| Old man shaking his fist at the kids on his lawn

I just got my copies of D&D (Player's and DM) today. Skimmed through both.

As a stand alone game I have no problems with it. It's moved to a dungeoncrawl pen and paper and miniature game. (This may be the only time when miniatures don't necessarily make a game better - gasp!) It is not a continuation of Advanced D&D though.

My initial impressions are that it feels a bit watered down. More like Advanced Descent or Extreme Advanced Heroquest. Or Basic D&D for the new millenium? Characters fall more in the superhero range (1st lvl wizards start with 10+ HP).

- The tone of writing is definitely geared towards a new, younger audience. A lot of hand holding on the whole roleplaying experience.

- Took many cues from video games (terminology, mechanics, playstyle).
Classes were balanced for combat, similar to a video game. For that reason the optimal number of players is four to fill the character roles (controller, defender, leader, striker).
Classes are grouped in those categories and it is encouraged that these roles be filled.
Combat relies heavily on placement and movement on a grid. (distances are now measured in squares. No more pesky feet and yards thank you very much.)

- Classes: cleric, fighter, paladin, ranger, rogue, warlock, warlord, wizard. Warlord?

- They moved the magic treasure list to the Player's Manual... Diablo?

As an introductory roleplaying game, it does a good job. It would fit well for linked dungeoncrawls. But I don't think it improves on the D&D I like to play.