"A great expansion for a great game."

Gameplay: 8/10

Lord of Destruction adds a whole lot of new things to make Diablo II even better than before. There are so many little things that were fixed or added, some that you may not even notice, that make the game more fun and enjoyable. One of these being the increased stash size in your chest. I didn’t really notice till a bit into the game and realized that it is extremely useful later on. There are way more, but I’ll mention most of them later on.

But lets start off with compatibility. When you install the expansion, you get all of the new additions including the 2 new classes. A cool feature for you original D2 addicts is the fact that you can convert your original character to an “expansion character.” This allows you to play with your old D2 character in the LOD world. But once you enter, you can never leave.

LOD adds many new additions and enhancements to the game to make it fun to play through over and over again. There are many new items including uniques, elites and exceptionals, which will give everyone a reason to play through the game a few more times, and for the veterans, on hell and nightmare difficulty. There are also more items made specifically for each class, such as a special Paladin shield, or a special Barbarian helmet, which makes your class more unique. There are also some new additions called runes, which are like jewels, but they are stronger and more rare than jewels. There are many more item additions, but I’ll let you find them on your own.

Another improvement that I loved was the improved hireling interface. For those of you D2 newbies, you can hire special “soldiers” in each act to aid you in battle. What I hated about the hirelings in D2 was that they died too quickly and that they acted somewhat stupid in battle. But now, in LOD, you can actually equip them with weapons, helmets and armor, so they don’t die as easily. They also gain levels along with you, so they get stronger. The AI also seems more advanced, as I find that my rogue companion is getting her share of kills in the dungeons. You can even take your Act 1 hireling all the way to Act V, that is, if she survives…

Of course, the most obvious additions are the new act and the 2 new classes. I haven’t personally entered the new act yet, as I started a new game, but the 2 new classes are extremely fun to play. I am playing as the assassin, who has an interesting “charge” system. You can learn “charge” moves, which will give the assassin a charge when she hits her target. Once she has 3 “charges”, she can use a “finishing move” and execute a special attack with the charges. Some of the specials include fire damage, and freeze damage. I’ll let you figure out more for yourself.

Control: 8/10

You can add more hot keys, but that’s about it. Still, I think the control is very well done in this game, and I find it easy to control my character. Assassins are especially hard to control, because of their charge combo system. You’ll find yourself switching from different charges and finishes quite often in this game (If you decide to play as the assassin, of course) but it is made easy by the hot keys.

Audio: 8/10

Nothing new at all. But I have always enjoyed the sound in this game. The music is nice and soothing at times, but then it gets creepy and tense in the dungeons. The music gives the game a nice mood to play along with. The sounds are very nice, with sounds of dying creatures, slashing swords and thumping bodies. There is always something cool going on with the sounds.

Graphics: 8/10

The graphics received a bit of a facelift and you can now play at 800X600 resolution. Still too low in my book, but it will suffice. ;) The graphics in this game are still very nice, although it still looks kind of grainy to me…

Replayability: 9/10

I’m honestly still playing D2, so I immediately got the expansion. This adds a whole new act, new characters, new items and new features to extend the life of this game. Trust me, if you liked the original, you’ll be spending lots of time with this one. Especially because you can use your D2 characters in LOD. I myself am going through LOD with my level 87 Barbarian, so I can pick me up some new uniques, elites and exceptionals. Online play also adds on to the fun, although it’s nothing new. If only B.net didn’t lag so much…

Overall: 8/10

Lord of Destruction is a great add on for Diablo II. I was just happy it came out when it was supposed to and not delayed like other Blizzard games. (I actually got it the 26th, even though it’s not supposed to come out till the 29th, but that’s between you, me and Electronics Boutique.)
It adds on so much to the game to keep you coming back for more. The only beef I had with this game was that the price was a little much. I paid over 40 dollars for the game, which is too much for an expansion in my opinion, but nevertheless, it is a great game and I believe that it was a wise investment.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/28/01, Updated 06/28/01