You see, when you really get down to it, Blizzard's latest instalment in the Diablo franchise is nothing more than a glorified patch. Sure, there's a new act, a few tweaks to the control system and the interface, some few new monsters, old weapons rehashed and two new character classes. But that's pretty much it, and as expansion sets go, its slim pickings.

Oh, and support for - wonder of wonders - 800 x 600 resolution. Whoopee. It's not enough, especially for an engine that even when it came out was but a small improvement over its predecessor. Graphically Diablo 2 disappointed, and the addition of a paltry 800 X 600 resolution doesn't make amends for the fact that by today's standards, Diablo 2's graphics are dated.

Anyway, Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction. For those of you who finished the original you'll remember that while defeating Mephisto and Diablo, Baal escaped after the fool Marius broke the spell which kept him bound to Tal Rasha. Baal then sets off to do the one thing that any self-respecting demon would do after being contained for thousands of years by a powerful mage - destroy humanity. Not living up to his namesake it would seem. Your mission (surprise surprise) is to journey to Mount Arreat and stop him before he corrupts the Worldstone and triggers some kind of apocalyptic battle. I've got no complaints - as stories good it's a good one and true to the Diablo universe.

Except for the fact that the story should have concluded in Diablo 2. Sure, it's a good storyline, but it could have been wrapped up with Baal's destruction in Diablo 2. There should not have been the need for an expansion. And herein lies my biggest problem with Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction - it should have been in the original. We should have seen the implementation of runes, jewels, weapon swapping, a larger stash and all the other neat things about the expansion in Diablo 2. It's a pity - if anything the expansion reminds me of all the things that Diablo 2 lacked. As I said, much of the expansion is nothing more than a patch to tweak gameplay.

I'm happy to report that one area that is as good as ever is the sound. Blizzard has always had an excellent reputation as far as sound and music goes, and for once the expansion set doesn't disappoint. The juxtaposition of environmental sounds and the dynamic music is superb. The soundtrack is perhaps the most memorable thing about the expansion.

Diablo's biggest strength was its gameplay. Sure, it may have been mindless point-and-click, hack-and-slash action, but we loved it. Much of the changes introduced by Lord of Destruction are specifically targeted at the gameplay. You can now swap weapons with a single keystroke - perfect for quickly changing to a mace to smash in that skeleton's head or for whipping out the crossbow to impale a demon against a wall at long range.
The expansion also sees the addition of runes and jewels which are socketed in much the same way as gems. There are a couple of brand new character-specific weapons and the old armour and weapons now sport new prefixes and suffices for new effects. It adds a little variety to the game, but there could have been more. Considering how long Diablo 2 and LoD took to make, I expected more items.

Perhaps the biggest change is the addition of two new character classes - the druid and the assassin. Admittedly, I am impressed. The two new characters play like no other class I've ever played and as far as CRPGs as a genre go, is a welcome diversion from the usual warrior/archer/magician combination that is so frequently employed. The assassin uses strap-on arm blades ala Wolverine style to slice up her foes. She has a nifty bag of traps as well, that while mana-intensive provide for some pretty spectacular fireworks. The assassin is a great character that requires the player to intelligently balance physical and magical attacks. It may have been challenging to play with her, but there is something special about seeing her deliver a tiger strike blast to three somewhat stunned opponents before proceeding to tear out their intestines with her blades.

The druid is a bit of an odd case. A druid is what would happen if you dropped a Greenpeace activist into a barrel of pure magic. He's a freak, quite simply. He babbles on about being a force of nature a lot. He can morph into a werewolf or a werebear and summon the beasties of the wild to aid him. As I quickly discovered, you cannot play the druid like you would play a necromancer, because the "beasties of the wild" are nothing more than cannon fodder. While a necromancer can stand back and let his undead warriors tear the enemy to pieces, as a druid you need to get your hands/paws dirty (whatever state you're in) alongside your summoned creatures. The druid can also summon the real forces of nature, including volcanoes, which are pretty cool to look at if nothing else.

All in all, Diablo 2 Lord of Destruction isn't all that bad. In fact, if you liked the original as I did, you'll love LoD. It incorporates all the bug fixes and gameplay tweaks that we asked for, has a few new things to keep things interesting for a short while and generally does Diablo 2 better. If you're willing to forgive the rather hefty price tag (Diablo 2 retails for 2,500 pesos or the pirated CD's at 80pesos) and the fact that pretty much everything about LoD we wanted in the original, go get it. If nothing else, Lord of Destruction is going to lengthen Diablo 2's shelf life by a few more months.