The thing I appreciated most about Diablo IV compared to its predecessors is how much deeper the lore goes.

The base Diablo IV was a huge time sink, filled with a vast map, side quests, seasons, collections and clans, with a fairly elaborate, intriguing story, led by Ralph Ineson.

But it left things off with a cliffhanger, continued on by Vessel of Hated and now racing to conclusion with the latest expansion – Lord of Hatred – as players go head to head with Mephisto.

Without delving too deeply into spoilers, the thing I immediately loved about this one is the twist that players will be working with Lilith – the nemesis they fought so hard to take down in the base game.

Lilith revels in it, too. Harkening back to that warning she gave to players at the end of the base content. It makes for a fascinating, tense dynamic and really adds some heavy narrative weight at the beginning of the expansion. You know you can’t fully trust her, you know things will end badly but you don’t really have a choice.

The interesting thing is that the game does such a good job of recapping, you don’t even need to have played the game beforehand. You can just start out with the expansion, playing as one of the two new classes and get right into things. It’s really not too hard to catch up and get yourself stuck in.

You start out in the country of Skovos, a vast area that has connections to the darkness and corruption with loyaltists to Mephisto lurking far and wide. As you try to take him down, you’ll try to find clues as to his whereabouts, going into uncharted territory and ferocious dark corners you may not come back from.

It’s the Diablo that you know so well, but in addition to that solid combat and moment to moment gameplay, the story is actually really strong, compelling and leads to a really satisfying crescendo in that final confrontation, bar some slight mid-way padding. The moments between Lilith and your character being the most interesting.

Blizzard have always been expert storytellers but to me, this is them at their peak best. Like, dare I say it, Warcraft 3 days, where the narrative really shone. Between that, the voice acting and the stunning music, everything about this expansion feels like Diablo at its absolute best.

Admittedly, Vessel of Hatred lost me a bit due to its setting and balancing, and sort of made me think I was done with Diablo 4. But Lord of Hatred hooked me right back, and just shines with strength and substance. The content really blends together and just gives you more of what made Diablo 4 so great, but perhaps even tighter and better than ever before.

There’s those classic Blizzard cinematics that dazzle and stun as you play through, and some really dramatic moments that really break up that typical grind that make Diablo feel less like a game that can wear out its welcome.

Dialogue really jumps out at you, certain moments catch your breath, confrontations feels genuinely threatening, from mid bosses to the greatest challenges the content has to offer.

But it’s also the new classes that really give this expansion a new sense of feeling. Both very different and offering something new but each fulfilling in their own way. The Paladin, for instance, is a class Blizzard have a mixed relationship with – just look at World of Warcraft – but here the arbiter of justice feels particularly bad ass!

For Paladin, it’s probably the easier of the two classes to just dive in and get to work. They can take a punch, they hit hard enough, and you can give off an powerful defense aura that just chews through enemy shields. It’s probably a great entry class to the series in general, to be honest, and some of the powers are super effective.

Meanwhile the Warlock is a little less automated and a bit more tactial and spam-like as you summon demons, tap between multiple skills as they fluctuate between cool downs and try to find a way to synergise everything you’re doing.

But both handle quite differently and both are extremely enjoyable to play, with Warlock very likely being the more rewarding class over time and I suspect, the one that will get most updates in the weeks and months ahead with Paladin being a lot more durable of the two.

What Blizzard have presented here is a game-worthy quality expansion. It takes me back to days when the expansions for games felt like a whole new experience in a world I already invested so much time in and loved. And it genuinely has a place in the wider narrative eco-system for the game and really ties up loose ends folks have wanted answers to.

Lord of Hatred is a magnificent expansion, some of Blizzard’s best work in years, and offers solid story, combat, classes, and much more besides that really makes Diablo 4 mustplay again following a divisive first expansion that stilled the game’s momentum so much.

Verdict

Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred is a magnificent return to form for Diablo 4 and really picks up lost momentum from Vessel of Hatred. The story beats are striking, the new setting is stunning, the music and voice acting are first rate and Blizzard’s cinematic quality is at its absolute best. Between the awesome new classes and wider content, Lord of Hatred is a must-play expansion. A real reminder of how good the Diablo series really can be!

Pros

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Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred is out now on PC, PS and Xbox.

Reviewed on Xbox

Code Kindly Provided by Blizzard for review purposes