Torchlight Review [PC]

04 Nov 2009 at 16:11:53 by Paul Younger
Systems used to review this title: (PC)

We all remember Flagship Studios and we all know Blizzard, but there may be gamers who have never even heard of Runic Games. Here’s a quick summary so this review makes sense. Runic Games was founded by Max and Eric Schaefer, the masterminds behind the best action RPG series ever made, Diablo. Following their departure from Blizzard North they founded Flagship Studios and subsequently released Hellgate London and worked on Mythos. Flagship folded, Hellgate bombed and Mythos was never released.  This brings us to Runic Games’ Torchlight.
Torchlight is the first release from Runic Games and it pays homage to the team’s previous works like the Diablo series, Fate and Mythos. Having played Mythos quite extensively during the game’s beta period, it’s clear that there are similarities in both setup and style. However, Torchlight is slightly less ambitious with it being a single player game. Yes, you heard me right, a single player game.  Development time on Torchlight has been short with the main objective of the exercise being to test the technology driving the game and to introduce gamers to the new franchise. However, Runic is reportedly planning an MMO title based on Torchlight.

The game is set in the town of Torchlight which has prospered following the discovery of Ember beneath the town. Ember is a valuable magical mineral but also has the power to corrupt and the miners of Torchlight unearthed underground caverns which revealed labyrinths laced with evil. Your task is to rid Torchlight of this evil and go head to head with whatever villain is causing it. The story itself is simple enough to drive the game’s action and it’s all about taking on quests and heading deeper into the depths below the town.

Torchlight is an action RPG, and if you‘ve played Diablo or Mythos, you’ll know exactly what to expect. It’s a fast paced hack n’ slash affair, only this time set in a kind of medieval steam-punk world. There are three character classes: a warrior class called the Destroyer, the casting Alchemist and ranged attacker the Vanquisher. Also included is a trusty sidekick pet which is either a dog or cat, in my case a dog called ‘Dave’ who was to adventure alongside my Destroyer.

The game’s characters are stylised with a ‘cartoony’ feel which works incredibly well - beefy characters, square jaws and oversized bodies give the game a unique and interesting feel. Don’t take the word ‘cartoony’ at face value though; Torchlight is not a kids’ game by any means.

It all starts off sedately enough with your character adorning simple gear and entering the mines beneath the town and it’s these easy early levels that help you get familiar with the interface and controls. Diablo players will feel quite at home with the interface - health and mana in the central columns and hotkey numbered inventory slots which can also be assigned skills. The left and right mouse buttons can also be assigned skills which can be switched with the flick of the TAB key depending on how it’s setup to your play style. It feels a little clumsy at first due to the amount of spells you can learn but Runic has made it very easy to drag spells into the hotkey slots.

As you progress there’s the obligatory levelling up which means stats can be assigned to your character under headings such as Dexterity, Strength, Magic and Defense. A level-up also brings new abilities with each ding providing one point that can be used to augment a spell or add a new one depending on character level. The faithful skill tree has also been employed in Torchlight and, again, Diablo players will feel right at home with this.

One of Torchlight’s most appealing features is the gear - there’s so much to pick and choose from, and due to the fast and frenzied nature of the gameplay, the loot can drop at a phenomenal rate. It won’t be long before you’ll need to head back to town to either sell loot or store it in your stash. The good old town portal scrolls save the day here allowing you to nip back and forth to Torchlight with ease. Also worth noting is the ability to send your pet back to town laden with stash. This is a great way to keep on fighting while your pet dashes off for a few minutes, returning with the gold from the item sales.

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