to delete it. Especially if you reach level 70 and above.

You will fail school because of it. (Trust me, I know)

You will dream about it. You will close your eyes and red and blue orbs will sit behind each eyelid

Your character will die and it will make you go into slight depressions for fifteen or twenty minutes at a time. (Unless you are crazy enough to go hardcore and then you will probably need to see some kind of professional if your character bites it)

You will love this game and hate this game all at the same time. You will swear to yourself you need to remove it from your harddrive, but you won't be able to.

There are a thousand more things that will happen to you while you play this game. If I could give just a few words of advice, don't play single player if you can help it, EVER. Only make online characters. Multiplayer is where the game is at. Single player should be your learning playground, but that's all it is. It is the sandbox in the middle of the beach. The big guns exist online and online is the only place where you will find the best items and actually reach high levels in any quick amount of time. Once you dip into this game, it is very hard to let it go. Good luck!! I hope you decide to purchase it and join the ranks of the hopelessly addicted. I could begin to explain how this game works, but it would be impossible in 1000 words. You have to get it and discover it for yourself. Cheers!!

P.S. If you need any tips on how to get to level like 70 in like two days, or how to find all the good stuff, shoot me an email ([e-mail])

Rating:
Summary: Great Game; not-so-great for GPA
Review: The "Blizzard" mark on the box almost garanteed the value of this game. Improvements such as the 800x600 pixles support and two new character classes make it a must-buy for all original DiabloII owners. The elaborate art work and background music of the additional episode 5 are especially impressive. This expansion set has greatly improved the overall gamming experience of this best-selling title "Diablo".

However, one of the biggest flaw of this game is that the multiplayer conncetion to Battle.net is still rather unstable and laggy when the traffic to the game servers are heavy. Playing this game on Battle.net wagers a considerable amount of risk to see your character stop moving for a while and later find it lay dead on the ground. Or you may see your character getting killed by "invisible" enemies. If you choose to play on Battle.net realm, I strongly suggest a realiable ISP provider(preferably cable connection) and a high-speed computer.

Overal Blizzard did a decent job designing the two character classes: the druid and assasin. The new skills associated with the character are unique and fun for original DiabloII owners. The shape shifting skill is revolutionary and the "Martial arts" of the assasins is a selling-feature for this add-on. However, having to play over the original 4 acts with all 3 difficulty levels to finish the game might make this game a bit repetitive. Nonetheless, the exciting actions of game-play has made many Expansion owners play through all 5 act of the 3 difficulty levels with all 7 characters- You get to kill Baal 21 times by doing so. One pack of this game virtually consits a value of 7. The bad is that some of the gameplay adjustments from Blizzard in this Expansion has made the very-time-consuming original "Diablo" even more time-consuming. For those who has much time to kill this one is excellenct for it. But for those who doesn't, or for students who lacks self-control this game could be a cruel GPA killer.

Overall, Blizzard has done a great job making "DiabloII Expansion: Lord of Destruction", A must-buy for original Diablo owners, great actions and multiplayer desings for all RPG lovers. But be sure to evaluate your computer hardware as well as time management before buying this game.

Rating:
Summary: A *huge* addition to Diablo 2 gameplay
Review: As much as I loved and was addicted to Diablo 2, the graphics just weren't there. When you killed a boss and little red pixels splashed everywhere, it made the moment almost laughable. Diablo's programmers took the many comments about the graphics to heart, and they did a STELLAR job of revamping them in this expansion.

I would have easily bought the expansion for the graphic upgrade alone - that makes Diablo 2 almost like an entirely new game, worth playing through all over again. However, they didn't stop there. There are 2 new races - the druid and the assassin - both of which I *love*. The assassin has cool attack moves that are great fun to watch. The druid can either shapeshift, or summon creatures, or control the elements. I love all three, but the elemental attacks are GREAT! This has become my new favorite character.

There are new monsters to fight, an ENTIRE new act with great graphics, tons of new weapons, even new Cube recipes to play with. And, in a move that other game companies should pay attention to, you can now have TWO sets of weapons defined (i.e. bow and sword/shield for example) and easily toggle between them. I've been dying for that in every game I've played!

It is really like an entirely new game, with the added benefit that you don't have to learn new keystrokes. I *highly* encourage any Diablo 2 lover to grab this, and if you don't have either one yet, treat yourself and get them both!