A few years back, Diablo took the gaming world by storm. Here was a game with pure hack and slash real-time action with a few RPG elements added in, that offered great gameplay and a high degree of replayability.  Diablo II will be very familiar to players of Diablo.  The game has the same interface and control - you click to move your character, attack creatures, and to pick up and interact with items.  You'll also see the familiar globes at the corners of the screen which indicate how much life and mana (magical power) your character has remaining.  

So what's new?  To start off with there are now five character classes to choose from - Amazon, Barbarian, Necormancer,  Paladin, and Sorceress.  Each of these classes has a unique set of skills and spells available which can be developed as the character advances in levels.

Players will also find Diablo II's world to be much larger.  There are four towns and their surrounding wilderness to explore, along with multiple crypts, keeps, dungeons, and more to be explored in every area.  The loading of levels in these larger worlds is far less intrusive in Diablo II.  Instead of getting stuck at a load screen every time you enter a new dungeon or level, there is a single load screen at the start of the game or when you transition to a new act.

Diablo II also adds a lot of nice new features that seem to be in response to player requests from the original game.  Now a simple press of the [Alt] key highlights any treasure or items lying around so that the player can quickly find them.  Each town now contains a private stash where the player can store excess items.  You can also hire adventurers in the towns to escort your character on his/her adventures.

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