Hellfire

The Good
Finally! I always wanted a Diablo Addon... Even if Hellfire isn't really a marvel in game development it does it's job quite well.

First of all I liked the new ideas. The poor town of Tristram is now threatened by two "dark" forces. First, we've got Diablo and his cronies down into the Labyrinth. Second, we've got Na'Krul and his mutated cronies down into the Hive and Crypt.

Another thing that I liked would be the way you get to the Hive (the first new "place" brought by the addon). You help a poor farmer to get rid of a giant ... plant of some sort that "possessed" his fields. You get rid of the plant just to find out that a "doorway" to the hive is now opened. Happy hunting!

The addon also brings up a new character, the Monk. The monk is the perfect picture of balance between the original three characters. Even though his "search" skill isn't THAT useful.

The new quests are interesting and the classic H&S atmosphere was kept.

I also liked the new spells and items. I loved the runes (they act like traps... bombs... dynamites... or anything that blows when it's triggered.) and the Staff of the Jester (which casts random spells... it's extremely fun indeed.)

The Bad
The sound of the Hive creatures. Excuse me, but a bunch of mutated creatures shouldn't sound like robots! Some creatures are okay... but most of the other creatures sound like R2-D2.

And the Hive defiler looks a little bit too much like the Starcraft Defiler.

Oh, and the greatest flaw of this game would be the complete absence of the multiplayer mode. I wish I was able to clean up the crypt with a few friends...

The Bottom Line
A great game. Even if you don't overlook it's flaws the game is still great! Worth playing indeed.

The Good
Upon starting up the game it almost looks like you’re playing the original Diablo all over again. You’ll be pleasantly surprised to find the plethora of new additions, particularly the monk player character. The monk is just as competent a combatant as the warrior, versatile in weapons, decent in spellcasting and has the uncanny to hit multiple opponents at once, which can really work in your flavour. And that search spell he comes equipped with, really solves the issue finding items obscured by the dark and scenery. Quite a comfortable character to play with.

The nicer features throughout the came consist of newer items, some of an absolute must have. Oils will help improve your weapons, runes allow you to set traps, and some staffs wielded serve as to grant you an extra, it limited spell slot. Other little additions that provide extra polish to the game are smoother movement, faster movement in the town so you don’t have to spend a minute and a half getting from one shop to another, and that annoying shuffling sound of your footsteps is absent, and deservedly so. And you don’t even need to ask the healer to heal you, it happens automatically when you start talking to him.

The biggest surprise that awaits you are two brand new hidden locations with new scenery, enemies and music tracks. Those levels are really hard to beat, but they also rack up the necessary experience you’ll need for Diablo. And speaking of Diablo, the major side quest to defeat that sub-Diablo demon is just the appetizer you need, a satisfying finish to the crypt levels.

The Bad
Good as the game gets with its new additions and tweaking of the mechanics, there still exists a lingering issue of the isometric

The Bottom Line
Sierra really went out of their way to make Diablo a better and relishing experience for players with many of the issues fixed, and the newer features giving the original Diablo a run for its money. If you had frustrating experience with Diablo before, this expansion won’t easily disappoint and you’ll definitely spend hours mastering it with your favourite character, making the best of what it has to offer. Honestly I cannot recommend this game enough to all gamers. It does Castle of he Winds proud.

The Good
Lets see, two new zones to explore, three new characters (including the two secret ones), and a nutcase in a cow suit to boot (if you include the cow quest)! As if that weren't enough, you can now play the single player game in all three difficulty settings, greatly increasing the replay value!

The Bad
Its a shame that the game has no Battle.net support.

The Bottom Line
If you have Diablo, you have no excuse for passing this gem up. If you don't have Diablo, get both. Now. I said NOW!!!