I play a lot of Diablo 3. I play it three times a week as an absolute minimum (and not those short half hour drop in sessions either, I play it hard core) When I finally got my copy of the expansion through the post I was somewhat excited (and confused by the strange packaging) I installed it immediately and then gleefully loaded into the game. Patch 2.0 already added a massive amount to the game so when I had all these improvements and another whole chapter to play though I was most certainly eager to play.

The first thing I noticed about D3:RoS (yeah, that’s what the cool kids call it) was that it was a great fit to the game. The opening area is an almost classic visualisation of the medieval city. Its clean looking and offers a much greater visual depth than the core game areas. As you play though you are swept through seemingly endless winding streets with many little doors to all most ‘kill box’ style fights. As you progress past the larger end of area boss fight you are slowly moved to a wild marshland area that reminded me of the movie Labyrinth (the one with David Bowie, maaaan, I love me some Bowie.) Again in typical Diablo style you eventually find yourself fighting daemons in an area that is described to you as ‘the battleground’ this is where it gets pretty intense. The game is not easy but in the final area’s Torment 1 is in chore to say the least. The areas, that are seemingly averagely sized by Diablo 3 standards become vast and massive due to the volume of things trying to kill you. Then the last area is a strange winding, teleporty gauntlet of death with a fight that leaves you a little breathless.

I don’t really want to give away the key ‘omg, wow!’ moments of the game for you but I will say, its got some of the most interesting Boss fights I have ever come across in any dungeon crawler and the most satisfying loot I I have found in the game. The high price for this expansion is well worth it and once the game is finished there’s that wonderful ‘adventure mode’ that lets you play through dungeon after dungeon to keep the game fresh and constantly challenging.

I would like to point out that it is by far the longest chapter of the whole game, about twice as long as I actually expected but that may have, in part at least, have been influenced by so many early previews/reviews saying how it was short. Maybe I lowered my expectations too much.

If I forced myself to make a criticism its that the game goes on a little too long, the final area feels like a ‘filler’ at times but I have a feeling that when I return to the campaign with much improved gear in a few weeks I’ll churn through it at a more satisfying pace.

As you have probably noticed I haven’t mentioned the extra ten levels you can raise your character. This is because the levelling curve is so natural that its really not an issue to get to 70 (and then add a few paragon levels) in one play through on (Torment at least.)

Each player also gets some ‘wings’ a cosmetic item for people who buy the game early on. These wings are large and right and annoying when everyone has the activated, they are a distraction and fill the screen with silly fire effects, making targeting smaller monsters an issue, not to mention the inventory slot they use. I don’t like them  but it was nice of Blizzard to throw them into the game as a little bonus.

All in all, Reaper of Souls is a rock solid expansion that any Diablo player would enjoy.

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