Diablo II's necromancer is a pallid warrior-mage that can summon the undead to do his bidding, just as he can use a variety of magical attacks to strike his enemies, or to weaken them. He seems like a powerful, well-rounded character, and he plays quite differently from any of the original Diablo characters (although he is reminiscent of the conjurer character in Westwood's recent action-RPG, Nox). The necromancer begins the game with a wand that he can use as a crushing weapon, but the wand also grants him a basic knowledge of how to raise skeletons from the dead to do his bidding.

                Although the necromancer can initially summon and control only a single weak skeleton at a time, he gains the ability to command increasing numbers of skeletons as he earns experience levels, even as the skeletons themselves get stronger. The necromancer also gains the power to summon skeletal mages, as well as clay golems and other creatures. The summoned creatures are computer-controlled, but they do a good job of staying close to the necromancer and engaging his enemies in combat. Since his underlings will readily lay down their lives for their master, the necromancer is able to use his summoned creatures as a front line of attack. However, it appears as if creatures killed by the necromancer's pets only yield a portion of the experience points that the necromancer could have earned had he killed the target single-handedly.

           The necromancer also has a variety of offense- and defense-oriented spells. He can fire multiple magic sharp-pointed teeth at his enemies, and he can create magical bone armor that absorbs damage. He can also curse his enemies and make them more vulnerable to damage, and more. Because Diablo II lets you apply your skill points to several branching sets of skills, the necromancer seems like he'd be well suited in a variety of roles. However, his summoning spells seem most interesting and practical, considering all the combat that lies in store for him.

           The Diablo II beta contains only the first of the four acts. It currently suffers from serious lag problems when any more than one player is present in the game world, and the game's graphics look somewhat obsolete from a technical standpoint, in spite of their creative design. The game has no discernible loading times, with the exception of the initial loading period when you begin. The action is fast, the interface is great, and the sound effects are excellent, albeit similar to the original's. As such, it looks as if all the time that the developers at Blizzard North have put into the game has been well spent.

By Greg Kasavin, GameSpot