Reviews for Diablo 4's second expansion, Lord of Hatred, have started to drop — and we're seeing what could be a real turning point for Blizzard's oft-criticised action RPG.
As a standalone campaign, the DLC is being praised for how it adds to the existing Diablo 4 story, and it apparently ties up a lot of threads that were left hanging by 2024's Vessel of Hatred in a satisfying manner.
You'd hope that would be the case given the previous expansion essentially ended on a cliffhanger, but some reviews go as far to say that this is the game's most engaging narrative to date.
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And that's an impressive achievement, because we reckon Diablo 4's already packing a strong story-driven adventure at its core.
Indeed, it's all the gameplay stuff that surrounds the campaign that's come under fire over the years. While major updates have improved the overall experience, endgame concerns, for example, have been a constant fixture throughout Diablo 4's life.
Fortunately, word is that Lord of Hatred delivers on its promise to rework much of the title's progression and endgame systems for the better. For starters, the two new classes that it introduces — the Paladin and Warlock — are supposed to be great fun to build and play.
The new endgame cycle's apparently a winner as well, letting you queue up different activities to create your own kind of expeditions. This overhauled structure's supposed to make endgame progression feel a lot more meaningful.
We've rounded up a handful of reviews below, with Lord of Hatred currently sitting on a Metacritic score of 82 (based on the PC version).
PC Gamer - 9/10
"The changes in Lord of Hatred target Diablo 4's greatest flaws, and instead of slapping on quick fixes, Blizzard has found creative new solutions that avoid the pitfalls of the past.
The result puts Diablo 4 in a great position to keep growing, but it isn't necessary to focus on potential here: It's an exceptional action RPG right now. There's never been a better time to play Diablo 4."
Wccftech - 9/10
"Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred is an excellent expansion that breathes new life into the hack-and-slash action RPG game. The expansion closes a lengthy narrative arc in truly epic fashion, the new Warlock class is extremely fun to play, and the new systems greatly improve build variety and endgame planning."
Game Informer - 8.5/10
"Lord of Hatred accomplishes what a good expansion should. A strong story puts the likable cast through the wringer, and I was hooked to see it to its eventual conclusion [...] Lord of Hatred is an exceptional cherry on top of Diablo IV, further cementing the entire package as among the best action RPGs of the generation."
Forbes - 8.5/10
"Give me another hundred hours (which I will probably play), and I will give you a full breakdown of the endgame, but for now, I’m liking the package overall, and it’s enough to make me return for a while, to be sure."
IGN - 8/10
"Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred offers a wonderfully satisfying conclusion to the Mephisto saga, with one of my favorite Diablo stories yet, some really compelling changes to buildcrafting, two equally interesting new classes, and an endgame that seems primed to be more accessible and life-devouring than ever before."
Are you looking forward to Lord of Hatred's PS5 release on the 28th April? Start thinking up Warlock builds in the comments section below.
Comments 19
I am so ready to dive into this. I really like the Paladin. Warlock seems cool but not so much my play style. Going to be fun taking down a Prime Evil in this expansion and hopefully next expansion brings in DIablo’s plot and part in all this. Over 800 hours in D4 and this will easily push it into the 1000 mark. New skill tree has me excited to see what new builds are made.
@HonestHick I'm excited to try warlock I ready did not enjoy pald
Yeah, joining to Excited party. Ordered another D4 collectible, https://static.b-bro.net/img/1024/6/diablo-iv-minion-of-hell-bookend-183cm_1.jpg
Skipping all reviews and any info as much as possible. D4 will be as best it can be - finished. And lets wait for Diablo 5 announcement in Blizzcon. I think they will end active development for Diablo 4. It was long way to have game in great state.
Wake me when they add an offline mode!
This is like the third article in as many days on this site that mentions a games release or reviews, and doesn't mention the release date.
@Thatguyoverthere that would require it not to be live service game which won't happen
@MyHairGrowsFast comes out on the 28
so overall $90 to play what should have been the full Diablo 4 experience from the start. it'd be nice to see a time where we get these games in their entirety right off the bat.
@MyHairGrowsFast Simply click on the Lord of Hatred link provided in the article ?
@Thatguyoverthere I came here to say the same thing.
The base game scored higher and still think it's good but the one awful thing about this whole game - always online even for SP - I mean i won't really have an issue if it's just logging in but nooooooo...when there's an interruption in your network, the performance of the game drops - utterly ridiculous!
Changes are many, and substantial, but it remains to be seen if they're actually as good as they say once it's picked apart by the community.
I already have the expansion mainly because of the story and the Paladin class, eagerly waiting for the 28th but with mild expectations for the endgame.
@REALAIS I think you're going to be waiting a loooong time for Diablo 5. I believe I remember someone on the dev team mentioning they had a 10+ year plan for expansions on this game.
@TheArt I've definitely noticed this. I can't have a game downloading on my PS5 while I am playing-the lag makes it completely unplayable. its actually about as responsive as D2 was on my 56k modem back in the day. To hit a monster and then literally wait two seconds for the hit to actually register is insane. I hate that they tied every single action to a server response.
dropped D4 after S8, getting through the story plus full seasons unlocking everything was enough for me. I enjoyed my time and was one of the few players really having a blast. Maybe I will pick this once the next expansion is released.
After almost three years of chemotherapy, my cancer is best its ever been. Still…. would rather not have cancer, but its best its ever been.
@bleeflooflah Rod Ferguson years ago told after Diablo 4 release, while he was in charge, that their goal is to lower wait between games and get them out on regular basis. It is already 3 years. Where one full year was spent just to fix it and it loss its momentum. And now in 3rd year finishing they have again changed game systems. I like D4 overall, and I have watched all if dev streams and followed most stuff around this game. And never it has been stated that Diablo 4 is 10 year game. With every expansion playerbase gets smaller. Revenue dips year on year, and Spirtiborn is tied to previous expansion, 2 new classes are tied to 2nd expansion. Obvious choice would be to have taken notes from all mistakes from D4 and moving forward with game which Foundation is rock solid.
It looks awesome but I don't do always online. I hope the EU will make get legislation where there have to patch always online games to be patched so it can be used after the servers to offline.
I'm beyond excited for this. Are you guys gonna review it?
@REALAIS If you've watched all the stuff then you are a more reliable source than me. My instincts just don't agree with that idea that a new sequel would come out so soon. Every single Blizzard game is trying to be a live service that will never need another sequel again. The recent backpedaling from "Overwatch 2" is good evidence of that.
Also, it may be that the playerbase has dwindled (I don't know what the numbers are and I doubt Blizzard has shared them) but it has happened multiple times with Blizzard properties that a new expansion can bring the playerbase back and stronger than ever. Its been done countless times with WOW, and more with Hearthstone, Overwatch and even Diablo 2 with that recent warlock addition. I have also personally experieced this recently with D4. SEVERAL of my friends bought the base game, but not the first expansion. They all fell off after a month. The new Paladin class brought them back and they all preordered the new expansion. So dwindling numbers over time is no indication of future performance with expansions.
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