What you need to know

• Blizzard has announced Season 27 of Diablo  ‘Light’s Calling’ will start on Aug. 26 at 5 p.m. PDT. 
• Players have until Aug. 21 to finish any Season 26 activities and claim rewards.
• Completion of Season 27 to the final chapter will reap two all-new cosmetic rewards, the Corvus Cadaverous pet, and Laurels of Knowledge portrait frame.

With Diablo fans eagerly awaiting the next instalment in the franchise, Diablo 4, Blizzard has been putting more effort into their Diablo 3 seasons to keep the players satiated. This season brings with it another exciting theme with a range of new rewards and activities.

In Light's Calling, players must recover Angelic Crucibles, a consumable item that can be used on any equippable Legendary item to give it perfectly rolled stats on all affixes. This update also includes new cosmetics, a very zombified-looking dog pet, and much more. 

Diablo 3 Season 27: New sanctified powers

In addition to new challenges and cosmetics detailed on Blizzard's website, the Crucible will add one more randomly generated power unique to the player’s chosen class. What are the new powers? Here's what Blizzard is rolling with so far.
Barbarian

- Whirlwind pulls in and holds all enemies within 25 yards.

- Hammer of the Ancients hits in all directions around the Barbarian. Every tenth cast of Hammer of the Ancients unleashes a powerful shockwave. This shockwave deals 10x damage.

- Hitting enemies generates stacks of Tempest Rhythm. Activating Wrath of the Berserker consumes 50 stacks of Tempest Rhythm and startles enemies within 16 yards, causing them to take 2% increased damage per stack for 20 seconds. Max 50 stacks.

Crusader

- Blessed Hammer now crackles with energy, damaging enemies within 15 yards of its path. All runes but Dominion now throw the hammer in a direct path in front of the Crusader.

- Every two seconds, call down Fist of the Heavens on a random nearby enemy. After casting Steed Charge, this effect occurs more rapidly for five seconds.

- After casting Falling Sword, you descend from the sky with two Archangels that can cast Consecration and Condemn.

Demon Hunter

- Strafe now casts the last non-channeled Hatred spending ability cast.

- Casting Vengeance unleashes a barrage of rockets that deal damage equal to a percentage of the maximum life enemies possess. The number of rockets fired increases over 30 seconds. Elites and Bosses receive less damage per rocket.

- Firing Cluster Arrow no longer drops explosive ordinance. Instead, it concentrates its explosive force into piercing rays of light.

Monk

- Casting Wave of Light now summons a bell at the target location that deals damage when any player attacks the bell. Up to five bells can be active at one time.

- All Way of the Hundred Fists combo punches use the second stage combo punch. Consecutive hits from Way of the Hundred Fists increases its damage by 2%. Max 350 stacks.

- The target of your Seven-Sided Strike is barraged with spiritual punches for 15 seconds. This can only affect one enemy at a time.

Necromancer

- Your Golem now picks up corpses within 20 yards. Each corpse it stores allows you to cast any corpse spending ability with the max number of corpses consumed per cast. Up to 30 corpses can be stored.

- Enemies within 50 yards are constantly assaulted by the Army of the Dead - Unconventional Warfare while this item is equipped.

- Hitting enemies with Death Nova five consecutive times adds a spirit that afflicts an enemy every fifth cast of Death Nova. Up to three spirits can be sent at a time.

Witch Doctor

- Enemies affected by Locust Swarm are also Haunted. When you cast Piranhas, all Haunted enemies within 60 yards are pulled into the pool. A lesser enemy stunned by Bogadile is instantly killed. Elites and Bosses stunned by Bogadile take massive damage.

- Horrify becomes an aura that causes enemies to receive 100% more damage and deal 15% less damage in addition to its other effects.

- You summon two Gargantuans and three Zombie Dogs periodically. Gargantuans gain the effect of the Restless Giant rune. Zombie Dogs gain the effect of all runes. Enemies hit by Sacrifice are Immolated, causing them to take 100% more damage from your Pets.

Wizard

- Your Storm Armor charges over 30 seconds. Casting Storm Armor at full charge releases a powerful thunderbolt, instantly killing a random enemy within 30 yards. Bosses and Elites are not killed but take significant damage.

- Arcane Orb now periodically spawns up to four orbiting charges that will generate an additional orb when cast. All charges from the Arcane Orbit rune now detonate at the same time.

- Magic Missile fires 10 missiles and gains the effect of the Seeker rune.

What are the rewards in Season 27?

Blizzard likes to repeat rewards from previous seasons so that those who missed out get a chance to collect all cosmetics, so for Season 27, we see the return of Season 15’s Conqueror set Chest and Gloves, and pet Belpegor to collect all your gold. PC players will also gain a new stash tab for completing the Conqueror tier if they haven’t already hit the max of four.

The two new additions this season are reserved for those who rise to the ranks of the top level ‘Guardian of Sanctuary.' The Laurels of Knowledge portrait and the Corvus Cadaverous pet, a wolf wielding a dismembered arm who resembles a zombie Sif from Dark Souls.

How do I get the zombie doggo in Season 27?

Completing the Guardian chapter will be more difficult than ever this season, with the need to complete at least three conquests as one step to victory. Completing three conquests has always been a prerequisite, but the pool of conquests this season is tougher than usual. There are five challenges to choose from, 10 if you count that each has a Hardcore counterpart, Diablo’s permadeath mode.

- Sprinter/Speed Racer – Complete the entire campaign, Acts 1–5 at level 70 in under an hour.

- Avarice/ Avaritia – Get a 50 million gold streak. This cannot be done inside the Vault or Greed’s Inner Sanctum.

- Boss Mode/Worlds Apart – Kill all the bosses in the game on Torment X difficulty or above in 20 minutes The Thrill/Superhuman – Complete a Greater Rift level 45 solo, with no Set items equipped.

- Masters of the Universe/Masters of Sets – Complete eight different Set dungeons.

Are there any other updates in Season 27?

As of the most recent patch, you can jump straight into Adventure mode to complete your season challenges.  The need to complete the story on a new game has been removed, so what better excuse to jump in as a new player? Echoing Nightmares, a wave-based challenge rift from season 26 has been kept as a permanent feature of the end game.  The XP gained from these however has been greatly reduced. 

Diablo 3 Season 27 starts rolling out on Aug. 26 

Season 27 begins Thursday, Aug. 26, at 5 p.m. PDT/CEST/KST, 4 p.m. BST, and the equivalent of 5 p.m. PDT in other time zones. For consoles, the patch will release on Aug. 26, 5 p.m. PDT globally, regardless of your region.

While waiting for more updates on Diablo 4, I can’t wait to dive into this season and complete the challenges. Despite being over 10 years old, Diablo 3 is still going strong. However, it's more than likely Blizzard will be eager to start shifting its service focus to Diablo 4 soon, given its expected launch in 2023. 

If Diablo 2: Resurrected is more your vibe, don’t forget to check out our comprehensive guide to Diablo 2 runes and runewords here.

Correction: The original version of this article had a couple incorrect times listed for Season 27's launch. We've corrected the error.

What you need to know

• On April 12, 2022, Blizzard Entertainment implemented a new patch (2.7.3) for Diablo III, the third entry in the Diablo franchise.
• Patch 2.7.3 adds in a new game challenge called Echoing Nightmare, balance changes for player classes, and bug fixes.
• The biggest bug fix of Patch 2.7.3 is that the Diablo III will be proper 4K resolution on the Xbox Series X and 1080p resolution on the Xbox Series S.

Diablo III is the third entry in Blizzard's storied action-RPG franchise, and is regarded by many as one of the best games on Xbox for its gripping story, addicting gameplay loop, and an intense combat system that is accentuated when playing with friends online.

Unfortunately, Diablo III has been experiencing technical issues when it runs on Xbox Series X via backward compatibility, having its resolution locked at 1080p due to a bug. Blizzard stated back in February that it plans on fixing this resolution bug, and now it is about to fulfill its promise with Patch 2.7.3.

The most important feature in Patch 2.7.3 is that it implemented a bug fix that will allow Diablo III to run properly at 4K resolution when being played on the Xbox Series X and 1080p on the Xbox Series S. This means that Diablo III can finally achieve optimal performance on the Xbox Series X, ensuring a smoother gameplay experience.

The second biggest highlight of Patch 2.7.3 is Echoing Nightmare, a new gameplay challenge for Season 26 where you must fight hordes of enemies lurking inside the memories of the Nephalem who fell into a Greater Rift. Conquering this challenge will reward players with EXP, Legendary Items, Blood Shards, Gems, and a new Legendary Gem called Whisper of Atonement, which can be used to augment Ancient Legendary Items.

The rest of Patch 2.7.3 includes balance changes for the Monk, Barbarian, and Crusader classes, new armor sets for completing the Season Journey, a new seasonal conquest rotation, seasonal cosmetic items, quality-of-life improvements to The Greater Rift, and a few gameplay bug fixes. The full patch notes can be found on the Diablo III website.

With this update, now would be the perfect time to fire up Diablo III and experience these new changes to see why this game is still beloved by fans even a decade after its initial release in 2012. It would certainly be an excellent way to kill time where you wait for Diablo IV.

Diablo III is an action RPG from Blizzard and is arguably one of the best games on Xbox. It's also set for a huge sequel in the form of Diablo IV. While we wait for the fourth installment, Diablo III and Diablo II Resurrected are keeping us going, but if you're a Diablo player on Xbox Series X, you might have encountered this annoying bug.

On Xbox Series X consoles, Diablo III runs in backward compatibility for the Xbox One S. This means that the game is locked to a paltry 1080p resolution. Obviously, the Xbox Series X is more than capable of running the game in 4K, given that the Xbox One X did just that. But up until now, Blizzard hadn't even acknowledged the bug. Thankfully, it seems that a fix is finally going in.

A reddit thread popped up claiming that it had been fixed, but it was later removed for being incorrect. Offering an update on Twitter and the Diablo forums, Diablo community lead Adam Fletcher said that Diablo III will return to its UHD glory on Xbox Series X in an upcoming patch.

While there's no exact word on the timing of Diablo 3's next season, it's widely expected to appear sometime in Spring, as Season 25 continues to play out. Season 25 added new mechanics to the game in the form of Soul Shards, which give unique modifiers to enhance your playstyle. Diablo 3 seasons typically come with unique cosmetics and new items too, and Season 26 will likely be no different. The season will also come with the resolution fix for Xbox Series X players, and it's a little unfortunate that it's still a few weeks out, but at least a fix is coming.

Diablo IV looks like it's shaping up nicely, though, and if Microsoft manages to complete its mission to acquire Activision Blizzard, we could see all Diablo games end up in Xbox Game Pass in the future.

What you need to know

• Diablo 3 Season 21 is right around the corner.
• Season 21 is set to begin on July 3.
• The season is being preceded by a patch that has already been released.

Hardcore Diablo 3 players take heed: Blizzard has revealed the patch notes and details for Season 21, which begins on July 3. Season 21 is called the Trials of Tempests and for good reason: the theme for this season is elemental energy. Every 90 seconds, your character will channel energy, triggering one of a handful of effects:

• Rain meteors from the skies around you.
• Breathe lightning.
• Summon a wall of flame.
• Release twisters of pure energy.
• Crush your foes under the weight of rolling snowballs.

While there's a whole host of balancing that took place in now-available patch, the main reason to grind this season is for the special rewards. Of these rewards, Haedrig's Gifts are a major highlight. Here are the sets that can be unlocked:

• Barbarian - Might of the Earth
• Crusader - Thorns of the Invoker
• Demon Hunter - The Shadow's Mantle
• Monk - Monkey King's Garb
• Witch Doctor - Raiment of the Jade Harvester
• Wizard - Firebird's Finery
• Necromancer - Grace of Inarius

Looking to the future of the franchise, Diablo 4 is still on the way, though there's no release date at this time. We'll continue to provide updates as more is revealed.

Xbox

Main

• What is Xbox Game Pass?
• Best 4K TVs for Xbox Series X and S
• Must-buy Xbox One Headsets
• Our Favorite Xbox One Wireless Headsets
• Best Upcoming Xbox Games for 2021
• Xbox One X vs. Xbox Series S

What you need to know

• Diablo III hasn't received any story content in years.
• Blizzard Entertainment today promises more themed season for the game.
• Games like Path of Exile receive story content frequently.
• You can purchase Diablo III for $60 on the Microsoft Store.

Diablo III is a great isometric adventure game, but it hasn't really gotten people's attention in recent years. Many months ago, Blizzard Entertainment announced Diablo Immortal, a mobile game, instead of Diablo 4 like everyone was expecting. Due to this, the franchise isn't held in such high regard anymore. While Diablo III still receives post-launch support, it's not on the level of say Path of Exile, which gets expansions with new story quests all the time.

Today, Blizzard posted an update on the game's website discussing "ongoing support." The title made it sound like some massive changes were coming. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. The post went on to focus on how Themed Seasons are quite successful and what to expect from them in the coming months.

Blizzard acknowledged that it hasn't been clear about its plans for the game, and promised to be more transparent going forward. The issue here isn't the fact that the team isn't clear, the issue is that the content at the end of the day can't be compared to an expansion. It's unclear why Path of Exile, developed by a smaller team, can keep on getting story expansions, while Blizzard has a hard time even getting seasons right.

Hopefully, Blizzard will reconsider its stance and at least finish off Diablo III's story properly. The latest expansion ended on quite the cliffhanger which I won't spoil here. There are rumors that another expansion was even shelved to focus on other projects. What do you think about all this? What do you want from Diablo III? Let us know. Additionally, if you're looking for a great alternative, give Warhammer: Chaosbane a go.

Excellent and affordable Xbox accessories

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Blizzard recently put out a video dubbed "Worlds Unite," showcasing the various franchises that have spawned one of gaming's most dedicated, most passionate fanbases. I count myself among those fans, with literally over a year's worth of World of Warcraft playtime and hundreds of hours across Diablo, Heroes of the Storm, and Overwatch. But, after a year of plunging quality, the departure of Cofounder Mike Morhaime, and some dubious Activision-style moves, fans are concerned.

The "Worlds Unite" video on YouTube, at the time of posting, has a 2:1 like-to-dislike ratio, with a stream of comments ranging from "thanks but no thanks," to expletive-filled rants about Activision, which isn't exactly known for being consumer-friendly. The same is true across Blizzard's Instagram and Twitter feeds, where fans of all Blizzard's worlds have indeed united — against what they see as a hostile corporate encroachment of what made Blizzard so great.

How did we get here? What will the future hold? Is this the end of Blizzard as we know it?

A year of missteps

Many will argue that we started to see uncharacteristic greed on Blizzard's behalf long before 2018, with manipulative, gambling loot crates in Overwatch and overpriced micropayments in the World of Warcraft store. But it really feels like things came to a head this year.

Somehow, Blizzard has managed to upset not one but several of its core fanbases this year, and I'm sure there are numerous other grievances core fans are aware of. For me, it all started with this summer's Battle for Azeroth expansion for World of Warcraft. What is arguably the least-stable, least-balanced, and possibly, least fun expansion in recent memory, Battle for Azeroth launched in an exceptionally bad state. Poor features in the form of Warfronts and Island Expeditions, combined with ever-increasingly frustrating loot and progression systems, and a litany of other issues, continue to make Battle for Azeroth a controversy that won't seem to go away. It's all the more painful when you consider the previous expansion, Legion, could be considered the best ever.

Not long after Battle for Azeroth soured Warcraft fans' opinions of Blizzard's apparent dismissal of its long-held "ship when it's ready" mantra, Blizzard angered Diablo fans with one of the biggest PR disasters of recent memory. At Blizzcon 2018, Blizzard revealed the latest Diablo project to the franchise's most passionate, hardcore PC loyalists — a reskinned NetEase Diablo clone specifically for mobile devices. When asked if the game would ever come to PC, Blizzard's reply was "don't you guys have phones?" which has become a meme-worthy analogy for corporate tone deafness.

Most recently, Blizzard revealed it was shutting down Heroes of the Storm's esports programs, putting dozens of people out of work right before Christmas. Additionally, Blizzard warned fans not to expect as much support as the game had enjoyed in previous years, although a smaller development crew would remain to maintain the free-to-play MOBA.

Blizzard had been criticized before 2018 for the way it has handled things. Diablo III's launch was mired in controversy for its "colourful" tone, weak connectivity, and real money auction house, and previous WoW expansions like Warlord's of Draenor disappointed fans too. But somehow, it feels a little different in 2018. And things are a little different.

Putting the Activision in Activision-Blizzard

Kotaku has done a ton of reporting on the situation at Blizzard, speaking to past and present employees. The common narrative is that Activision is exerting more influence over Blizzard's creative direction in recent years, pushing the company to cut costs and release more games.

Activision's most notable core franchise, Call of Duty, releases on an annual cadence with fairly minimal changes. Black Ops 4 launched this year, setting records despite having cut its campaign mode, and shipping with a range of remastered maps rather than, you know, new ones. Call of Duty is also notorious for its poor networking infrastructure that has never really seen any serious bumps in quality. By cutting corners, Call of Duty maximizes its margins in a way I worry Activision hopes Blizzard can emulate, in what has proven to be a modest year for the corporation financially.

Up until recently, it felt very much like Blizzard was a separate entity with completely different standards of quality, where fans of all franchises came together and celebrated everything Blizzard, with a ton of cross-over between those core properties. Now, Destiny 2 and Call of Duty feature prominently in Blizzard's marketing and PC launcher, which is not something many fans want to see. Will there be Call of Duty booths at Blizzcon next year? Destiny skins in Overwatch? The fears may be unfounded, but with Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime stepping down, he was seen by many as the last line of defense against Activision's encroachment.

The future?

It's easy to point the finger at Activision for the recent cavalcade of missteps at Blizzard. Activision, as an entity, really doesn't seem to care what its customers think, nor does it seem even slightly bothered about its image as an unfeeling, greedy megacorp. That is perhaps in part because millions of players are more than happy to pick up Call of Duty every year, and more than happy to soldier on in Destiny 2, which has also endured its fair share of criticism. For what Activision core franchises seem to lack in effort, they generally deliver in terms of pure casual fun. Simply put, while there is a lot of noise on social media about Activision's influences on Blizzard, there may be even more people who simply don't care.

Perhaps the core fans who hold Blizzard to that level of quality we've come to expect will move on and be replaced by a new generation of less discerning gamers Activision might see as more profitable. Perhaps Blizzard will right itself in 2019 and beyond, and we can write off this year as an anomaly. A reportedly much-darker Diablo 4 is apparently on the way, despite its no-show at Blizzcon 2018.

As an Overwatch player, a Diablo faithful, a Warcraft devotee, and a Heroes of the Storm fan, I can't help but be disappointed in Blizzard as of late. I don't want to succumb to negativity, but the company has done little to reassure me recently, and I get the feeling plenty of other Blizzard fans feel the same way. We can only really watch and wait to see where the future takes the company, and whether it's time to simply accept that no monarch rules forever.

Diablo III is an incredibly popular action game which relies on higher difficulty levels and loot drops to keep players hooked. The title is available on numerous platforms like Xbox One and PlayStation 4, and it's coming to Nintendo Switch soon.

Cross-play is a growing trend in the gaming industry, and a lot of games nowadays support it. Now that even Sony has committed to opening up its PlayStation platform, it seems like other titles may also make use of the service.

Speaking with Business Insider, Blizzard Entertainment said the following. It looks like the developer wants to enable cross-play between all platforms for Diablo III in the future. Soon you may be able to defeat the Legions of Hell with your friends on other consoles. Keep in mind that these aren't definitive plans.

Hopefully Blizzard can convince Sony to allow cross-play for Diablo III as well. Right now only Fortnite has the ability to play with consoles like the Xbox One. We reached out to Blizzard for comment and the team issued the following statement.

If cross-play does happen, it'll be down the line. The feature may end up making its way to a sequel instead.

Diablo III launched many years ago and, just like other Blizzard titles, receives exemplary post-launch support. The title is the latest entry in the legendary franchise which pits traveling demon hunters against the treacherous Diablo and other villains.

• See at Microsoft Store
• See at Battle.net

Keep an eye on WindowsCentral.com/Gaming for all the latest in Xbox and Windows 10 gaming, accessories, news, and reviews!

Microsoft is getting ready to kick off another Xbox One free play weekend, this time with Diablo III: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition. From Thursday, July 27 through Monday, July 31, Xbox Live Gold members will be able to download and play the Diablo III bundle release for free, Microsoft has announced.

To recap, the Ultimate Evil Edition bundles the original Diablo III with its Reaper of Souls expansion. That gives you access to not only the base classes and acts, but also the Crusader class, the story's fifth chapter, a raised level cap, and much more. During the free play weekend, you can adventure through Diablo III's dark storyline and take on the hordes of hell without any limits, teaming up with friends along the way.

Diablo III itself will also be up for grabs at a solid 35 percent discount throughout the free play period, bringing the price down to $38.99

As usual, Xbox Live Gold subscribers will be able to download the game via the Gold member area on the Xbox One dashboard.

A returning class from Diablo II, the necromancer brings a powerful array of undead magic and abilities to the game. Here are some suggested builds to help you make the most of this commander of the dead.

• See Rise of the Necromancer on the Xbox Store
• See Diablo III: Eternal Collection on the Xbox Store

Necromancer primer

The necromancer is a dark priest that can summon undead minions and draw power from blood and death. Although necromancers were a playable class in Diablo II, they play a bit differently in Diablo III. For instance, they now have more active combat options that reduce the need to depend on minions in battle.

Most of the necromancer's abilities rely on the class's primary resource, "essence," which she draws from enemies. Attacking with her primary attack (assigned to the A button by default on Xbox One) replenishes essence. The maximum storable quantity of this life-based resource is 200.

The necromancer has an even more unique secondary resource, and that's corpses. Enemies she kills turn into dead bodies that can be used for further means. With the right skills, you can explode corpses like bombs, turn them into projectiles, drain them for essence, and revive them as minions.

Whichever way you want to play the necromancer, you'll be safest doing so at a distance. This class relies on ranged attacks and minions, so close combat can be extremely dangerous for our dark priest.

Some of these builds use two skills from the same category, thus foregoing another skill category. To equip multiple skills from the same category on the console version of Diablo III:

1. Select Options.
2. Head to Gameplay Options.
3. Enable Elective Mode.
4. Return to the game and access the Skills menu.
5. Select the button to which you'd like to assign a skill from a duplicate category.
6. Scroll left or right until you reach the duplicate category and choose the desired skill.

Beginner build

For this build, we've chosen skills that become available at early levels and remain worthwhile as you work your way up to 70.

This build uses Bone Spikes and Devour to keep the essence coming in. Summon Skeletal Mages and use Command Skeletons to provide yourself an army, augmenting your attacks with the Frailty curse. When things get too hectic, use Blood Rush to teleport away from the fray (at a small cost to your health).

• Primary: Bone Spikes – Rune: Sudden Impact
• Secondary: Skeletal Mage – Rune: Singularity
• Corpses: Devour – Rune: Devouring Aura
• Reanimation: Command Skeletons – Rune: Frenzy
• Curses: Frailty – Rune: Scent of Blood
• Blood & Bone: Blood Rush – Rune: Potency
• Passive I: Extended Servitude
• Passive II: Overwhelming Essence
• Passive III: Spreading Malediction
• Passive IV: Fueled by Death

Bone Storm build

This build was created by Deadset, a professional Diablo III player. You'll play with a melee style here, thanks to the Grim Scythe ability. It's recommended that you use the Inarius armor set for maximum effectiveness.

• Primary: Grim Scythe – Rune: Cursed Scythe
• Corpses: Corpse Lance – Rune: Brittle Touch
• Reanimation: Land of the Dead – Rune: Frozen Lands
• Curses: Decrepify – Rune: Dizzying Curse
• Blood & Bone: Blood Rush – Rune: Potency
• Blood & Bone: Blood Rush – Rune: Potency
• Passive I: Stand Alone
• Passive II: Spreading Malediction
• Passive III: Blood is Power
• Passive IV: Overwhelming Essence

Corpse Explosion build

Another build intended for use with the Inarius armor set. This build revolves around the Corse Explosion ability, allowing you to take down living foes by blowing up the fallen ones. It's a good solo build, but the limited mobility limits its effectiveness for Bounties.

• Primary: Grim Scythe – Rune: Cursed Scythe
• Secondary: Death Nova – Rune: Blight
• Corpses: Corpse Explosion – Rune: Close Quarters
• Reanimation: Land of the Dead – Rune: Frozen Lands
• Blood & Bone: Blood Rush – Rune: Potency
• Blood & Bone: Blood Rush – Rune: Potency
• Passive I: Stand Alone
• Passive II: Spreading Malediction
• Passive III: Rigor Mortis
• Passive IV: Blood is Power

Corpse Lance build

This build focuses on getting the most from the Corpse Lance ability. You'll use fallen enemies to generate projectiles, hurling them at anyone who stands in your way. The armor set that best complements this build is the Trag'Oul set.

• Corpses: Corpse Lance – Rune: Blood Lance
• Corpses: Devour – Rune: Cannibalize
• Reanimation: Command Golem – Rune: Flesh Golem
• Reanimation: Land of the Dead – Rune: Frozen Lands
• Curses: Decrepify – Rune: Dizzying Curse
• Blood & Bone: Blood Rush – Rune: Potency
• Stand Alone
• Passive II: Draw Life
• Passive III: Blood is Power
• Passive IV: Overwhelming Essence

Skeletal Mages build

For the player who likes to summon minions, this build focuses on acquiring a hoard of Skeletal Mages and Skeletons and keeping them around to fight in your place. You'll want to equip the Rathma armor set and use the Jesseth Skullcythe and Skullshield for your weapons.

• Primary: Bone Spikes – Rune: Sudden Impact
• Secondary: Skeletal Mage – Rune: Singularity
• Corpses: Devour – Rune: Cannibalize
• Reanimation: Command Skeletons – Rune: Dark Mending
• Curses: Decrepify – Rune: Wither
• Blood & Bone: Blood Rush – Rune: Potency
• Passive I: Extended Servitude
• Passive II: Overwhelming Essence
• Passive III: Spreading Malediction
• Passive IV: Swift Harvesting

The eternal battle

Diablo III is the largest and most popular loot-hunting action-RPG on Xbox One and PC. On console, up to four players can team up locally or online to battle the forces of Diablo. While you'll find many Diablo-style games on Xbox One such as Victor Vran and Marvel Heroes Omega, the original game still has unmatched atmosphere, scale, and production values.

The Rise of the Necromancer DLC is available for $14.99. You can also pick up Diablo III: Eternal Collection, which bundles Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition with the Rise of the Necromancer DLC for $59.99. See our Rise of the Necromancer review for more details!

• See Rise of the Necromancer on the Xbox Store
• See Diablo III: Eternal Collection on the Xbox Store

Diablo III is an incredible action game from Blizzard Entertainment, available on Xbox One and PC. Not only does it fully support online and offline cooperative play, but it keeps seeing new features, content updates, and more, giving the game some serious longevity.

The previous DLC, Reaper of Souls, was a full-blown story expansion, complete with new characters, new cut-scenes, and an all-new hero class, the Crusader. The Necromancer DLC is nowhere near as beefy.

For $15, you get the all-new, fully-voiced Necromancer class, a series staple from Diablo II, and various cosmetic items. The DLC's launch also saw the addition of new areas for adventure mode and other new challenges for end-game players, all of which are free to existing players.

So, is the Necromancer DLC worth it? Read on, friends.

• See at Xbox Store
• See at Blizzard (PC)

Diablo III: Necromancer — What you'll like

Straight up, the Necromancer is overpowered right now, so if you want to get in on the carnage, do so quickly. Blizzard will nerf this boney dude any moment.

What makes the Necromancer overpowered? It's a combination of things, but thankfully Diablo III has near-perpetual scaling difficulty, allowing you to ramp up the difficulty every time you start feeling too powerful.

As of this writing, I'm level 60 on my Necromancer, playing on Torment III difficulty. I deal so much damage and have so many minions that I can tear through huge groups of enemies in seconds, never taking agro myself. The skeletal archers, knights, and risen dead do that for me. It's so much fun.

The Necromancer uses "essence" as its primary resource, which builds up using primary attacks. Some of these include a ghostly scythe slash, bone spikes from beneath the ground, and blood siphoning (which also heals you). You can spend essence on more powerful attacks, including the summoning of skeletal mages, the spreading of debilitating curses, and various other diabolical abilities.

The Necromancer, like other classes, has a full complement of abilities, passive skills, and modifiers, allowing you to tailor your playstyle in all sorts of ways. You could play a bone-armored Necromancer who gets up close and personal, using ghostly scythes and other melee-range abilities. You could focus on minions and build up huge armies of undead creatures, which follow you around and do your bidding. You could even ditch minions all together and focus on necromantic ranged attacks.

For my Necromancer, I'm leaning heavily on the class's other resource: corpses. When playing as a Necromancer, every time an enemy dies, a corpse spawns and becomes available to manipulate in various ways. You can make them explode, dealing area damage. You can devour them, to restore health. You can resurrect them, to add to your army, or leverage a combination of abilities.

I'm using a build that generates additional corpses when my summoned or controlled minions die. Then, I use "corpse lance" to transform the bones of the fallen into giant spikes, which deal huge amounts of damage. The downside is, of course, that I'm a total glass cannon. If an elite mob even looks at me funny, I evaporate. The Necromancer has plenty of survival tools, I just wanted to see how much damage I could get out of this guy.

In the midst of a field of corpses, I've been able to fell bosses incredibly quickly by sending dozens of corpse lances flying at the target, modified to deal stacking damage. It feels like something Blizzard will adjust, eventually, but for now, playing the Necromancer is hilariously powerful and satisfying.

Diablo III: Necromancer — What you won't like

There seems to be a missed opportunity somewhere here for the Necromancer to have been part of a larger DLC. You have to wonder if the new areas Blizzard patched into the game for free were originally slated to be part of a larger effort.

The Necromancer DLC isn't cheap at $15, considering all you get is a new class and some cosmetics. The Necromancer is fully voiced, and has some of his or her own cutscenes, dialogue and armor types throughout the whole game, though. The art effort alone is pretty large for the Necromancer, and he feels as much a part of the base game as any other class.

That said, I can't help but wonder why some aspects of the Necromancer's inclusion couldn't be more fleshed out. For Reaper of Souls, for example, Blizzard added a ton of lore tomes to give greater context to the new Crusader class. Every now and then the Necromancer will mention the Priests of Rathma, and the "balance" between life and death. But the DLC leaves you hungry for more information on the Necromancer's ethos and motivations that don't seem present in-game.

Blizzard could have done a little more to help slot the Necromancer into the game's world too. It's jarring when the kids of Caldeum seem completely at ease with the fact that a dude just walked into their city, followed by an army of undead and a grotesque flesh golem. For the Death Knight DLC in World of Warcraft, Blizzard added some negative NPC reactions to the Death Knight's presence as you walked through the major cities, enhancing the overall fantasy of the class.

Final thoughts

Diablo III's Necromancer plugs a hole in the heart of long-time fans of the franchise, who wished for the return of the Diablo II staple. It brings a huge amount of versatility, allowing for solo play, ranged damage, support, and melee, with beautifully rendered armor sets to compensate. The voice acting is well realized, and the Necromancer is just so damn fun to play and learn.

Pros:

• The Necromancer is fun to play.
• The Necromancer should suit all playstyles.

Cons:

• It's a little pricey.
• There's not much Necromancer story content.

At $15, I would've liked to have seen a little more story content, even if it was just some additional lore, but that's a personal gripe. Most players will probably be too busy relishing the bloody carnage the Necromancer can bring, which is considerable. This is a great addition to Diablo III, one I highly recommend to fans of all of Diablo's existing classes.

• See at Xbox Store
• See at Blizzard (PC)

Blizzard has just delivered a breath of fresh air into Diablo III with the release of patch 2.6.0 and the game's latest class, the Necromancer. The patch is now live on both Xbox One and PC, and Blizzard has released the official patch notes; here are the highlights.

New Class: Necromancer

• As a master of the dark arts, you wield the powers of life and death necessary to restore the Balance! Necromancers are powerful spell casters who lay waste to their enemies using curses and reanimation—along with an obedient cadre of pets. This new class employs a controlled gameplay style using the raw materials of life: blood and bone.
• Note: This class is available through the Rise of the Necromancer pack. For more details, please click here.

New Items for the Necromancer

• Over 30 new Legendary items have been added for the Necromancer class, along with four class-exclusive Sets featuring unique themes. Set Dungeons have also been added for each of the new Sets, providing you new opportunities to test your mettle.

New Feature: Challenge Rifts

• Explore new builds created by your fellow players in a weekly static dungeon! You can access these through the main screen, similar to Adventure Mode and Campaign Mode.

New Zones: The Shrouded Moors and the Temple of the Firstborn

• The fog-enshrouded Moors and the darkened Temple of the Firstborn can be explored in Adventure Mode through a new waypoint on the Act 2 map.

New Bounties: Realms of Fate

• Four new Waypoints have appeared in Adventure Mode. Each one has bounties to complete. These Realms of Fate are the unintended consequences of the battle between the nephalem and Diablo in the High Heavens.

Alongside the launch of the Necromancer, Blizzard has also released the Diablo III: Eternal Collection. This bundle combines the original release with the Reaper of Souls expansion and the new Necromancer pack for $60. Xbox Live Gold members can currently save a 33 percent on the bundle, however, knocking it down to $39.

See at the Xbox Store

Fans of the Necromancer class from Diablo 2 will get a chance to play the class once more, as it is officially coming to Diablo 3 for PC and Xbox One. Blizzard made the announcement at Blizzcon alongside a class introduction video that should have Diablo fans hyped.

While there wasn't much information revealed about the Necromancer on stage, Blizzard did note that it will be based on the Diablo 2 version of the class with all of the improvements of Diablo 3. In other words, you can likely expect to see a lot of familiar abilities. The Necromancer will become available as part of a character pack that will go on sale in 2017.

Lastly, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Diablo, Blizzard announced that it is bringing a playable version of the original game to Diablo 3. The experience will take you back to Tristram to venture through 16 levels with the original music and graphics filters to make the game look more like the original. The experience will be released as part of a special anniversary patch which will hit test realms next week ahead of its official release.

Welcome to our weekly ICYMI for Xbox news. This week we're looking at patches to Rainbow Six Siege and Diablo 3, Quantum Break tweets, the possibility of a Xbox Two, and more!

We're also giving away a copy of Rainbow Six Siege to one lucky commenter! Simply leave a reply and join the discussion for a chance to win.

We'll still be posting major Xbox announcements in the main feed. However, I'll be collecting some of the more nuanced news, rumors and talking points into one handy post every weekend. You can also rely on this weekly column to keep up to date with all the latest game releases too.

Here's the latest edition of This Week in Xbox One News.

Quantum Break nearing completion, further delays unlikely

Remedy Entertainment's upcoming time-bender Quantum Break is nearing completion, according to Remedy's Thomas Puha.

Quantum Break follows Jack Joyce on a quest to prevent the destruction of time – while the game's antagonistic organization, Monarch Solutions, seeks to gain control of it.

The playable portion of Quantum Break follows Jack in a cover-based third person shooter, with time and physics manipulation mechanics. However, taking place between each gameplay "episode" is a 20-minute live action TV show, which follows Monarch Solutions. The TV show intersects with the game, and decisions you make will affect the outcome of the TV show and vice versa.

Quantum Break has been delayed several times — in typical Remedy style — but it's looking like the game will make its April launch date without issue.

Quantum Break will launch exclusively on Xbox One on April 5th, 2016

Pre-order Quantum Break from Amazon US ($59.96)

Check out these Play Arts Kai Halo 5 figures

Square-Enix is perhaps best known as a game developer, but they also have a line of high-quality toys, immortalizing characters from various video game, tv and movie franchises.

Play Arts Kai's latest figurines take aim at Halo 5. These figures stand at around 12" apiece, and will retail for around $125 (via GameInformer).

Play Arts Kai also have various figurines for the Metal Gear series, D.C. Universe, in addition to the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series. They also stock a cool Titanfall Atlas mech replica and some toys from older fan favorites, such as Dead Space. The Halo 5 figures are slated for an April launch on the Play Arts Kai website.

A huge update is on its way to Diablo III

Blizzard is no stranger to supporting their games post-launch with free updates, and Diablo III is no different. The 2.4.0 patch has been available on Blizzards Public Test Realm on PC for some time, but the update will go live for real Xbox One, PS4 and PC sometime after the start of Diablo III's 5th season on January 15th (via Rock Paper Shotgun).

The update's biggest feature is an entirely new area called Greyhollow Island. While the new zone doesn't impact the game's campaign, it contains plenty of story content that can be discovered with exploration, rather than a typical linear progression path.

Some of the other features include:

• Over a dozen new monsters
• Expanded Areas: The Eternal Woods and Royal Quarters
• Revamped Set Items
• New Feature: Set Dungeons
• New Feature: Empowered Rifts
• New Legendaries
• Revised Buff UI
• More Stash Space
• Season Journey Revisions
• Season Rebirth
• New to PC: Action Combat

Be sure to check out the full patch notes here.

I listed Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition on the top 25 Xbox One games currently available due to its massive amount of content, robust multiplayer and accessible, but deep combat. If you haven't tried Diablo III before, now's a great time to jump in.

Buy Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition for Xbox One on Amazon US ($29.99)

Rainbow Six Siege 1.2 patch set to improve server connectivity

The latest entry in the Rainbow Six franchise is picking up a hefty patch on PC ahead of a release on Xbox One. The update is primarily aimed at connectivity, making improvements to matchmaking, bullet hit registrations and player positioning responsiveness (via GameSpot).

The rate at which the server will update a player's positioning has been doubled, which should make the game feel a lot smoother for all involved.

Online playability is quite important in a game like Rainbow Six Siege, considering it's a multiplayer focused tactical shooter where you're afforded only one life per round. Losing that life to lag can be an incredibly frustrating experience, and clearly, Ubisoft knows it.

Some of the improvements include:

• Updated the server tick rate for all PC users, coming soon to consoles
• Data center selection is now possible (PC users only, for now)
• Matchmaking Improvements
• Added a criteria that increases the odds of pre-made parties being matched against a squad with an equal number of pre-made parties within them.
• Improved connectivity to PVP and PVE matches
• Gameplay Fixes
• Level Design Fixes
• Online Flow Fixes
• UI Fixes
• Audio Fixes

Make sure to read the full patch notes over here. The patch is already available on PC, with a January 14th date planned for consoles.

Buy Rainbow Six Siege from Amazon US ($49.99)

Industry analyst Michael Pachter thinks we could see the next Xbox by 2020

Veteran games analyst Michael Pachter thinks we'll see the present console cycle end by 2020 at the latest. In his most recent Pachter Factor podcast, he responded to a fan question regarding the next console generation:

Pachter cites the decreasing price of 4K resolution TVs as a factor in triggering the next console cycle:

The next console generation might be a while away yet, but we are beginning to see signs that the big three are at least thinking about it. Nintendo has its NX console launching in the next couple of years, and there are recurring rumors about Microsoft launching a cheaper, disc-less Xbox One somewhere down the line. I wrote an article about some older mutterings about a disc-less Xbox One SKU previously, check that out over here!

Oculus Rift, HoloLens, and PlayStation VR are likely to disrupt the industry even further, and the increasingly PC-like architecture of the Xbox and Playstation could see even stranger twists down the line.

AMD's CEO, Lisa Su, recently commented that the AMD-powered PS4 and Xbox One are targeting a 7-year life cycle, which puts a prospective Xbox Two in-line with Pachter's predictions.

Analysts have been predicting the 'death' of the traditional console for years now, but Phil Spencer himself teased a future Xbox console last year. The form a prospective "Xbox Two" will take, however, remains to be seen.

Introducing OneCast – our weekly Xbox One, Windows 10 and Microsoft podcast!

Every week, I'll be hosting a podcast with our new writer Matt Brown and various other Windows Central team members as we look back at the week's Xbox, Windows and Microsoft news and events. Check out first episode on SoundCloud (Check out Soundrivin for a solid WP SoundCloud app), or input this address into your RSS-based podcast app!

OneCast Episode 1: Xbox game delays, upcoming Xbox One features, Windows 10 convergence, most anticipated games, and more!

Giveaway – Rainbow Six Siege for Xbox One

One lucky commenter will receive a copy of Rainbow Six: Siege for Xbox One! Simply join the discussion in the comments for a random chance to win.

Winners will be picked tomorrow at 6 PM BST. Please ensure you have a valid email address for us to contact you if you win!

ICYMI - Some of Windows Central's biggest Xbox articles of the week

• Windows 10 reportedly used on about 180 million PCs, 18 million Xbox Ones, over 1 million phones
• An upcoming Xbox One update will allow you to view party participants without joining
• Xbox One Preview: ARK: Survival Evolved – impressions so far
• The 10 absolute worst Xbox One games of 2015
• Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2 open beta begins Jan. 14 for Xbox One
• The 60-second Xbox One controller battery charger won't be out until late 2016
• Dying Light: The Following gets February 9 release date for Xbox One and PC
• Xbox One update with behind-the-scenes bug fixes now rolling out
• EA Sports UFC 2 headed to Xbox One on March 15
• Report: 'Assassin's Creed Empire' will launch in 2017, Watch Dogs 2 in 2016

New Xbox One game releases for the week ending January 10th, 2016

Lovely Planet - Shooter - QUICKTEQUILA

"With boots of speed on your feet, an infinite supply of bullets for your semi-automatic and the ability to jump over twice your own height, you're well equipped to go up against any enemy on your quest to reach Lovely Planet!"

G Prime Into The Rain - Puzzle - Soma Games

"Explore the vast uncharted mystery of The Rain, a solar-system spanning shock wave of gas and dust from far, far away. A gravity gripping, Steampunk styled, moody-beautiful, slingshot simulating puzzle pleaser."

Hyper Void - Shooter - IN|Framez Technology Corp.

"Punch your way through waves and waves of enemies from all races in the universe as you travel through volatile and crazy wormholes, all rendered in high-quality 3D with a heart-pumping progressive soundtrack!"

Cubot - Puzzle - NicoplvGames

"At first sight, Cubot is a puzzle-game with a minimalist gameplay, just move color cubes towards tiles of the same color. It's really easy, but it will be a torture for your mind to complete all levels of the game because the apparent simplicity of the game is in contradiction with the complexity of the puzzles."

Unepic - Action & Adventure, Platformer, Role Playing - EnjoyUp Games

"Unepic is a mixture of platform game, role game and joke that takes place in a huge castle of medieval fantasy. It is set in the eighty's style, but completed with the most actual features."

And that's a wrap!

This week I've been driving myself crazy, wrestling with ARK: Survival Evolved's server issues to get a hit of its addictive survival/crafting/dino punching gameplay. Hopefully, Wildcard can solve the issues sooner rather than later.

I also picked up a copy of Let's Sing 2016, ahem, for my girlfriend of course, review inbound? I'm also quite intrigued by Unepic, an indie platformer RPG hybrid with a heavy comedic slant. Check out Paul's gameplay preview of that over here.

What have you guys been playing this week?

July and August have been slow months for Xbox One releases. We got Guacamelee and Sniper Elite III (both excellent, both also available on Xbox 360) but the well dried up for a bit after that.

Luckily, today sees two new and very different titles released: Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition from Blizzard Entertainment launches both at retail and for download on Xbox One and retail-only on 360. Meanwhile, the Xbox One gets its second golf game: The Golf Club from Nova Scotia, Canada-based HB Studios. The Golf Club is an ID@Xbox release and can be downloaded for $34.99.

Should you join the fight against an eternal evil, or grab your bag and hit the links? Let our impressions and gameplay footage help you decide!

Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition

First announced back in May, Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition contains both the full original Diablo III game as well as its expansion pack, "Reaper of Souls." Ultimate Evil Edition marks Diablo III's debut on the Xbox One, while the original Diablo III arrived on Xbox 360 last year. Although 360 owners can't buy "Reaper of Souls" by itself, the Ultimate Evil Edition for 360 sells for the same price as the expansion does by itself on PC. On either console, we're getting a good value!

After creating a new character from the six available classes – or importing your character from the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 version of the game (just be sure to export the last-gen character before trading the game in!), you're in for a world of loot hunting.

Ultimate Evil Edition consists of the four acts from Diablo III and fifth act from "Reaper of Souls." Act V ties up a lot of story threads from the main game, including those of the companions and shopkeepers like Covetous Shen. Each of those NPCs gets his or her own unique area and side mission for players to complete.

After beating Act V, the new Adventure Mode will unlock. Adventure Mode lets players freely revisit any area in the game. It also adds loads of new content, including Bounties (random optional missions) and Nephalim Rifts (randomized dungeons that can only be opened with items gained from Bounties). Adventure Mode is focused on keeping players busy in the long-term.

I haven't completed Act V yet, so I don't have Adventure Mode experiences to share. But I am really impressed with the Xbox One version of the Ultimate Evil Edition so far. The process of importing characters from other platforms is totally painless. Setting up a local co-op game is just as easy, with the game properly recognizing everyone's profile (an area where The Golf Club falters) and quickly loading their characters.

Xbox One enhancements

Diablo III already looked very nice on the Xbox 360, but it really looks fantastic on Xbox One. I played the game prior to today's Day-One Patch, so the game was running at 900p resolution. But even then, the silky-smooth 60FPS frame-rate really brought the game to life. Today's patch bumps the resolution up to 1080p, which should provide even more detail to an already beautiful game.

My favorite Xbox One enhancement, though, has to be the improved loading times. Again, these weren't bad on Xbox 360. But I've just never enjoyed the wait while games load. On Xbox One, Diablo III transitions from scene to scene and area to area almost instantaneously.

There are sometimes brief loads such as just before a boss, but those are an infrequent occurrence. Considering that Xbox One games often suffer from lengthy loading times (somewhat alleviated by the use of an external hard drive), Diablo III's speedy loads on the default internal hard drive are quite impressive.

Join the fight against Diablo and the Reaper

I still have a lot more playing to do before I can give Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition a full review. But action-RPG fans who enjoy loot hunting need not wait before buying. With five huge acts, multiple difficulty levels that you'll actually want to progress through, a new Adventure Mode, and four-player local and online co-op, the new version of Diablo III will keep adventurers busy for months to come.

• Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition – Xbox One – 22 GB – $59.99 – Amazon Link – Xbox.com Link
• Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition – Xbox 360 – 7.5 GB – $39.99 – Amazon Link

The Golf Club

Launching on Xbox One ahead of the Playstation 4 version (and already available on Steam), The Golf Club is the second downloadable golf game for Xbox One. This ID@Xbox release comes from HB Studios, which has developed numerous sports games over the years.

Whereas Powerstar Golf is an arcade-style golf game, The Golf Club is very much a realistic golf sim. Instead of stopping meters to adjust the strength of your stroke, you'll swing with the right- or left-analog stick. Pull the stick down to wind up, and then push it up to whack the ball. The straighter your motion, the more accurate your shot will fly.

It's a fun way to swing for sure, but judging how far the ball will go when you swing at less than full strength is difficult. Even putting can be a challenge, as I often overshoot the hole. HB Studios should implement some aids for those of us who aren't golf game veterans.

Custom courses

The game includes a variety of studio-created "official" courses as well as user-created courses! That's the big draw here, making your own courses and playing other people's courses as well. The course creator lets you select from several terrain types, adjust water level, tree density, overall difficulty, and the number of holes.

I couldn't get the game to actually save my courses; it always displayed an error during that step of the process. But the game hadn't launched yet, and other people have successfully shared courses. Hopefully the feature will work when I try it again.

Multiplayer

The Golf Club supports 4-person local multiplayer and well as asynchronous online multiplayer. The local multiplayer is fun, but unfortunately the game doesn't allow players 2-4 to use their own profiles. That's a big disappointment in this day and age. Customizing the appearance of guest players is also quite difficult, as our customizations kept affecting the main player instead of the guests. Hopefully HB Studios will tighten up the local multiplayer features in the future.

On the other hand, The Golf Club does asynchronous multiplayer really well! The in-game friend feed constantly updates with your friends' actions. At any time, you can jump in and challenge the other player on a course that he or she played. You just go through the course like normal, but you'll also see your friend's actions alongside you. It feels like real-time multiplayer, except that you can't chat with each other unless you're in a party. There are large-scale asynchronous tournaments, too.

Flawed but fun

Having established that I hate loading times, The Golf Club really tries my patience. The start-up loading time is excessive, as are other loads throughout the game. When you adjust a setting in the course creator, the game takes forever to update the screen. It looks like everything has frozen, because there is no loading or processing indicator during that time. I haven't tried playing from an external hard drive yet; hopefully that helps.

Despite the aforementioned rough edges (and an erratic frame rate), the Golf Club is a very fun golf game. Few games in this genre can compete with the quantity of courses on offer, nor do they tend to let players make their own. The great asynchronous multiplayer features add a lot to the experience as well. If you're a fan of serious golf simulations and don't mind some performance issues and rough edges, The Golf Club is a great buy.

• The Golf Club – Xbox One – 2 GB – $34.99 – Xbox.com Link

It’s a huge day for Xbox console hype with news that the Xbox One will now be available without a bundled Kinect, the Games with Gold and weekly deals programs coming to Xbox One, and video apps no longer requiring Xbox Live Gold on either the One or 360 (see the whole list of announcements here).

All fantastic news, but I’m almost as excited for another announcement coming from Blizzard: Diablo III is coming to Xbox One! In fact, the Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition will come to Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Playstation systems this August. The Ultimate Evil Edition collects both the main Diablo III game (which we reviewed for Xbox 360 back in September) and the “Reaper of Souls” expansion pack that landed on PC in March. Read on for pricing and character transfer details!

Reaper of Souls

Vanilla Diablo III is a fairly long game as-is, but many fans have hungered for new content – especially more character classes. “Reaper of Souls” adds a whole fifth act to the game, with a brand new story taking place after the main game’s conclusion. As the Order attempts to seal away the dangerous Black Soulstone, Malthael the Angel of Death arrives and steals the stone. It’s up to the player(s) to get it back.

The “Reaper of Souls” expansion also brings the following additions:

• Crusader (pictured above): A sixth character class who wields large weapons (like axes and the new flails) and holy magic.
• Adventure Mode: Freely explore every unlocked area in the game without having to start a new game. New objectives and features can only be found in Adventure Mode, such as Bounties, Nephalim Rifts, and the Mystic NPC.
• Bounties: Random optional missions. Complete them for sizable rewards.
• Nephalim Rifts: Randomized dungeons that can only be opened with items gained from Bounties.
• The Mystic: A new NPC who can Enchant items and Transmogrify player characters (change their appearance).
• Level Cap to 70: Formidable new spells and abilities that take players to new heights of power

Pricing and transfer

Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition will cost $39.99 on Xbox 360 and $59.99 on Xbox One. The “Reaper of Souls” expansion pack will not be sold separately on consoles, so Xbox 360 players who already own Diablo III have no choice but to get the Ultimate Evil Edition. That might sound like a poor value, except that the expansion pack costs $39.99 on PC anyway. 360 gamers will pay the same price; they just don’t have to hold onto the original Diablo III disc to play the new content.

The main Diablo III game is only four acts long, but with four distinct difficulty levels and endless piles of loot to find, many gamers have already put hundreds of hours into the game. It would suck to have to start from scratch on Xbox One. Thankfully Blizzard has announced that Xbox 360 players will be able to transfer their progress to the Xbox One version (and Playstation 3 gamers can transfer to Playstation 4)! Thus it’s completely safe to buy the 360 game now and play it till the Ultimate Evil Edition arrives on the 360’s big brother system.

More than just the expansion

The Ultimate Evil Edition will boast several console-exclusive improvements as well. The new Apprentice mode allows low-level players to boost their stats while adventuring with high-level friends. This makes it easier for new players to join experienced ones without dragging the team down. A new in-game mail system will let players send items to their friends, including “mysterious Player Gifts containing rare loot for the adventurer whose name they bear.”

Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition sounds like the action-RPG to beat, especially on the young Xbox One. And it will feature the same fantastic multiplayer features as the first 360 game. That’s four-player local co-op, four-player online co-op, and any mixture of the two. Questing with friends and hunting for rare loot should be better than ever before when the Ultimate Evil Edition rolls around.

Preorder the Ultimate Evil Edition to get the exclusive Infernal Pauldrons bonus in-game item. The Pauldrons are a unique set of shoulder plates that provide Health, Life regeneration, and Cool-down Reduction effects. The Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition is due out on Tuesday, August 19.

• Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition – Xbox One – $59.99 – Amazon Preorder Link
• Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition – Xbox 360 – $39.99 – Amazon Preorder Link

The Xbox One’s November launch looms near, but the Xbox 360 continues to receive many high profile games this year. Grand Theft Auto 5 is pretty much the biggest console release of the year, but right behind it is Diablo III from Blizzard Entertainment and Activision. At long last, Xbox 360 gamers can experience the bestselling PC action-RPG on their console of choice.

Head past the break for our full review!

Enter the Sanctuary

Diablo III begins an old man named Deckard Cain warning his niece of the impending danger that threatens their realm of Sanctuary. Soon a burning object falls from the sky, destroying the building the two occupy. Cain’s niece Leah comes to the player(s) for help in searching for her now missing uncle, and so the quest begins.  

Story is not the main reason people play Diablo; they come for the loot. But the narrative is actually fairly dense and interesting, told through fully voiced interactions with non-player characters. Those conversations are also fully skippable, keeping them from bogging down multiplayer games.

Campaign structure

The game is broken up into four acts, each of which takes place in a distinct region. One act will take about six hours or so to complete. Unlike Borderlands’ more open-world structure, players don’t travel back and forth between each act’s locations.  You complete all of the quests in an act, move the story forward, and proceed on to the next chapter.

That linearity doesn’t hurt the game, though. Players can jump back and forth between any acts and chapters they’ve played. Skip ahead into someone’s multiplayer game and you can always go back to knock out whatever you missed.

A 25-30 hour campaign would be sizable enough for a game, but such a length wouldn’t account for the enduring popularity that the Diablo games enjoy. Diablo III has four difficulty levels, each of which can only be accessed after playing the previous one. You’re meant to progress through the game all four times, with new equipment and challenges only becoming available on those higher difficulties.

Oh, there’s also a Hardcore mode (combinable with any difficulty) in which characters can’t respawn if killed. The threat of permadeath really adds to the tension and challenge!

Still, part of the appeal of the Diablo games is that you can relax and zone out to them, alone or with friends. That’s why Blizzard added a separate difficulty setting for enemies. Turn them down to Easy and the harder playthroughs will go down much smoother than on PC. It’s nice to have a choice!

Gameplay

Adapting a mouse-oriented PC game to console controls can be difficult, but Diablo III actually controls extremely well on the 360. Here are the control basics:

• You move with the left analog stick, of course.
• Up to six skills can be mapped to the face buttons, Right Bumper, and Right Trigger – all the buttons on the right, basically.
• Left Bumper uses healing potions and Left Trigger locks onto targets.
• The right analog stick activates the new roll move, which lets you get into position for attacks or out of harm’s way in a hurry.
• The d-pad lets players quickly equip loot or warp back to town.

Each of the five character classes can unlock a total of 24 skills as they level up. By default, you can only map specific skills to specific buttons. Standard, rapid attacks would go on the A button, for instance. Players who want more control over their mix of skills can turn that restriction off in the settings menu. What’s more, you can unlock four different modifiers for all 24 skills. All that customization gives the player a lot of freedom.

As you go out into the game’s many fields and dungeons in order to slaughter hordes of monsters, many downed foes will drop equipment and gold. If you don’t want to fast-equip them via the d-pad shortcut, the Back button’s character menu allows for easy browsing of each item category (helmet, shoulders, chest, weapons, etc.).

Nobody does randomized loot better than Diablo, and the console version of Diablo III improves the drop system even further. Since this version lacks the unpopular “Real-Money” Auction House, the drop rate of Legendary (super high quality) items has dramatically increased. They don’t just drop constantly, but you’ll pick up more than one on each of your campaign playthroughs.

An accessible crafting system gives players even more control over their equipment. The Blacksmith creates weapons and armor from salvaged items. The Jeweler combines gems you find and puts them in slotted equipment. Both artisans can be trained to increase their abilities. Higher training levels require items that only drop in higher campaign playthroughs, so it will take quite a while to fully train them.

Partying up

Games like Diablo III are better played with friends. Not only does this version support online multiplayer for up to four people, it also adds local multiplayer. Yes, you can buy a single copy and play it for dozens of hours with your significant other or friends, all on the same system.

Obviously the entire team must remain fairly close together when playing locally (no split-screen here), but that just encourages teamwork and everybody staying on the same page. All four players can earn Achievements as well.

The only downside to local multiplayer is that only one player can access the Character menu or merchant menus at a time, and nobody else can do anything while someone browses those menus. The d-pad equipping shortcut reduces the need for the stopping the action to check recent loot pickups, but players still need to stop and sell everything to merchants every so often. The pros of being able to play with local friends certainly outweigh the cons though.

You can’t have friends to play with all the time, hence Blizzard added NPC followers to Diablo III. You’ll recruit three companions over the course of the game: Templar, Scoundrel, and Enchantress. Only one can follow along at a time, and they don’t participate in multiplayer games. Whichever one you choose, they’re all super helpful during combat.

Followers gain levels of their own and you can equip them with loot too. They even have interesting back stories that unfold through conversations over the course of the game. And follower progress carries over between all of your playthroughs and characters, so they’ll hold their own even on the higher difficulties.

Achievements

Surprisingly, Diablo III lacks character-specific Achievements. Instead, it has Achievements for all four difficulty playthroughs as well as reaching level 30 on Hardcore (permadeath) mode. I guess Blizzard wants players to fully develop a single character rather than having to switch between all of them.

Beating the game at least four times will take somewhere between 75-100 hours to accomplish. Other than that, the two most time consuming Achievements are for killing 100 treasure goblins (a fairly rare enemy) and collecting five million gold.

Overall Impression

For fans of loot hunting and action-RPGs, Diablo III just might be the Xbox 360 game of the year. Blizzard did a great job of adapting the PC game for consoles, dropping things that didn’t work (including the always online requirement) and adding local co-op. The game runs beautifully on the 360, at a near-constant 60 FPS, and the load times are practically unnoticeable when installed to the hard drive.

The only question is whether Diablo III will come to Xbox One as well. A Playstation 4 version has been officially announced for 2014, but no word on Microsoft’s next gen console yet. The 360 version performs so well and has such an active community, I wouldn’t hold out for an upgrade that might not come. Somebody’s gotta collect that loot this year, and it might as well be you.

• Diablo III – Xbox 360 – $59.99 – Amazon Link – Try the Demo

E3 is fast upon us, as the year’s largest and most important gaming expo kicks off next week. This is the time for console gaming leaks. And this year it also happens to be a week for big announcements, perhaps because some publishers fear news of their games would be lost in the wave of news that strikes during E3 itself.

If you have an Xbox 360 or Xbox One, I dare you not to be excited by the games we’re about to discuss… I’m talking about a new (old) Fable game, the first game from original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare creators Respawn Entertainment, and one very big PC port: Diablo III! Read on for that news and more.

Fable Anniversary for Xbox 360

The original Fable was a huge hit on the first Xbox console, the system we definitely can’t call Xbox 1 anymore. British developer Lionhead Studio’s action-RPG oozed with charm and humor and also filled a much underserved niche on the RPG-starved first Xbox in 2004.

Fable allowed players to choose between good and evil actions. Not only did this choice affect the story, it even changed the character’s appearance. Players could even choose to marry NPCs. One year later, a retail expansion called Fable: The Lost Chapters came along, boasting lots of new content like quests, enemies, and items.

Some say that the first Fable was the only truly excellent game in the series, with Xbox 360 sequels Fable 2 and 3, as well as spin-offs Fable Heroes and Fable: The Journey (and perhaps even Fable Coin Golf for Windows Phone 7!) failing to meet the original’s lofty standards. Those crotchety players will be happy to know that the original Fable will receive a high-definition Xbox 360 remake this fall, not unlike 2011’s Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition.

Fable Anniversary will include the full first game as well as The Lost Chapters. Microsoft and Lionhead also promise new lighting, textures, animations, and a host of other graphical improvements. It will even have leaderboards for the first time ever.

It’s a shame that Fable Anniversary won’t also be released for Xbox One, but it definitely gives 360 gamers a long and much loved game to look forward to in the fourth quarter of this year.

Diablo III for Xbox 360

When Sony and Blizzard announced that Diablo III would be coming to Playstation 4 during that console’s reveal event, many of us feared that the venerable action-RPG series would never make its way to Xbox platforms. Thankfully, that has proven not to be the case, as Activision Blizzard just announced that Diablo III will appear on Xbox 360 on September 3rd – in addition to Playstation 3 and (shortly thereafter) 4. Xbox One remains conspicuously absent from that list, but at least 360 gamers will be able to get in on the loot seeking action!

The long-awaited third Diablo title first appeared on PC in May 2012. It received a somewhat mixed reception, especially due to an ill-advised real-world auction system. It also faced stiff competition against Torchlight II and other contemporaries. On consoles however there are precious few Diablo-like games. XBLA has the first Torchlight but it’s a much smaller, single-player affair.

The 360 version of Diablo III will include the content that’s been added to the PC game since launch, so it won’t feel anemic by comparison. It also includes a revamped UI and new camera angles to make the game feel at home on a console. Most excitingly, it will add four-player local co-op! Sitting around the TV and playing with a friend/significant other or three should be a great way to pass a few evenings. And Blizzard even promises that multiple local players will be able to join in online games, so it won’t be hard at all to fill out a team of four.

Diablo III will retail for $59.99 when it launches on September 3^rd. Preordering it will get you an exclusive helmet that boosts XP gain. Now let’s hope an Xbox One version comes along too, even if Playstation 4 gets it first.

Titanfall for Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC

The story of how the creators of gaming juggernaut Call of Duty: Modern Warfare split off from Activision-owned Infinity Ward in order to create their own studio is the stuff of gaming legend. If you’re not familiar with those events, stop what you’re doing and do a web search on it right now. To make a long story short, several members of the Modern Warfare team felt shrifted after Modern Warfare 2 released and so they went off to form their own studio: Respawn Entertainment.

We’ve heard little from Respawn since then. But Game Informer magazine has just leaked a huge bombshell: Respawn’s first game Titanfall will be exclusive to Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC! That’s right, the spiritual successor to Modern Warfare will not be coming to Playstation 3 or 4. Consider that one huge feather in the Xbox One’s cap, to say nothing of its little brother the 360.

We don’t have too many details about Titanfall just yet, but it will be a futuristic first-person shooter. You weren’t expecting an RTS, were you? Humans characters will have the ability to pilot huge mechs called Titans. But the game will be balanced in such a way that other humans can effectively combat those mechs.

One potentially cool or uncool aspect of Titanfall is that it will require an online connection to play. The primary reason for that is the Xbox One’s ability to offload processing tasks to the cloud. This will apparently allow the game to have more advanced physics and graphical effects than the Xbox One could handle on its own. Considering that easily 90% of Call of Duty players buy the game for its online mode, I doubt the online requirement will prove much of a deterrent for this particular game.

We’re bound to hear more about Titanfall during Microsoft’s E3 media briefing on Monday, so stay tuned!

Source: Game Informer via NeoGAF and Kotaku

Fantasia: Music Evolved for Xbox 360 and Xbox One

Given the critical praise of Harmonix’s Dance Central series and its motion controls, many gamers thought that Dance Central 4 as a Kinect title would be a foregone conclusion. It turns out that the studio famous for its music games will instead follow up Dance Central 3 with a licensed Disney game called Fantasia: Music Evolved.

Yes, this is a new motion-controlled music game based on Disney’s animated Fantasia films. Players will take on the role of the new Sorcerer’s Apprentice (please don’t remind me of that tepid movie!) as he conducts music within a magical world. The brilliantly colorful graphics are 3D instead of 2D, while the music consists of licensed songs from Queen (yes!), Bruno Mars, and other artists.

Fantasia: Music Evolved might seem like an odd license and a difficult concept to grasp at this point in time. However, we know that Harmonix KNOWS music and it KNOWS motion controls. The Xbox One version of Fantasia will likely have the most accurate full-body controls that Harmonix has ever produced, and that thrills this Dance Central fan to the core.

Wolfenstein: The New Order for Xbox 360 and Xbox One

Bethesda, publisher of such games as Skyrim and Doom 3: BFG Edition is currently hard at work on the latest installment in the venerable Wolfenstein series. Yes, this one was announced a few weeks back but we've got a fresh trailer to share with you now.

Rather than a direct sequel, The New Order spins the story off into an alternate universe in which the Nazis won World War II and took over America. Series protagonist B.J. Blaskowicz returns as the only man capable of stopping the sci-fi Nazi menace.

The New Order will be a single-player game, a fact which could disappoint fans of the phenomenal original Xbox entry Return to Castle Wolfenstein. But the world needs an alternate history game about fighting techno Nazis even more than it needs yet another multiplayer game. We’ll do our best to get some hands-on footage of Wolfenstein: The New Order at E3 next week!