Diablo III

Say hello to the monk, the recently revealed Diablo III class who rather than sitting cross-legged in a hill-top monastery, is far more likely to slap you 100 times in a second before appearing behind you and kicking you in the arse. That’s his trick, and he sidles up to the three revealed classes – the Barbarian, Witch Doctor and Wizard – filling the fourth slot on the Diablo III character selection screen and shuffling

The bleed effect is just ridiculous. Awesome in its spectacle, brilliant in its execution. It works like this: Diablo III’s monk class plays as if he’s stepped out of God of War, or any other console brawler. If he chains three punches in quick succession, he can set up a finishing move. One is a flashy flurry of strikes like something from the Pokemon cartoons – zipping through the air and hitting everything in range.

We’re not accustomed to being sworn and spat at when attempting to preview a game, but that’s a consequence when you bust through a two-hour queue at Blizzcon 2008 waving a press pass.

After a decade of desperation, the prayers and ritual sacrifices of Diablo fans have been answered with the announcement of Diablo III. But with an eye to the past, not everybody’s happy about Diablo’s future. Here’s what we know - and what we think - about Blizzard’s next (best?) thing.