Diablo 3 Ultimate Evil Edition for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One is an amazing game. From the opening minutes to the final showdown, the game is fun, frantic, and visually engaging. Diablo 3 has you choose a hero from one of the six classes available. They are Barbarian, Witch Doctor, Wizard, Monk, Demon Hunter, and the new class, Crusader. Following this, your story begins and you begin your quest to destroy all evil and anything that might look at you the wrong way.
As in the previous iterations, in Diablo 3, the X button is your best friend. So much so in fact, that you’ll defeat hundreds of enemies with just that button. The core Diablo 3 experience is mostly the same as it was on last generation’s consoles, with the exception of a few things. Firstly, there are new multipliers that grant you different bonuses. The one that you’ll be seeing most is the kill multiplier, which made it fun to chain as many kills as possible and also earns you increased experience. Secondly, the increased frame rate is easily noticeable and makes the game run ridiculously smooth. I also sometimes stopped to admire the improved scenery. Thirdly, an adventure mode is now playable. Adventure mode is exactly what it sounds like and allows you to further explore areas in the game that you might have missed before. Also, you’ll be able to undertake objective based missions. These are called bounties and are a fun way to seek treasure and experience. Lastly, there is the addition of Apprentice mode. Apprentice mode is a multiplayer mode that grants a lower level player extra experience when playing with a higher level player. I really like this idea and love the fact that you can essentially play with anyone now. Other than these three things, the core Diablo 3 game is identical to last generation’s.
Included in Ultimate Evil Edition is the rather new Reaper of Souls expansion. Reaper of Souls continues your hero’s story as the Angel of Death makes a very strong effort to destroy humanity. This actually turned out to be my favorite part of the game. Take Diablo 3’s gameplay, add more side areas and events, more weapons and armor, enemies, and a continuation of the story and you’ve got Reaper of Souls. In addition to this expansion, UEE players will also get their hands on the new Crusader class, which can also be used throughout the entirety of Diablo 3’s campaign. I found the Crusader to be an amazing class for anyone who likes close quarters combat. I actually favor him greatly over the Barbarian class.
Now, while I really loved Ultimate Evil Edition, it does have some flaws that really took me out of the experience. It was extremely easy, even on hard mode. The only time I was actually defeated was during the last boss fight on Reaper of Souls. If you’re looking for a difficult experience, be sure to turn the difficulty up to the highest. There was also quite a bit of enemy pop in. Sure, I know that enemies are supposed to randomly spawn, but they appeared out of thin air once or twice in every dungeon. This was easily overcome by my godlike character, but it’s just not something to be expected now that we’re in the new generation. While both of these seem extremely minor, they affected my playthroughs negatively and we’re very unwelcome.
With everything being said, Diablo 3 Ultimate Evil Edition is the definitive Diablo experience and should be played by all PS4 and Xbox One owners that haven’t already played it. The smooth hack n’ slash gameplay is fun and addicting, the story is pretty solid, and the new online adventure mode is awesome. Oh, did I mention that Ultimate Evil Edition comes with Reaper of Souls and the Crusader class? Because it does and both of those are highlights of this game. Though I had gripes with the difficulty and random pop-ins, I’m very pleased with this game and would recommend it to anyone and everyone.