Review: Torchlight (PC)
As with any entertainment medium, gaming evolves with the times. Changes in hardware not to mention changes the consumers create an environment that pretty much demands a new & improved experience on a constant basis. It’s especially evident in today’s generation since all the available platforms support digital distribution, allowing the various publishers to re-release their back catalog in hopes of grabbing your hard earned money with a nostalgic hook. More often than not, older gamers (such as myself) find that the titles we loved a decade ago (or two, depending on the game) just doesn’t hold the same magic it once did. It was fantastic at the time we played it, but due to the evolution of the industry, we had been acclimated to the “bigger & better”, there-by raising our expectation & making the now quaint titles from gaming past a lot less fun. Of course, there are always exceptions to that rule…
The Diablo franchise is one such exception. The play mechanic was very simple: Point & click on bad guys as viewed from a 3/4 overhead isometric perspective. I know, it sounds like it would get dull very quickly, & it would, had Blizzard not provided a level of depth that fascinated role players & level grinders alike. Between the massive play areas & the near limitless combination of armor, weapons & spells, the experience can change with every new adventure you begin. As a testament to the timelessness of the gameplay, many different clones have come & gone over the years & in fact Diablo II is still available on your local software retailers shelve, almost 10 years after it initially launched.
The story is pretty standard RPG fare: An ore called Ember is the basis for all magic in the world. Torchlight is a mining town that happens to be sitting on the biggest known deposit of Ember. But, there is a major problem with the mine resulting in various evil creatures tormenting it’s citizens. You, of course, will be the one to save them. What brings you to Torchlight will vary depending on the character class you choose. The Destroyer is the tank. He’s a warrior who, after hearing about the blight that troubles the town, wanders in looking for conquest. The Alchemist is your wizard character. He goes there to get some Ember & doesn’t learn of the problems in the town until he arrives. The Vanquisher is your ranged fighter & she was actually sent to the town to investigate the source of the creatures plaguing the town. But regardless of who you choose, the result is the same. You will journey into the depths of the mine to find where the monsters are coming from. It isn’t anything you haven’t played before. Sure, it could have been a bit fleshed out more, but I didn’t mind because: a) Torchlight just sets the stage for an upcoming MMO. I don’t expect Runic to show me all their cards yet. b) In all Diablo-like game, the meat is in the game play…
You start out picking & naming your class & your pet (more on that in a bit). Then you’ll get a very brief backstory & you’re off & running. At first, you only have a single basic weapon. But, it won’t take long to find many new weapons to play with plus lots of armor. Duel Wielding is natively supported, meaning you can carry a one-handed weapon in each of your grubby mitts right from the start regardless of your class. They’re able to be mix & matched as well, in my case I had a sword in one hand & a pistol in the other. This way I could blast away from a distance until the enemies got close, then dice them up with my sword without having to switch weapons. Also, you can carry two different load-outs. In other words, you can put together a set of armor with a focus on dual-wielding and another set of armor with a focus on magic or maybe use a two-handed weapons (the Blunderbuss is pretty cool). Then through the use of a built in hot key, you can swap out as the situation demands.
The types of equipment are pretty much limitless. There’s a bunch of basic weapons & armor, but once you start looking at all the different possible magical enhancements plus the ability to add gems through sockets, which adds even more stat enhancements to the equipment, & you’ll never run out of way to improve. It’s not just about stumbling onto the loot either. If you have a particular weapon or piece of armor you’re fond of, there’s a merchant in town that, for a price, will keep adding new abilities to it. If you have a socket-able piece & you want the gem removed, there is a merchant for that too (only you’ll have to sacrifice either the gem or the piece of equipment). By the time I finished my first play through (of the story, I don’t think the game itself ever ends) with my Destroyer, I was just in awe of the loot I managed to acquire.
No fantasy game would be complete without spells & there a bunch here to play with, each of which has multiple levels of potency. I didn’t get too far into the casting side since my main character was a Destroyer, but you can learn up to 4 spells at a time & can unlearn them whenever you want. There are also a bunch of skills to put your hard earned points into. Each of the 3 main classes has 3 sub classes they can learn from. The best part is that the tree system is gone. You can beef up any skill in any of the 3 sub classes without being locked into a skill tree, which adds even more variety to the type of characters you can create. Skill points are awarded through leveling up & through gaining Fame. Fame is acquired by killing monsters, especially the bigger ones like the boss creatures & such. As a reward for becoming more & more famous, you’ll be given a skill point each time you gain a Fame level (along with a nifty title). I haven’t hit it yet, but from what I have seen, where your experience levels cap at 100, Fame levels cap at 55.
You’ll find a ton of quests (I never found an end to them), although most fall into 2 basic categories: Kill bad guy A on floor X or find a certain item & bring it back to town. It didn’t matter to me, because both types were just excuses to delve even further into the depths & kick some bad guy butt. In fact, I was a bit surprised at how many dungeons there were for me to crawl around in. The main story will take you through 35 levels of the mine under town. Plus, there are portal enemies that, once defeated, will open a portal to a mini level that is full of loot. Should you decide to take a break from the storyline, there’s a guy in town that will open up a portal to a two level dungeon in the hunt for a specific item (these dungeons seemed to always be considerably more difficult than the level I was on during the main story). Once you’ve completed the main quest, a new area below a crypt opens up that seems to be totally endless. You could keep going forever in there & never run out of enemies to kill or bigger & better loot to find. But, if you want to switch things up & start a new character, you can retire your old one (pertinently I might add). When you choose that option, you can pick one of your pieces of equipment to have it passed down to the new character (with some new enhancements added to it in the process). If one piece isn’t enough, in addition to the normal storage locker you have to store your loot during your adventures, there is also a separate treasure stash in town that is solely for sharing item with your other characters.
What turned out to be one of my favorite changes that Runic made to the formula was the addition of pets. You don’t have a big selection (a cat or a dog; hopefully they’ll consider giving us a few more in the future), but they do change the dynamic a bit. Your pet can fight right along side you, carry items for you, learn and cast spells, & even wear rings & a necklace. Probably the most handy trick your pet can do is run your excess loot back to town & sell it for you. This way, you can stay in the game and keep fighting & spend less time running back & forth (which I did alot in Diablo). There are also fishing holes scattered about the dungeons (& one in the town), which is ripe with various forms of fish (& some loot). Feed one of these fish to your pet & it will transform into a creature with new abilities (and weaknesses) for a limited time.
Visually, the whole thing is a treat. With the cartoony, slightly exaggerated look in a WoW-ish kind of way, you’ll find smooth framerates all the way through. Creatures are detailed & range in size from tiny pygmies to massive dragons (the giant spiders brought out the arachnophobia in me). The levels are varied & dynamic, meaning that my level one dungeon layout will be much different from your level one dungeon layout. The musical score was very reminiscent of Diablo (in fact, I would have sworn some of it was from Diablo in some parts). The voice acting was solid, even though there really wasn’t much (the robot bard had me laughing out loud many times). The system specs are really low compared to most other games releasing these days, so just about any rig should be able to run it. My only technical complaint I have is the load times. Ugh. Some of them went for almost a full minute. I believe there has been a patch released to address it for those who purchased Torchlight directly from the web site, but the review build I have has some brutal load times.
In the end though, Torchlight is a home-run for any Action RPG fan! Runic took what made Diablo so great to begin with & polished it up to a brilliant shine by adding the pets, the Fame system, & doing away with the skill tree. This review ended up being a lot longer than I anticipated & I still didn’t get to everything I wanted to cover. Short of the load times & a deeper storyline, I can’t think of much that Runic can do to make it any better without cluttering it up. With the way the gameplay has evolved in other genres, it’s refreshing to see that a talented group of individuals can still refine the experience without making it something completely different. The small system specs & a very friendly price tag ($20) makes Torchlight a game that should be in any computer gamers collection. Runic has also embraced the mod community, releasing a tool set called TorchED (for free!), which will add even more to the game as the community gets their mods out there. It’s an endless journey that will keep treasure hunters & loot hoarders busy for a lifetime (or at least the next 18 months or so, when the MMO comes out).
For more, check out the launch trailer below. Torchlight is available on the official site, Steam, Direct2Drive, or GamersGate for $20 with a retail release targeted for early next year.
Rating: 
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