Diablo II: Battlechest

The millions of gamers who fought their way through the horror of Tristram's catacombs in the original Diablo realised that all was not well after their hero destroyed the demon's physical body. Diablo 2 opens with a vivid animated vision of that mad, doomed hero who unwittingly spreads chaos as he moves towards a fate of Diablo's choosing.

With the original character classes gone, players choose from a new cadre of champions--the Barbarian (can wield two two-handed swords at once, one in each hand), the Necromancer (raises the dead to fight his battles), the Amazon (master of bow and spear), Paladin (holy crusader) and Sorceress (wielder of elemental magic). These warriors follow a diabolical plot through four acts, and each act is roughly as big as the original Diablo.

Diablo 2 looks and behaves very much like Diablo. Players are assigned quests by non-playing characters and venture through dark catacombs and crypts. Hordes of vile monsters assail the hero, who survives by force of arms, powerful spells and through the use of varied and exotic magic items. Randomly generated dungeons guarantee fresh adventure each time a new game is started. But unlike the original game, characters must fight their way through the above-ground wilderness before entering a dungeon.

The add-on is a new act, which tells the story of Baal's destructive trek through the Barbarian Highlands. You must stop him before he corrupts the magical Worldstone and opens Hell. The add-in is all the improvements to the core game. The most obvious improvement is with graphics. Lord of Destruction lets gamers ratchet up Diablo 2's graphics resolution to 800 x 600. This means both prettier graphics and the ability to see more of the battlefield at once, effectively increasing the range of spells and missile weapons. --Fatima Moncreaff

This Battle Chest makes the perfect gift for someone new to the action-RPG phenomenon, or for the hardcore Diablo fan that wants the complete series in one big collectable box.