Is a pre-order still a pre-order if it can be played immediately? The full version of "Diablo 4" is available for "Early Access" play right now for anyone who pre-ordered the $90 Deluxe Edition or $100 Ultimate Edition, but owners of the $70 Standard Edition will not be able to play it until June 5 at the earliest, depending on their time zone. They won't be able to play (see the "Diablo 4" release time breakdown for more details).

I just preloaded Diablo 4 and jumped in, and good news: it's good news. There's no sign so far of the infamous connection failure that etched the words "Error 37" into the brains of the first Diablo 3 players. Some other PC Gamer writers had to wait up to five minutes, but when I booted up the game from California, there was no wait at all. The player population should increase in the evening Pacific time, so keep an eye out.

For some, this early access launch is the beginning of a race rather than the beginning of a dark fantasy adventure; Diablo 4's MMO-like design has led to MMO-like behavior: a sprint to level 100. The race manifests itself in several ways:

and while you are free to abandon the healthy habits you normally maintain in order to reach level 100 as quickly as possible, you will probably enjoy Diablo 4 more if you play at a normal pace with a cup of tea. That's my plan, but for the sake of science I'm going to observe the level 100 race and see what classes and builds are employed.

And for those who are waiting to see how it is received before deciding whether or not to play "Diablo 4," I will have more to tell you soon.

So far, the critics like it: "Diablo 4" has received dozens of positive reviews based on pre-release campaign playthroughs, including several perfect scores. However, the pre-launch review period wasn't quite ready to give it a score, so reviewer Tyler Colp had to start over with a new character in the live version. He will update his ongoing Diablo 4 review after he has more time to play it and make a final assessment, but for now, the short version is that clicking demons is still fun, but with Diablo 4's full adoption of a live service-style game design, It's that it's been detrimental in several ways.

Diving into Diablo 4 today means you'll also get Deluxe Edition and Ultimate Edition items.