Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred review: Fans beware

The second expansion is a step up but exposes a fracture in the way modern Diablo is played

In Diablo 3, Blizzard's cinematic storytelling instincts took over, leaving the player feeling trapped in its propulsive but linear staging. So the Reaper of Souls expansion opened up Adventure Mode, which remixed all the game's elements into a carnivalesque grinding playground. It really worked, but it turned the campaign that had been built as the game's bedrock into an afterthought.

Diablo 4 was structured differently again, as an open-world live-service game, halfway toward being a massively multiplayer game like World of Warcraft. Its ambitious and lengthy campaign dotted around the map, but lacked the forward (or downward, in the case of the first Diablo) momentum of the earlier games. It was also comparatively unrewarding in terms of experience and loot; it felt like there was always a better way to advance your character.

By Diablo 4’s first expansion, Vessel of Hatred, this problem had become chronic. The campaign's story was inconsequential and thematically adrift from what makes Diablo Diablo, and by then the game was heavily laden with other things to do that were much more immediately gratifying. The story was just an inconvenient chore standing between players and the feature unlocks they really wanted; it was more fun to play a season's structured sprint through the game's many activities than to engage with quests.

The second expansion, Lord of Hatred, set for release on April 28, only fixes half this problem. Its campaign is hugely improved over Vessel of Hatred, perhaps even over the base game. But it's still the worst way to play Diablo 4.

It's hard to discuss the campaign without spoilers, because it goes for the dramatic jugular with a shocking twist in its opening cutscene and barely lets up. Iconic series characters turn up out of the blue, while others are killed off, seemingly for good. I can reveal (because Blizzard has) that the imperious demon mother Lilith — Diablo 4's original villain and its one truly great addition to the canon — is back in a new, more sympathetic role. Her stunning visual design and the purring authority of Caroline Faber's voice performance automatically elevate Lord of Hatred.

As we pick up Lord of Hatred's story, we're still on the trail of Lilith's dad Mephisto, the Prime Evil of Hatred. He's now inhabiting the body of Akarat, a Christ- or Mohammed-like prophet figure, and we follow him to the Amazonian civilization of Skovos (Diablo Greece), where he is amassing an unwitting army of Akarat's adherents. There's something unsettling and subtly sinister about the way we're caught up in this massed current of humanity as it's drawn toward a savior figure we know to be secretly and irretrievably evil — especially in the pretty, sun-bleached setting, which feels far removed from the dank or barren landscapes of the rest of the game.

There's nothing subtle, though, about the way Akarat's priests bloodily sacrifice themselves to turn into boss monsters for us to fight. Lord of Hatred piles on the boss fights, especially toward the end, and some of them are properly challenging dances with death — as well as spectacular and unexpected confrontations with imposing figures that reach deep into Diablo lore.

If only they dropped better loot. It is baffling to me how parsimonious the campaign's loot tables are compared to almost any other activity in the game, whether you're early or late in the leveling curve. This is the chief reason why this grandstanding campaign can still feel like such a slog. Take my advice and blast through it on a high-level character who's already well-equipped before starting a new seasonal hero.

During the preview period for press, I didn't have long to get stuck into the endgame — or, more accurately, the post-story game — which, in any event, will only properly reveal itself over time and in the context of a new season. It's immediately apparent, though, that Blizzard has made a real effort to bring some focus to a game that was at risk of becoming overstuffed and overwhelming. War Plans are essentially playlists for the many endgame activities — Nightmare Dungeons, Kurast Undercity, the Tree of Whispers, Helltides, etc. etc. — and they usefully streamline and structure your choice of what to do next. This being Diablo, they also come with unlock trees for each activity, allowing you to customize both risk and reward.

When it comes to customizing your loot, Diablo 2's Horadric Cube makes a triumphant return. Without completely invalidating the many other ways to upgrade or tweak your items, the Cube is clearly intended to supersede them as the powerful and versatile centerpiece of the item game. It offers a huge array of effects; one of my favorites is its ability to upgrade worthless Common items (and Common items only) into potent Uniques. This feature instantly transforms the worst trash loot drops into some of the most desirable — more so than Magics and Rares. It's a witty twist on the endless escalation of the action-RPG item game.

I'm also a fan of the Talisman, a new subset of loot slots where you can equip Charms with various beneficial effects. The focus here is on assembling Charms in sets for their set bonuses. It's a less flexible but more legible system than Runes (and I just like collecting item sets, which isn't much of a thing in Diablo 4 otherwise).

Across the board, Lord of Hatred shows a clarity of thinking that has been lacking in Diablo 4. That goes for the skill tree revamp, too, which applies to all classes regardless of whether you buy the expansion. The trees have been simplified while also expanding and clarifying choice. Each skill now has three sets of modifiers that are either/or choices; the most impactful of the three applies a Variant effect that can completely transform the skill. This new system reminds me of the freedom and clarity afforded by Diablo 3's swappable skill runes (extremely complimentary).

The traditional Diablo map overlay also makes a return, and it's certainly nice to be able to look at the center of the screen rather than the minimap when riding your horse. (Pathfinding goes one step further, clearly marking your route on the ground in-game.) More incongruous is the addition of fishing. It seems like a fun diversion, and the way Diablo's rapacious loot escalation has been applied to the acquisition of new types of fish is, once again, quite funny and self-aware. But Diablo is not and never will be an adventuring utopia like World of Warcraft; standing around fishing in its bleak world, while Sanctuary's miserable population is being tortured or dismembered by the nightmarish armies of Hell, just doesn't seem right.

Of more long-term significance than any of this are Lord of Hatred's two new character classes. I've already sung the praises of the Paladin, a magnificent resurrection of one of the great fantasy archetypes. I'm a little less sold on the Warlock. The styling of this demon-summoning occultist is extravagantly over-the-top, even by Diablo standards; draped in emo robes and wearing truly ludicrous goth-metal headgear, they pummel the battlefield with purple summons, or blast it with fire, or entangle it in eldritch chains.

The Warlock has a ton of maximalist Monsters-of-Rock flair, and I loved the sheer explosive power of my Apocalypse build. But, mechanically, I feel it's stranded between two existing Diablo 4 classes, the Sorcerer and the Necromancer. Despite the way the class is framed, the Warlock is more of a showy magician like the former. You can't quite twist it into an indirect army-of-minions playstyle in the manner of the Necro or Diablo 3's Witch Doctor. This will be a disappointment to some, and to my mind it's a less arresting and original take on the Warlock archetype than the one Blizzard recently dropped into Diablo 2.

Lord of Hatred is a good, meaty expansion. But I find it striking that I enjoyed playing the Paladin through the otherwise unremarkable season 11 more than playing the Warlock through Lord of Hatred's campaign. Maybe it's personal taste in the classes; maybe it's more than that. The seasons' lightly orchestrated tours through Diablo 4's opulent grind find a more instinctive and rewarding rhythm than the campaigns' labored drama. Lord of Hatred puts on a hell of a show. But the real attraction is what comes next.