Path of Exile

 PC
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2202 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,641 out of 2202
  2. Mixed: 258 out of 2202
  3. Negative: 303 out of 2202

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. N0rthWind
    Jan 10, 2014
    8
    I just played this for a couple of hours and it CREEPED ME OUT.
    The overall setting is so unnerving it makes you want to quit. Some might even do so.
    But after a few hours you're gonna be turning your PC on again. The graphics are a pleasant surprise -- or not. If you're faint hearted, avoid using Corpse Explosion. The game does not hesitate to show these gruesome moves as they should    I just played this for a couple of hours and it CREEPED ME OUT.
    The overall setting is so unnerving it makes you want to quit. Some might even do so.
    But after a few hours you're gonna be turning your PC on again.
    The graphics are a pleasant surprise -- or not. If you're faint hearted, avoid using Corpse Explosion. The game does not hesitate to show these gruesome moves as they should be -- and sound: SPLOTCH.
    Extremely satisfying visuals (in contrast to other games that "hold up" on their best spell effects to use them on the max lvl skills) combined with harrowing scenery, hindered vision and relatively high skill cap, make for a game that can make you starve in your living room.

    If you want proof of how in-depth it is, take a look at its Passive skill layout. The sheer size of it is mind boggling. o_o    … Expand
  2. stern
    Jan 8, 2014
    8
    I found this game by chance and so far it's being amazing.
    I kept playing Diablo 2 in my life way, way past normal people stopped with it, I tried my hand with many Diablo clones, I never entered in Diablo 3 because I'm blessed by a divine force, protecting me from all the evil in this world (sometimes these evils take the name of Blizzard or EA) who only want money from my pocket and    I found this game by chance and so far it's being amazing.
    I kept playing Diablo 2 in my life way, way past normal people stopped with it, I tried my hand with many Diablo clones, I never entered in Diablo 3 because I'm blessed by a divine force, protecting me from all the evil in this world (sometimes these evils take the name of Blizzard or EA) who only want money from my pocket and then... I found Path of Exile and I'm playing it non-stop.
    I loved the skill system, which is pretty similar to the open point system of Final Fantasy X, I loved the fact that there isn't a proper currency but spendable orbs, and I'm loving how the art of the game is realistic and dark in the same vein as the first Diablo and Starcraft of the 90's instead of the childish tone game nowdays took, and as someone who never buys game and always pirate, except if it's from Paradox or some very obscure creative developer, I love their market model.
    Maybe I'm so excited because like another reviewer said "You didn't reach endgame yet", maybe the game is good in the end.
    I only hope their add more content in the future    … Expand
  3. Scoobydooby
    Jan 7, 2014
    4
    For starters, I don't understand how so many of these reviews are 10.. 10 means a perfect or epic beyond epic game.. either you people work for GGG or you are willfully ignorant to the many flaws this game has.. why is a mystery to me, but this game is nowhere near a 10. To say this game is the deepest or best RPG ever made is laughable.
    Clearly these people have not actually played this    For starters, I don't understand how so many of these reviews are 10.. 10 means a perfect or epic beyond epic game.. either you people work for GGG or you are willfully ignorant to the many flaws this game has.. why is a mystery to me, but this game is nowhere near a 10. To say this game is the deepest or best RPG ever made is laughable.
    Clearly these people have not actually played this game for any substantial amount of time, otherwise they would not be giving it a 10 or even an 8.
    Tough to take this site seriously at all with such ridiculous ratings..

    Now to the game.

    I started playing POE in Open Beta and have leveled a dozen or more characters in that time, several hardcore, several in Onslaught/Domination. All my characters have leveled to between 40-70
    In that time I have learned A LOT about this game and all of its systems and nuances, as well as the gear, trading rates, orb rates, etc.

    What people need to understand is that this game is decent, but certainly not great. On the surface, its easy to start playing and be enamored with POE. It isn't until you delve more deeply into the game that you see the huge fissures which unfortunately show the game's true colors. In fact for almost every good thing in the game, it has a flipside that is equally, if not more so, negative. There is nothing in the game that is outright amazing, so again, to give it a ten is a silly joke.

    I will break down my post into sections.

    The Skill System: Overall the vast variety of skills provides a user with options of how to build their character. Support gems further alter the usability of these skills and provide a good amount of variety and customization. What sucks however about these skill gems is that many of these are either underpowered or downright useless. Some are not strong enough on their own until paired with support gems to buff them, and some are just pointless entirely.

    Loot: When you find something in this game, there is a feeling of excitement, like any RPG. The problem is that stuff DOES NOT DROP. Take it from me who's put in around 1k+ hours. If I could sum up the game in one word, especially when considering loot, it would be "UNREWARDING". You will feel like you play for lifetimes only to find trash that is worthless and will net you a couple alts at the vendor. Good luck finding any gear that is a direct upgrade for the character you are leveling. By all accounts, unless you get insanely lucky, that AINT gonna happen. You will need to trade for anything you really need in this game, whether it be gems, orbs, or gear.. which leads me to..

    Trading: To get anywhere in this game, you need to trade. That is all there is to it. If you prefer to play self-found, run away from this game now.. I've just saved you a lot of time and heartache. Trading is a pain because not only do people overvalue every item they wish to sell, many people do not even set a fixed price on items and instead ask for "offers". If you offer less than what they wish to sell for, its not uncommon for them to set you on "ignore" or reply with vile speak. It takes forever to sell anything and the trade chat is nothing but a wall of spam on every channel.

    Crafting: There really isn't any crafting in this game, which to me is a humongous let down. You have all these different base items, with all these different rolls and affixes, and yet to try to craft you need an absurd amount of orbs to do so with any effect. Orb drop rates are pathetic (after leveling now 6 characters in Domination, I have a total of 7 found Chaos Orbs, 1 divine, 3 Gemcutter Prism, and around 10 Chisels) so once again, you need to trade to get orbs. Orbs are more used for currency than for crafting in almost every aspect of the game. The worst part though, is that there is no progression.. you can use orbs on an item, and there is a small chance it will improve, but a better chance it will regress in quality.

    Content: The maps are pretty boring after a while. Nobody give a toss about the story, because its unmemorable, and generally its a slow grind with numerous gear checks instead of any real innovative monster skills or mechanics. Its just Up the damage and resistances and implement bosses with single shot capabilities. Graphically, the game is good but nothing amazing.

    What makes me laugh the most though are all these reviews saying that this game isn't pay to win. Are you all unaware of the rampant botting and selling of Orbs and other items for real money? There are a slew of RMT sites where you can buy gear for this game and even some high end players have been known to partake. Anyone who thinks it isn't pay to win is kidding themselves or just ignorant.

    Also, does a game being free mean its automatically a 10? Apparently that is this game's best quality.. that its free to play. Well, that's not saying much then is it?

    Overall, if you have no life and are masochistic, this is the game for you. Otherwise, look elsewhere for an RPG    … Expand
  4. Pyromancer
    Jan 7, 2014
    8
    Path of Exile is a great action RPG. It has one of the best free to play models I have ever seen (The only one it could compare to is DotA 2). I personally don't like farming too much, but Path of Exile makes farming very well. It doesn't take too long, but it isn't too little.
  5. poisonedyouth
    Jan 7, 2014
    10
    Has everything Diablo 3 wishes it had. And its free. What are you waiting for? Save your money on other uncertain purchases and download this immediately. It will keep you entertained for ages.
  6. Kryonix
    Jan 6, 2014
    10
    Best game of the last 10 years for me.

    If you like loot, this game is for you.
    If you played D2, this game is for you.
    If you like unique builds, this game is for you.

    Truly F2P, truly amazing.
  7. Wordenskjold
    Jan 3, 2014
    9
    PoE is a highly addictive Diablo-style game. Extremely simple at first glance, it has a surprisingly complex skill and item system, which makes for hours and hours of fun free gameplay. There is no Pay-To-Win in PoE, as all In-game purchases are almost entirely cosmetic with item stash slots as the exception. I bought them mainly to support the developers.
    Kudos to you guys at Grinding    PoE is a highly addictive Diablo-style game. Extremely simple at first glance, it has a surprisingly complex skill and item system, which makes for hours and hours of fun free gameplay. There is no Pay-To-Win in PoE, as all In-game purchases are almost entirely cosmetic with item stash slots as the exception. I bought them mainly to support the developers.
    Kudos to you guys at Grinding Gear Games!    … Expand
  8. nymm
    Jan 2, 2014
    8
    This Free 2 play game consists of some excellent and simple gameplay, that will without a doubt keep you entertained for hours on end. It is also worthy of mentioning the game's original skill tree, which lets you decide however you want to play your character. It's a great game that i worth mentioning and free stuff is always a joy.
  9. blackbrrd
    Jan 2, 2014
    9
    I am a arpg-fan and started out playing Diablo 2 some years after release. Have also played quite a lot of Titan Quest and some others. I also played Diablo 3, but I never got hooked on it.

    I think Path of Exile does a really good job as an arpg, better than Diablo 3. It's really fun to level up a character. The fights are fun, with a good variation of mobs, cool boss packs and plenty    I am a arpg-fan and started out playing Diablo 2 some years after release. Have also played quite a lot of Titan Quest and some others. I also played Diablo 3, but I never got hooked on it.

    I think Path of Exile does a really good job as an arpg, better than Diablo 3. It's really fun to level up a character. The fights are fun, with a good variation of mobs, cool boss packs and plenty of good loot. The itemization is really good, with multiple properties being important and you regularily find a good item. For a noob to the game (it's pretty deep with loads of customization options), but familiar to the genre, the game is just hard enough. I died a couple of times and ran around like a headless chicken multiple times. Nothing is as fun as nearly dying, but getting away in a game like this.    … Expand
  10. Gurgl
    Dec 31, 2013
    10
    An ARPG in the spirit of Diablo II with even more depth and complexity and thus infinite replay value. This is a game for people who like to customize their characters, plan out builds and then try them out. Choice matters in this game, you can't just change your mind and alter your build at any point without cost.

    This game brings many revolutionary innovations to the genre. The potion    An ARPG in the spirit of Diablo II with even more depth and complexity and thus infinite replay value. This is a game for people who like to customize their characters, plan out builds and then try them out. Choice matters in this game, you can't just change your mind and alter your build at any point without cost.

    This game brings many revolutionary innovations to the genre. The potion system is brilliant, health and mana potions that replenish charges when you kill enemies. The potions can also have magical affixes that make them gain charges on critical strikes, dispel frozen effects on use or increase armour on use to name a few.

    The game has optional special events that run several times each day where characters compete in leveling as far as possible in a set amount of time. These events alernate between different rulesets that keeps them fresh and interesting. The game has no traditional currency system, instead it uses different orbs and scrolls as currency that are used for crafting gear in the game.

    Path of Exile is free to play done right, you can not pay real money to become more powerful. You can pay for cosmetic items, pets, weapon effects, spell effects and more stash tabs where you can store items.    … Expand
  11. Fawlcon
    Dec 30, 2013
    9
    Path of Exile versus Diablo III

    Path of Exile has more in common with Diablo III than differences; i.e. game play, view, combat, weapons, leveling, etc... But as much as they are alike, they are also different. Diablo III is a more polished game in the realm of graphics, game play, storyline and ability to trade items and buy items…but you also pay a price. I liked Diablo and would    Path of Exile versus Diablo III

    Path of Exile has more in common with Diablo III than differences; i.e. game play, view, combat, weapons, leveling, etc... But as much as they are alike, they are also different. Diablo III is a more polished game in the realm of graphics, game play, storyline and ability to trade items and buy items…but you also pay a price. I liked Diablo and would give it an overall B+. The same can be said about Path of Exile, which I would give a B+; but for different reasons.

    I like or Love; It is free…no risk. Graphics and story-line for this game are very good, not great, but for a free to play I am pleased enough. Weapon and amour system is similar to everything else, but different enough you find yourself tweaking and tweaking. Cool and abundant character selection with mind blowing ways of leveling up and fighting and spell tweaks. Making your own amour & weapons is fun, easy and interesting, but not so easy that you will get awesome amour or weapons without effort. As I am sure most of you know, the skill tree is huge…but if you take a little time to really study it; I believe you will enjoy the system they developed and ways you can level up. Like the currency system of barter, but it can become frustrating; read below. Great and easy co-op if you want to play with a friend.

    I don’t like or hated. Small character inventory which has you running back and forth to town WAY TOO often to unload treasure. I hate having to pick up gobs and gobs of useless stuff, but in order to have plenty of identification and portal scrolls and build up an inventory of needed stones and orbs for later use; you are forced too. The bad part is all they would have to do is add a feature that allowed you to instantly scrap a normal or low level magic item for the required scroll scraps OR to go ahead and hall it back to town if you think it might bring in a better price. This way when your inventory fills up with items worth bartering, you could make the trip back to town; but if you want top dollar for everything, you can still hall everything if you want.

    Towards to end of Act II I began to tire just a little, but about that time the difficulty and abilities of amour and weapons changed a little and “support” stones began to make an appearance. This freshened up things a bit and shows they put thought into the long term evolution of your characters…kudos.

    Recommendations for a better game:
    Have 10 to 20 percent of the story line quests be some type of problem solving, riddles or Tomb Raider type puzzle; versus just finding the key or killing the next boss.

    Fix the inventory system and figure a way you can cut trips to town selling crap by 75%!
    If possible, an auction house similar to eBay’s “Buy it Now” would be awesome, but keep it simple. Each person (free account) can post 5 items for sale and can state what stones, gems etc. they will take for said item.

    Final thought. In some ways I feel like this game is a rip off of Diablo III, in some ways better and in some ways worse. But after playing it for 48 hrs, Path of Exile is just different enough and fun enough that I do feel like I am playing a unique game that is just similar to Diablo III and not a copy of it.    … Expand
  12. jlowe48
    Dec 29, 2013
    1
    POE goes sour, most players quit out of frustration.

    Eventually desync bugs or fruitless grinding will be what drive most players to quit this game. Great games you look back at with fondness after you are done with them. POE you look at with fondness when you start playing, and 10-100 play hours later you are frustrated and wish hadn't given them any money. New players, look over    POE goes sour, most players quit out of frustration.

    Eventually desync bugs or fruitless grinding will be what drive most players to quit this game. Great games you look back at with fondness after you are done with them. POE you look at with fondness when you start playing, and 10-100 play hours later you are frustrated and wish hadn't given them any money.

    New players, look over the official game forums to see what you are getting into. Be sure to look in the feedback forum where the moderators move anything negative. In particular look at the desync and drop rate related threads. Item drops and trading are balanced towords no-real-life players, and the dev team refuses to acknowledge that the desync issues need to (or can be) be fixed.    … Expand
  13. zerebruin
    Dec 28, 2013
    2
    A really bad Diablo II clone =

    Here's the good news: interface and short cuts are almost exactly the same as Diablo II. Sadly, they've been redesigned very badly. Take the overlay-map as an example: it's next to useless because there no landmarks are visible for the player to orient himself. The game's graphics are worse than those of the 13 year old Diablo II. Of course the     A really bad Diablo II clone =

    Here's the good news: interface and short cuts are almost exactly the same as Diablo II.
    Sadly, they've been redesigned very badly. Take the overlay-map as an example: it's next to useless because there no landmarks are visible for the player to orient himself.

    The game's graphics are worse than those of the 13 year old Diablo II. Of course the resolution is a lot better, but PoE lacks details and most of all lighting. The character selection menu is so bad, I almost closed the game again instantly. The characters are hidden, and yes, that IS bad design, even if they're supposed to be 'in the shadows' (there are no shadows, everything is grey). Showing off the characters is the point of a character selection, so why not use some contrast and light?

    Character and monster design seems equally uninspired, although that may change in higher levels (I only played two characters to level 8 and 10 respectively).

    The gameplay is boring to say the least. A very simple hack'n'slay but even that isn't really fun. Diablo 3 isn't much more than a hack and slay after playing the story through but at least it feels perfect and looks stunning.

    I've not seen any story to speak of, the characters are almost as bleak as the levels are boring. The latter are also not very well designed, making them more of a maze. They're also not dynamically created (probably because that would be difficult for an MMO).

    The skill system looks amazing at first glance with an incredibly complex skill tree dazzling the player. Mostly that is because all character classes are shown at once, though, making the whole thing quite confusing at the beginning. This super complex skill system stands in stark contrast to the lack of character customization. There are no stat points for strength, dexterity or intelligence that would make a truly complex character system.

    At least there's one interesting thing to note: Gems can be levelled and changed from weapons and armour without any cost. This allows for a lot of experimentation in character creation. Then again, most players will probably just not think about their characters as much if they know they can change weapons and armor at any time without penalty.

    Overall the game is quite well characterised by the Grinding Gear Games logo: ugly, rusted cogs that do not work smoothly, if they work at all.
    The only reason this game gets any good reviews must be that a lot of young players never played Diablo II.    … Expand
  14. Garethw87
    Dec 26, 2013
    9
    Firstly, I only tried this game because of the reviews and critic scores I seen, here on Metacritic, and I am happy I did. It's free to play. Simple as that. Yes the ingame store can be very expensive, but they are only cosmetic items and don't affect the actual game and the developers claim they will never turn pay to win. If you are a Diablo fan, and you don't like the direction DiabloFirstly, I only tried this game because of the reviews and critic scores I seen, here on Metacritic, and I am happy I did. It's free to play. Simple as that. Yes the ingame store can be very expensive, but they are only cosmetic items and don't affect the actual game and the developers claim they will never turn pay to win. If you are a Diablo fan, and you don't like the direction Diablo III has gone (like myself) you should love this. Yes the graphics aren't spectacular, but they are meant to be playable on a wide variety of systems (as its tells you on the website) which is good as not everyone can have a great, expensive gaming system, but now they can enjoy this great game!… Expand
  15. Ananisapta
    Dec 23, 2013
    5
    You get what you pay for! In this case, that amounts to an entertaining side-scroller that's free and easy to learn. User forums and support are generally friendly and helpful. An asset is the ability to develop your alter in any number of directions with the vast talent tree. I have trouble getting immersed due to the fixed, high-angle perspective. Also game-play gets very repetitious atYou get what you pay for! In this case, that amounts to an entertaining side-scroller that's free and easy to learn. User forums and support are generally friendly and helpful. An asset is the ability to develop your alter in any number of directions with the vast talent tree. I have trouble getting immersed due to the fixed, high-angle perspective. Also game-play gets very repetitious at times. Although you mainly play in an instance by yourself, save points are few and far between. It strives for an open-world feel but you may feel severely constrained and numbed by the milieu. I haven't ventured into the PvP part of this game, and that's not my forte anyhow. The game seems solo-able and I haven't found much in the way of fellowship opportunities. For fantasy role-playing fans, Skyrim and Guild Wars 2 seem much superior experiences, or you can wait a few months of Elder Scrolls Online.… Expand
  16. Farive
    Dec 23, 2013
    10
    This is a superb game. It combines all those elements that you'll find in a action hack and slash game. I highly recommend this game to everyone out there who loves Diablo 2. This is a AAA+ game which is totally free to play. No hidden pay to win styles and its filled with amazing skills and the passive skill board is unbelievable.This is one of the best games out there and i recommend it to you.
  17. Andresitooo
    Dec 22, 2013
    6
    Pretty fun hack and slash with decent story. Played game about 60 to 70 hours total game time playing 3 different class types until i realized how frustratingly complex this game is. Even with the 15 plus hours i went through guides, builds, understanding different moves etc. this game just drained me. I think this is good for people that have no life because it is soooo time consuming inPretty fun hack and slash with decent story. Played game about 60 to 70 hours total game time playing 3 different class types until i realized how frustratingly complex this game is. Even with the 15 plus hours i went through guides, builds, understanding different moves etc. this game just drained me. I think this is good for people that have no life because it is soooo time consuming in order for it to be effective. I think game could be sooo much better if re-spec was so much easier. The fact you get through the game and realize you should've gone a different rout, your better off re-rolling a new character which sucks.… Expand
  18. Rowsol
    Dec 21, 2013
    0
    List of things I don't like about the game:

    Trading is a terrible experience due to chat spamming and no interface for buying/selling items. General game balance, in particular the scaling of skills. For instance, raise zombie is useless until the very late game and it's been like this forever. The lack of cooldowns for skills means you only have to use one, the best one. Desync.    List of things I don't like about the game:

    Trading is a terrible experience due to chat spamming and no interface for buying/selling items.

    General game balance, in particular the scaling of skills. For instance, raise zombie is useless until the very late game and it's been like this forever. The lack of cooldowns for skills means you only have to use one, the best one.

    Desync. Their refusal to modify their game to combat this menace means there is no solution in sight and either you can accept it or you can't.

    The passive tree is a great concept but it's just as unbalanced as the skills. Many nodes will never be used because of how bad they are.

    Leveling takes way too long at higher levels (40+). A playthrough of normal difficulty is fun because you can run through each area once and complete the game. When you get to Cruel you have to start grinding the same areas over and over so you can keep up with the level of the monsters. Testing new builds is the most fun part of this game but the slow leveling combined with no option to respec your character makes this a chore.

    Grouping with other players is made easy by the notification board in the game but there's a serious flaw. It shows people from all over the world instead of just people in your realm. There's no way of telling where they are at so when you join a group and enter their instance it's pure luck whether your ping will stay the same or skyrocket to 200-300 because they live in australia and you live in US.

    The races that they do periodically are a good idea but the problem with them is that you always start at lvl 1 and often times they are only 1-2 hours long. Why not have some races start you in cruel difficulty at lvl 35 with some starting gear and skills?

    You can just press esc and close the game if you are about to die. Very hardcore if you ask me.

    I'm giving a 0 because I feel 8.9 is too high of a score for all these flaws. A more fair score would be a 6.    … Expand
  19. Goatsecks
    Dec 21, 2013
    2
    This game doesn't deserve the 8.8 user score and here's why.

    The Good: -The game is free and although there are micro-transactions, they are just for cosmetics. -You are able to customize skills and your own passive skill tree which ever way you want. -Trading system revolves around dropable orbs which you can use to improve gear instead of a single base currency. -Lack of bots.    This game doesn't deserve the 8.8 user score and here's why.

    The Good:

    -The game is free and although there are micro-transactions, they are just for cosmetics.
    -You are able to customize skills and your own passive skill tree which ever way you want.
    -Trading system revolves around dropable orbs which you can use to improve gear instead of a single base currency.
    -Lack of bots.
    -Party system is simple and anyone can join any group at any time.
    -Regular updates.

    The Bad:

    -Massive lag and desync issues.
    -It's a terrible wannabe Diablo 2 clone where there is no auction house, and massive trade spam that lags you even more. The developers are obviously stuck in the past, and if most people wanted to play Diablo 2 they would do that instead because it's a much better game. It's like a bunch of old guys that say 60s cars are much better than cars today (they're not).
    -By level 50, it's just a GRINDFEST like any typical mmo.
    -The passive skill tree is big, but the +10 to whatever doesn't do much for your character. Furthermore, if you lead yourself into a bad tree, you can't reset your passives and undo skills unless you (grind) orb of regrets. This becomes a problem when you reach merciless, and realize your build is awful and really gear dependent. Then you have to spend another 20 hours finding another build that works.
    -By completing Normal difficulty in 5-10 hours, you've already won the game. Past that it's just collecting items with different colored names to pvp with people that will always have better gear than you.
    -Hold the Q button and win. No tactics required.    … Expand
  20. ROGUELEGACYSUCK
    Dec 19, 2013
    10
    This game is really good,its a really good coperative game,the difficulty is balanced,there are a lot of items and a lot of characters,a must play and its free to play.
  21. kavinh
    Dec 19, 2013
    7
    Quite a good diabloish title with its own unique twist on the genre. The game itself has an enormous amount of depth and due to the way the gem system is implemented it's possible to use any skill in the game on a separate character allowing players to level a character and bring over their skills should they ever want to do so.
    The game also allows a ridiculous amount of customization    Quite a good diabloish title with its own unique twist on the genre. The game itself has an enormous amount of depth and due to the way the gem system is implemented it's possible to use any skill in the game on a separate character allowing players to level a character and bring over their skills should they ever want to do so.
    The game also allows a ridiculous amount of customization when it comes to character builds to the point where it's viable to use a ranger to create a 2 handed charging swordsman due to their increased dexterity.
    Unfortunately this game also has some problems firstly it's really hard to understand and get into the game from the start. the passive tree is a huge mess for newcomers which means most likely the first and second character may become throw aways due to bad point distribution and while there are refund orbs it's generally faster and easier to simply recreate a charecter then purchasing enough to reset an entire tree.
    Second the game has no auction house and currency instead it uses different orbs that each have a use in improving equipment as tradable currency this makes it very hard for newbies to effectively trade for what they want without getting scammed or being clueless on the matter as well as making it very difficult for players who don't use fanwebsites to purchase items.    … Expand
  22. Claytality
    Dec 17, 2013
    7
    I've played an analyzed this past year's biggest ARPGs; D3, Torchlight 2, and Path of Exile. Torchlight 2 is the best, Path of Exile is next, while D3 is last. PoE is a good game, no denying that. Good combat mechanics and skills. Unfortunately this is combated by poor map exploration (due to map color; blank space indicates where you are while a line-pattern indicates the boundaries,I've played an analyzed this past year's biggest ARPGs; D3, Torchlight 2, and Path of Exile. Torchlight 2 is the best, Path of Exile is next, while D3 is last. PoE is a good game, no denying that. Good combat mechanics and skills. Unfortunately this is combated by poor map exploration (due to map color; blank space indicates where you are while a line-pattern indicates the boundaries, its confusing). The environments are bland without any real depth. The environments are also extremely bleak and depressing. The camera is zoomed in too far compared to D3 or Torchlight, and there is no option to zoom it out further. When I am trying to explore or being ambushed by a mob, it helps to have the extra vision.

    Overall, great game considering its free.    … Expand
  23. chillarius
    Dec 17, 2013
    10
    POE is very worthwhile. First of all, it is free to play, giving everyone a chance to play and enjoy the game. Most free to play games tend to transform into pay to win schemes, causing great imbalances for non paying users. So far this not the case at all in POE. Yes, POE does offer micro transactions offering increased inventory space, pets, visuals for weapons & abilities, however nonePOE is very worthwhile. First of all, it is free to play, giving everyone a chance to play and enjoy the game. Most free to play games tend to transform into pay to win schemes, causing great imbalances for non paying users. So far this not the case at all in POE. Yes, POE does offer micro transactions offering increased inventory space, pets, visuals for weapons & abilities, however none of these have an effect on the strength of your character.

    POE offers an amazing tech tree for each of the classes. Interesting skill system. Easy to get into hard to master.

    Give it a shot. 10/10 from me.

    -chillarius    … Expand
  24. Carpetmuncha69
    Dec 16, 2013
    0
    I played POE in early launch. I call it launch, but it was technically the first day of open beta. In my opinion, when a game has a functioning cash shop and is making money, and opens up to everyone. It should be called launch. I'm thinking of all the games that had the testicular fortitude to call their game "launch" and got bad reviews. Then got better with updates, but somehow don'tI played POE in early launch. I call it launch, but it was technically the first day of open beta. In my opinion, when a game has a functioning cash shop and is making money, and opens up to everyone. It should be called launch. I'm thinking of all the games that had the testicular fortitude to call their game "launch" and got bad reviews. Then got better with updates, but somehow don't get a second chance or a re review down the road. This is what happened. PoE would've gotten terrible scores if it called it release. There's no denying that. It was unfinished, and is completely un fair to any game.

    If I were a dev, i'd learn from this. Release in open beta, so no one can review you, continue to make money, develop the game and call it release when you know for sure you'll get a good score.

    Shame on reviewrs, shame on you sheep for following this.    … Expand
  25. drseventies
    Dec 14, 2013
    10
    Path of Exile is the best modern hack n slash I've played. The visuals and sounds are well done and the combat and interface are second to none. Player skill combinations and character builds are as numerous as you can imagine. Which is good, because the maps and enemies present an ever-changing threat, and adaptability is key. This is the game I've been waiting for for ten years.
  26. Menacetech
    Dec 13, 2013
    8
    Well After the D3 disappointment PoE has restored my faith in the ARPG genre. Path of Exile has turned out to be a great game that will only get better with time. GGG is a breath of fresh air in a time where the gaming industry as a whole wrecks of
  27. fl3shy
    Dec 13, 2013
    7
    Despite being free, it's better than Diablo 3. There are some interesting concepts here, the barter system, the skill tree and the weapon gem systems. Really though, this is a hack and slash game at its core and it does a good enough job.
  28. xtrmsnpr
    Dec 11, 2013
    7
    a good diablo 3 clone.
    Nice scene,a nice rpg,gameplay feels better than other arpgs.Overall it has all the things that diablo 3 was missing.Although the grind,it is addictive without noticing too much of it.
  29. Barnews
    Dec 10, 2013
    4
    Path of Exile is FREE diablo-like action RPG from unforgiving world of Wraeclast. Music, Sounds, Graphics are at fair level. Yes, they could be better but it's ok for diablo-like game. Locations, especially dungeons are dark and really cool.

    This game has potential to hold for months or even years, becouse there are so many combinations of pasives and active skills that you can try out.    Path of Exile is FREE diablo-like action RPG from unforgiving world of Wraeclast. Music, Sounds, Graphics are at fair level. Yes, they could be better but it's ok for diablo-like game. Locations, especially dungeons are dark and really cool.

    This game has potential to hold for months or even years, becouse there are so many combinations of pasives and active skills that you can try out. But there are some big flaws also that can drive you from playing PoE. The combat is very boring after some time, playing game is not fun, leveling is not fun, grinding is not fun, even creating new characters and trying out new own builds is not fun, becouse they all strongly depends on your items and gems. The more you play, the more unrewarding the game is. Items are very generic and boring. Same with skills.

    The PoE is simply like very strong drug with horrible effects. This game is very very very unrewarding and not fun to play in long term.

    I recommend you to try PoE, becouse it is free game. It will be most propably fun for you at least several hours. Maybe you will be adicted on it for very long time. But if you want to play PoE seriously, you have to be nolifer.    … Expand
  30. keefbaker
    Dec 8, 2013
    10
    So basically you get a game with the depth that Diablo 3 should have had with the fun levels of torchlight? And I don't have to pay for it? Well Played, path of exile, well played! As it's free I find it impossible to not give this a 10
Page:

Awards & Rankings

20
#20 Best PC Game of 2013
18
#18 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
14
#14 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 27 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 27
  3. Negative: 0 out of 27
  1. RPGamer
    May 9, 2014
    100
    Grinding Gear Games has created something special here, and given it gratis to the world.
    Read full review
  2. Pelit (Finland)
    Mar 11, 2014
    88
    Hack & slash games are addictive because they follow a simple formula: kill, kill and kill some more. Path of Exile is no different in this regard. During your quest in the perilous continent of Wraeclast you need to slay thousands and thousands of monsters but it never gets boring because there are a plenty of fresh ideas like the very vast skill system and barter-based economy that differentiate it from other similar games. But it's not a perfect game. The story is weak and the difficulty level is too low in the beginning. [Dec 2013]
  3. PC Gamer
    Jan 13, 2014
    84
    An exceptionally generous free-to-play action-rPG. What it lacks in punch it makes up for in depth and value for money.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »