Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition comes from Blizzard Entertainment. Blizzard has been around since 1994 and have been in the gaming industry for some time, they have created such games that have made a real big impression with the gaming community. One example of Blizzard’s work, perhaps the one they are best known for, is World of Warcraft which has over 6.8 million active subscribers. They are also responsible for developing the Starcraft series which is a real time strategy game that’s popular all over the world and is also a huge eSports game. Blizzard also releases Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, Diablo, and will be publishing the upcoming MOBA title Heroes of the Storm set in the Blizzard universe. Since Diablo has come out in 1996 it’s been one of the premier action role-playing hack and slash experiences on the market with iterations that have improved the story as well as add all kinds of multiplayer elements really working with the community to make the ultimate game which has finally arrived with Ultimate Evil Edition today.
Diablo III takes place in Sanctuary, 20 years after the events of Diablo II. The opening cutscene for Diablo III really opens up where the story is being told in the Old Tristram Cathedral where Leah and her Uncle Deckard Cain are investigating old texts regarding the Ominous Prophecy when they are suddenly struck by a falling star and Cain falls into the crater. At this point the user will jump into the shoes of their new character and start the game in New Tristram where they investigate the falling star that created the crater. The user will find themselves going up against the Skeleton King right away, otherwise known as King Leoric. He needs to be defeated in order to find the falling star. The falling star isn’t actually a falling star though, it’s a stranger known as Archangel Tyrael, the Aspect of Justice. He gave up his divinity in order to become a mortal and warn Sanctuary about the the arrival of Belial and Azmodan the Lord of Lies and Sin. They are the demon lords.
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls takes place at the end of Diablo III and while I don’t want to ruin everything in the game spoiler-wise, there will be some minor things that the user should know as they enter this part of the game straight away due to purchasing Ultimate Evil Edition on PS4. At this point, Diablo has been defeated leaving the Black Soulstone. This contains the seven of the Great Evil’s. This is so much power and it’s way too dangerous for either mortal or angels, Tyrael takes the soulstone back to sanctuary where he is going to bury it in the tomb of Rakkis. Unfortunately, this can’t go without him and his group of six horadrim from being attacked by Malthael who also was a former Archangel, he was the Archangel of Wisdom but now is going by the name of the Angel of Death and is wicked powerful.
Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition just feels amazing on a controller. Now, before all of the hate comes up, my experience has been playing this on PC a lot first and then on PS4 – so there’s experience playing both styles of Diablo III behind my words. The game runs extremely smooth on the PS4 from the moment that the user enters the world. At the start of the game players are greeted upon beautiful graphics and extremely smooth gameplay since the time the game has started there hasn’t been a single hiccup which is really great too see, especially from a Blizzard game on console. First things first in the game is to pick your class. There are several defenders of humanity they are: Crusader, Monk, Wizard, Witch Doctor, Demon Hunter, and the Barbarian. Each of these have their own special attributes and different play styles, so your choice really all depends on what kind of experience you’re looking for.
All of the functions that are available on keyboard and mouse are now on the controller and it feels super easy to pick up and play Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition. Skills are right on the button such as X, Circle, Square, and Triangle as well as R1 and R2. Fast equip is a new feature that is being added and this can be done to the left on the d-pad as well as accessing the user’s map and the town portal on the other d-pad arrows – which can be really handy in a time of need. L1 is for taking potions and L2 is for locking onto your target, the analog sticks are as follows: to move is the left stick and the the right stick is used for evading which is a really nice combat move and has saved my skin several times in battle.
The touch pad on the PS4 is where the user can access the character menu and assign skills, this is also where the inventory can be brought up so the user can go through a wide array of weapons and gear to outfit their character. This gear can either be sold or it can be salvaged with the blacksmith to make new gear. There is also the options to see the user’s quests and the party can also be seen by hitting the touch pad as well as the paragon menu.
Some of the new systems they have added in Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition are really great. To see Blizzard being innovative with their games on the consoles gives me high hopes for their future projects on any platforms. One of the new systems in the Nemesis system. This is where, if a monster beats you, then it levels up and it has the chance to evade players on your friends list. This goes both ways, if it happens in their game the monster can come into your game – so it’s a really great idea to see this and we imagine it would spark quite a bit of conversation between players and their online buddies. The ability to transfer characters from one console to another is also a great feature Blizzard has added to this version of the game. This can either be done with a USB drive or it can be done with cloud saves online, so the same dedicated battle can continue no matter what console the user is playing on.
The new loot system that has been implemented has been one of the best features to be added into the Ultimate Evil Edition of all. The loot drops when playing with friends online or couch co-op are based on a per-player system so there are loot drops for each player. There is no more rolling for items in multiplayer anymore, each person gets their own gear, which is really nice in multiplayer. Check out a little sample gameplay of the early levels in online co-op below, we will have more late-game footage releasing over the next few weeks as we get around to editing and commentating the footage.
Now, say that the user picks up an item and they want to give it to a friend with player mail, which is great so there can still be loot given to friends on your list as well as gold and materials. The apprentice system is another new system that Blizzard has added to the Ultimate Evil Edition. With the Apprentice System this is where the user or friend of a user want to join each others’ game and one is way higher level than the other. They can jump in the higher level game and and be right at their level, doing all of the missions and challenges they do as well as get gear with them. When the user returns to their lower level character all the gear they got is tailored for the level character they have. This also works online, as well, with co-op.
Throughout the game there are all kinds of enemies that the user will face. Everything from undead, demons, and animals each have their own type of uniqueness based upon the color above their names and they all leave different types of loot to be picked up. There are also boss battles that need to be tackled with strategy in order to prove victorious. Bosses are not always an experience you will face in Ultimate Evil Edition and still walk away alive. This can be done by yourself or with a friend or up to 3 total friends and this is where the game really gets fun. With playing Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition, the game is meant to be played however the player wants to play. They can play by themselves the whole time or they they can play with a friend, or several for that matter.
Co-op feels great when it’s played with friends during the course of this review it was played with my Editor In Chief and it brings the gameplay up a notch, because the enemies get harder when more people are added into the game. The loot drops also feel like they are better and it’s easier or harder to take on bigger enemies in the story, depending on the intensity of the moment – adding to the suspense and fun of playing with other people. One thing is very clear when playing with friend this game is so much better. I feel that with all the added features that Blizzard has for the console players, they’ve really made a big difference for the core game. Now this isn’t going to be what everyone enjoys, but for those that enjoyed the games to begin with Ultimate Evil Edition is the best take on Diablo III both in single player and multiplayer.
Final Verdict:
Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition is one awesome game, and really proves itself to be one of the best next-gen games out there when you play it on the PS4. The game feels like there’s a lot of polish put into every mission and every area of the game, it doesn’t just end after the game is beat.
There is more exploration that can be done after the core game is beat which adds so much re-playability to this game which is great when you’re paying $60 for a game and not to mention this game has the core D3 game and the RoS expansion all in one package.
Some players may experience different things as they play the game and that’s what is great about it since loot and quests show up in different spots each time the user comes back to play. Also, the ability to grab 4 controllers and play this on the same couch can really make this game a great local co-op (AKA “Couch Co-op”) experience and since that’s something which hasn’t made an appearance in the next-gen consoles much, hopefully there will be more games to bring this feature back now that Ultimate Evil Edition taken the lead.
Overall Score: 10 / 10
RGN Rating: Diamond Game
Developer / Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Available On: PC | PS4 | XO | 360 | PS3 | Mac OS X
Review Copy Info: Two digital copies of this game were provided to RealGamerNewz by the publisher for the purpose of this Review.