Combat is really one of the things that I find to be most improved in DAII; one of the things that I came upon when I started playing Origins is just how clumsy and awkward the combat feels. I don't mind the waves of enemies in DAII simply because I actually like fighting enemies in that game.
See, that is what I loved about the original Dragon Age. The combat was slower because it allowed you to strategize. Playing the game on Nightmare, if you run in with your staff blazing, you're going to get your a$$ handed to you by the Darkspawn. In DA1, you had to pause the game, deploy commands and then reenter the fray. In DA2, everything was hot-keyed and scripted (your characters) so you didn't need to pause the game to figure out how to deal with the enemies, just butt-stomp your staff on the ground a couple of times. Also, waves of enemies descending from the air.... oh no no no, you did not go there girlfriend!
I really hope that DA3 takes its cue from the first game. I would love to see a nobody that I could turn into a somebody, and a story line that is as fluid as anything that the developers have come up with And no waves, please. This is not deathmatch survival.