My Review of Torchlight

Torchlight

by Runic Games

What I paid: $20

http://www.torchlightgame.com/

My score: 8.5/10

-Things that make me smile: You feel powerful. Awesome loot system. Superior music. Cool levels. Randomization. Your pet, either a dog or a cat, is actually a mule with powers. Easy to play as a casual gamer.

-Things that put a frown on my face: Mundane boss fights. No multiplayer.

Torchlight is a fun game. I like RPG's and this one is a very solid entry into the genre. I played a lot of Diablo II and Dungeon Siege 2 back in the day and Torchlight takes the fun parts of games like these and combines them well. It's not perfect though, I'll get into that later. First, a little about the game itself.

My Destroyer. Yeah, he's awesome. My cat's there too (less awesome).

Torchlight is a mining town that is being corrupted from below by the mystical Ember (the essence of magic). You are tasked to descend into the monster infested mines and rid them of evil and defeat the great force that is harnessing the ember for malice. There are 3 hero classes to choose from: the Alchemist (mage/warlock type), the Vanquisher (ranged type), and the Destroyer (warrior type). Each class has 3 different skill trees to put your leveling points into to better cater towards your style of play. As you level up and get used to your skills, you truly feel like you are devastatingly powerful, which is always fun.

I HAVE THE POWER! (btw, my cat's name is Cringer, get it?)

The loot and leveling systems in this game are very well done. It's a strong drive to keep playing when you are constantly leveling up, unlocking new skills, and finding ever better loot. The skill trees are deep and meaningful. One thing I like is you don't have to have prerequisite skill points to unlock the deeper skills. For example, as a Destroyer (the warrior-type class) I can put all of my skill points into the "Titan" skill tree up to level 20, but at level 20, if I don't like the skills available to me. I can open up the "Berserker" tree and put the talents points into a level 20 skill from that tree even though no other points are in it.

Well thought out skill trees allow you to evolve a character how you wish.

The general mood and atmosphere of the game is involving, this is due to the well crafted and varying levels and the amazing music. Each time you descend deeper beneath Torchlight you are presented with completely new scenery and music. The music was composed by the same guy who did the Diablo games, Matt Uelman, and he did an amazing job setting the tone. The levels are randomly generated which adds to replay value.

Something cool about the game is that you have a pet. You get to choose either a dog or what looks like a bobcat at the beginning and name it. Your pet not only carries loot for you like a good mule should, it also fights for you and can cast spells. You can equip your pet with 2 spells, 2 rings and a necklace. Something potentially useful about the pet is that you can send it to town to sell loot while you keep on fighting. This is a good idea but I found I didn't use it much/ever. I liked to see what the vendors were selling more than just to empty my bags out. It's a good thought though.

My dog, Rover, and my 3 Nether Imps. I play this character, an Alchemist, like a Warlock.

Not all is perfect though. I wish that the boss fights were more dynamic. Almost every (if not just plain every) boss fight was just hit the bad guy over and over and over again, use a potion, and then hit the bad guy some more. They could have spiced things up.

Hit boss, hit boss, hit boss, that's it.

Another thing that is lacking in the game is multiplayer. Diablo was a great game on its own but what made it legendary and still being sold in stores everywhere is its multiplayer. Runic says that they are already in development of a massively multiplayer action-RPG set in the world of Torchlight. I hope that that will be a patch and is free, but something tells me that it's going to cost. We'll have to see.

For casual gamers Torchlight works very well. You can exit and enter the game easily. It saves your location when you exit so it's easy to pick right up where you left off. You can squeak in 5 minutes when the opportunity arises or 2 hours on those gaming nights. The system requirements are ridiculously low so virtually any modern computer, including netbooks, can play it.

Torchlight is worth the money and more importantly, worth the time. When gaming minutes are scarce, you have to make sure that what you're playing is worth it. This game is.

I give Torchlight an 8.5 out of 10.