Something has gone horribly, horribly wrong. Khan, a level 30 barbarian, who once battled and defeated Diablo months ago, quite suddenly couldn’t destroy a snowflake in Hades. And that is bad, very bad. You see, if Khan wants to experience the glories of Act V of the Diablo II saga, he’s going to have to kill Diablo all over again to unlock the gateway to the realms beyond.

The Diablo II expansion pack, Lord of Destruction, a PC title from Blizzard, has been released. But don’t be surprised if you don’t see it on store shelves. It is being snapped up at an alarming pace. What the game offers is more than just a whole new act that features six new quests. There are quite a number of new additions that give the original Diablo II a completely new feel.

But before going into all that, for those who may not be familiar with the Diablo II saga, a little explanation is in order. Diablo II is a role-playing hack fest, featuring legions of evil creatures in a wonderfully detailed world. The quest is to kill Diablo, but in order to do that players must complete numerous quests in four acts, each act ending with a powerful boss monster that must be overcome in order to advance. It is immersive and highly addictive adventuring. Players could take on the guise of an Amazon, necromancer, sorceress, paladin, or barbarian. Each character had their own set of strengths and weaknesses. There were character-specific weapons, and an incredible array of booty to be won.

Additionally, players could play the single player missions in tandem (or with a party of up to eight) over a LAN, although the monsters were tougher as more joined the fray. It is a game of magical, mayhem and monstrous entertainment.

The Lord of Destruction expansion brings new depth to the original game, while opening the vistas of an unknown realm for players to venture into. There are also some new heroes.

But before delving into that, it should be noted that expansion is a slightly different beast than the original game. While expansion characters begin at Act I, they cannot compete for glory in the original Diablo II game. And you can take your original characters from Diablo II and compete in the expansion, but once converted to an expansion character, they cannot go back to being a non-expansion character.

An explanation is in order. If one of the new characters enters the fray, they do begin at Act I with the same quests as in the original game. However, there are major differences that separate the expansion characters from the original characters, and that is what creates the separation in the two games.

Here are the differences in the two games …

First, the stash is twice the size it was before. That is a major boon to players who horded gems for socketed items, or picked up armor that quickly eroded the space of the original stash. Of course with new characters, there are a host of new items and weapons to be found. Expansion characters, venturing back into Act I will pick up items of power and magic from the outset. They can become stronger faster.

You can heal hired NPCs, as well as equip them. Not only that, but hired mercenaries gain experience points and level up. If they die in combat, you can resurrect them – for a fee, of course.

Players can double equip weapons, then switch between them at the touch of a key. For example, an Amazon can be equipped with a bow, then a tap of the ‘W’ key toggles to the secondary weapons, which could be a sword and shield – for the close combat. In fact, there are eight new hotkeys in the control configuration.

There are new recipes for the Horadric Cube that are contained on readable scrolls. Environments are interactive in Act V with breakable walls.

And then there are the new character classes.

First up, meet the Druid – a shapeshifting mage who controls the elements. Not only can he conjure up animal spirits to fight for him, but he can take the shape of a werebear or werewolf, creating incredible decimation with giant claws. The cool part is that when in one of these shapes, he runs on all fours. His cyclone armor will be particularly useful against Demon Knights and magic attacks. If he so desires – instead of calling forth a dire wolf, spirit wolf or grizzly – he can work a little magic and summon poison creepers (vines that grow from the ground and continually poison any foe), carrion vines or creepers that drain the life force of the enemy and gives it to the druid.

The other new hero-class character is the Assassin – a woman you definitely do not want to make angry. Versed in the martial arts, and capable of devastating kicks and blows, she also can launch psychic attacks. She can draw on a cloak of shadows (a magical ability) to go virtually unseen by her enemies, or she can project a shadow image of herself to battle and distract the enemy. She is quick and quite deadly.

And she needs to be with the five new monsters awaiting heroes and their companions. There are the reanimated horde, death maulers, imps, putrid defilers and succubi. Each new monster has amazing skills. The death mauler will put tentacles into the ground that will travel quickly under the earth, then burst forward in spikes to impale the unsuspecting hero.

Overall, the enemy AI is improved. They attack smarter and stronger.

While some of the new quests reek of battlefield melee action, the quests in Lord of Destruction are enhanced by the new environments rather than by the content of the mission. The quests are basically more of the same, but that is quite all right. If it is combat you crave, then Blizzard has delivered it impressively.

Lord of Destruction is a wonderful expansion pack. It improves upon the original Diablo II, while taking the game forward. This is not a cerebral exercise by any stretch of the imagination. There are not any real puzzles to solve. The thought process does come into play as you decide how to level up your characters and what disciplines to master.

Whereas Diablo II was well received (that is an understatement), Lord of Destruction has been eagerly awaited. It is bound to satisfy devotees of the game and whet their appetites for more. For those that have never played the game before, while you will need the original game installed before you can launch Lord of Destruction, the expansion is probably the best way to become involved with the game. It is richer in action, the rewards are greater and the enjoyment factor is high. Lord of Destruction’s improvements make replaying Diablo II seem like playing a new game.

Rating: This game is rated for Mature players (17 and above) due to animated blood and gore, and animated violence. The game is rather bloody, with exploding bodies, and may not appeal to everyone.

Install: Medium.
Diablo II’s install could eat up to 1.5 gigs of hard drive space. The expansion pack requires another 800 megs of space.

Gameplay: 9
Each act plays out seamlessly, though you may wish there were pauses in the continual onslaught of foes. The new maps are very well designed, and advance the game.

Graphics: 8.5
War –ravaged fields, new siege towers, new monsters – it all adds up to a game that is terrific. The intro movie to this game is stunning and will immediately spark your enthusiasm for the battle that lies ahead.

Sound: 7.5.
Solid, but nothing really new and amazing has been added.

Difficulty: 8.5.
The game is progressive in difficulty. Each quest leads to a harder one. And if there wasn’t enough, there are several difficulty levels sure to tailor the game to your abilities. Those difficulty levels are called normal, nightmare and hell.

Concept: 8.
Lord of Destruction gives players what they were missing from the original game and expands the universe nicely.

Multiplayer: 8.5
This game is a killer when playing multiplayer. You can team up with friends to journey forth on the same quests as are featured in the single player game. There is also tremendous support for combat against Internet rivals.

Overall: 9.
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction does everything that an expansion should do. It adds to the existing game while moving it forward. In short, this program is a blast.