DIABLO 3 REAPER OF SOULS WINGS PATCH
DIABLO 3 REAPER OF SOULS WINGS PS4
DIABLO 3 REAPER OF SOULS WINGS PC
DIABLO 3 REAPER OF SOULS WINGS PS3

It's a humpty-dumptyfication of Diablo that shatters the hopes of Blizzard's own storytellers and world builders in favour of giving the power back to the players and letting them construct the action RPG they want. Oli's already offered his take on why Adventure mode's so exciting, but it's worth restating, because this is nothing less than the remixing of the entire game.

DIABLO 3 REAPER OF SOULS WINGS PC

The real flexibility, though, is on display in Adventure mode, and this is where Diablo 3, be it PC and Mac or Ultimate Evil Edition, is really going to live over the next few years. It's a steel-plated bridge between standard close and ranged attacks, in other words: a new class that offers, yes, flexibility along with a tooth-shattering range of righteous new tricks. In the context of Diablo 3, however, it's a punchy kind of compromise, if such a thing is possible - an armoured tank with a mid-range melee option. If you're coming from Diablo 2, the Crusader's sort of an updating of the Paladin class. Reaper's new class is already a favourite in my house - religious zealotry is always fun, of course, but when it's coupled with shield bashes that erupt with that glorious golden light, you're onto something truly special. You can also see a bit of that flexibility in the Crusader, too. 'Running forwards and killing everythings is just the antithesis of horror.'

'You can't really get a horror feel in an action game,' admits Boyarsky.

DIABLO 3 REAPER OF SOULS WINGS PATCH

Patch 2.0.1 may introduce smart loot, then, but the Mystic introduces flexible loot - and the game should be a lot more accommodating for dapper dungeonistas because of it. Alongside allowing you to reroll one of the properties of a given item, she's also able to change the appearance of items in general, meaning that you can have the benefits of a certain set of trousers, say, with the form factor of another. It's there in a very small way with the new Mystic artisan, for example. Luckily, I think you can see the flexibility that comes from getting that balance more right than wrong at work throughout Reaper itself. It's weighing the hopes of its audience against its own instincts and desires. Like any decent games company - any games company that makes the sort of things people really care about - Blizzard has a tricky balancing act to perform with each of its projects. (I'm PC, if only because there's something perversely wonderful about triggering mayhem as elaborate as Rain of Vengeance by pressing 4.) What's interesting is how getting Diablo 3 on consoles in the first place seems to have been an early sign that the flexibility so lacking from the game's original reveal - it will have an Auction House that you will love, and if you want to play it offline, there's always Diablo 2 - was starting to creep back in. Whether you prefer the console or the PC build is a matter of taste, I suspect. That really is pretty Ultimate, then - for the time being, at least. Oh yes, and it bundles the forthcoming expansion Reaper of Souls in there too. Beyond that, the particles seem to be scattered more lavishly, the frame-rate is consistently glorious, and I struggled to see any screen-tearing.

DIABLO 3 REAPER OF SOULS WINGS PS3

It has couch (and online) co-op and all the erupting fireworks you should expect if you've been playing the PS3 or 360 installments - and if you've been playing PS3 version, incidentally, you can look forward to importing your character.

DIABLO 3 REAPER OF SOULS WINGS PS4

This is the PS4 strain of Blizzard's colourful and divisive action RPG, and it's a game that may actually earn that foolhardy 'Ultimate' in its title. I went to Paris last week to meddle with ultimate evil - or rather, to play Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition.

Diablo 3 reaper of souls wings