The highly anticipated expansion pack for Diablo 3 has finally arrived, and it breathes new life into Blizzard’s popular action role-playing game. It includes a plethora of side quests and dungeons that will keep you busy for hours. Moreover, the Reaper of Souls returns to its roots by reviving the classic gameplay feel of Diablo 2 with new enemy encounters and rare loot.
Keeping the core gameplay mechanics of Diablo III intact, Reaper of Souls does not sacrifice gameplay for new content. The battles are still bloody and challenging, and the boss encounters are epic in scale. The Reaper campaign can be played either online or offline. Gamers with lower level characters might want to consider a campaign when playing the new expansion. You can play Reaper of Souls solo, but it’s difficult until you can find decent gear drops for your character(s). If you are a hardcore veteran of Diablo III, and have a high Paragon level, you will have no problems passing through the lower levels of the expansion.
Reaper of Souls includes a new Act (V), a brand-new character class, Adventure Mode and a new level cap. The latest Act is just as long as the previous four that came with the original game. As a fan of the series, I was hoping the expansion would include more than one Act. I know that sounds terrible, but once you’ve been bitten by the Diablo bug, you just can’t get enough.
Once you have completed all previous Acts as well as Act V, Adventure Mode unlocks. Adventure Mode is absolutely brilliant; it gives the player random bounties that are spread across all five Acts. Each time you start a new Adventure Mode campaign, you will receive a fresh set of bounties to collect on. These bounties are far more significant than just grinding; they are ideal for farming Legendaries and acquiring experience points efficiently without playing through the campaign.
There are a total of five different bounties per Act. Unlike the campaign, you can teleport at will across any part of the five Acts. This eliminates having to run to your destination like before. Not only does this feature make reaching your bounties convenient, but it’s a lot of fun to participate in. Adventure Mode also includes multiple difficulty levels that can be played solo or via cooperatively online.
The real fun begins once you have completed five bounties from any of the five Acts. Completed bounties award the player with a Rift Fragment. After you have completed five different bounties, you can open a Nephalem Rift. Nephalem Rifts are very difficult to complete, but the rewards are bountiful as they contain multiple rares. The final boss battle is by far the hardest boss encounter in the entire game. Moreover, The Nephalem Rift randomizes the trash mobs and bosses every time you start a new game with Adventure Mode.
As mentioned earlier, playing Adventure Mode is an efficient way of leveling your character and receiving extensive bonuses. The expansion awards the player with Heroic Stashes and a new currency called ‘Blood Currency’ at the end of each Adventure Campaign. This new currency allows you to purchase Epic and Legendary Gear from a new merchant located inside the city.
Reaper of Souls introduces a brand-new character class called the Crusader. The Crusader can be considered the first tanking class in Diablo 3, as it can absorb extensive amounts of damage and deal twice as much during combat. Blizzard’s latest expansion incorporates far more content than any Diablo fan could possibly imagine.
Diablo III by itself needs no introduction. As a series, Diablo has been giving gamers an unrivaled Dungeons & Dragons experience for decades. The Reaper of Souls expansion extends the grandeur of Diablo III with a magnificent storyline and new content. It blends seamlessly with the already iconic campaign, feeling more like a continuation of the game than just an afterthought.
James ‘Daripp3r’ Pittaro
Platform: PC
Developer: Blizzard
Publisher: Blizzard
ESRB: N/A
Price: $39.99 Standard Edition ($59.99 Digital Deluxe Edition)
Diablo 3 Reaper of Souls’s Official Website
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |  |
| Beautiful graphics that are very reminiscent of the classic Diablo 2. | |
| Sound | |
| Stellar music that really helps set the stage for your adventure. | |
| Gameplay | |
| Intense battles and plenty of rare loot to collect. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Reaper of Souls is a fantastic expansion worthy of your attention. We can only imagine what Blizzard has in store for us next. | |
