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Blizzard's highly anticipated next release, Diablo III, has a lot to live up to. Diablo II set a very high bar – one that many games have reached for, but few have come close to matching. Blizzard is not only trying to recapture that magic, but also push the genre forward with the lessons it has learned from World of Warcraft.

Another feature Diablo III is borrowing from WoW is achievements. In an arcade-y twist, they’ll also show your high score. Kill 17 mobs in a row and Massacre will splash across the screen showing your total. Kill only 15 next time and, while you’ll still get the Massacre, you’ll see your previous kill total, taunting you to beat it.

Diablo III’s PvP arena was fast and frenetic. The 4v4 Team Deathmatch felt much more like an FPS than an RPG. You pick a class that comes with preset abilities that I assume was max level from their armor (my computer lost network connection and the game had to reboot, so I missed the first few minutes of play). Before the match started, everyone got practice time where kills didn’t count, allowing them time to get an understanding of their class. The large arena had plenty of cover to run around. After each death, there was a short respawn timer and then we were back in the fray. The fast-paced action seemed to favor ranged classes, although an enraged Barbarian could make short work of anyone he could get close to.

(Gamepron)