As a geek when someone mentions RPG’s there are a few things that come to mind. The chances are however that Diablo is one of the first things to pop into your head.  So when I finally got my hands on Torchlight I wasn’t surprised at the look or feel of the game. To say the hack and slash click frenzy was reminiscent of Diablo might be considered an understatement of the most extreme kind. Diablo II like game mechanics and the  atmoshpere and simplicity of the original experience of Diablo mixed with a pleasant and classic graphical style all mesh for simple, fun and streamlined experience with Torchlight. Calling something  clone is ussually a negative factor but the Diablo’esque fell comes from the Team, a group of former Blizzard North members working with Runic Games and doing a damned good job.

With a small footprint and very reasonable spec requirements Torchlight is a unique game and at it’s bargain pricing (Steam 19.95 AUD) it’s a hard gem to look over.

With solid RPG game mechanics hidden under simple yet charming graphics you’d be forgiven for expecting a strong story line filled with lavish quests and extensive exploration. The real game is all about building your character. With a brief and linear plot line just wrapping around an exceptionally fun dungeon hack ‘n’ slash, grind ‘n’ horde game. You start with some wet behind the ear’s RPG Archetype his pet and a quest, not to save the city of Ember (As the story line would have you believe) but rather to find the most awesome and intimidating armoury with which to slay the biggest and baddest monsters from the deepest and darkest places under the mountain. I can’t think of anything more suited to an hour block of my time after a long day’s work.

Some people might get a little chalky about the shallow storyline  but lets be honest, action RPG’s are the Geek’s Barbie Doll. We don’t care if Grimnak ‘The Immense’ has saved hundreds of orphaned children and built houses for widowed wives (Of course you might care, in that case might I suggest a game from Bethesda !) I want to know what colour armour he’s wearing and how many DPS can he push while wielding dual swords of Uber Flamyness +12 with sockets. Did I mention sockets? more of that Diablo’esque coming to the fore. A side note is character building and the lack of a forced skill structure. Your three archetypes are standard, Warrior, Mage and Rogue however there is no forced system. With a little creativity and some carefully game play your Rogue can DPS like any warrior and your Mage will happily wear any armour you throw at it. I guess it’s just one more way the slick and simple structure of this game shines through for a fun experience.

The retro feel graphics, offer a slick gaming experience for most users and it even boast’s a net book mode. I have yet to try this but i’d love to hear from someone who has. Still retro or not the effects are great with spell’s firing from all angles while Boss’s hurl splitting arc’s of lightning and Ghoul’s radiate Poison clouds of death. Simple allows a great overall feel since the machine simply pushes through the most dramatic of battles losing nothing to stuttering or overly complex layers of particles fighting for your attention. Style and class all the way.

Of course lacking a real story would usually hurt a games re playability, in this case it’s simply not true. Torchlight work’s of that age old system of addiction. It took me about 2 hours to have a personal chest fool of goodies, it wasn’t enough. Torchlight’s true strength lies in the truly random nature of the dungeons. Of course your likely to notice the set pieces that are put together, traps become obvious after you’ve set of a few (Especially in hardcore mode, dieing is always more painful when it is permanent.) however the sheer number of unique weapons and monsters you will face is astounding. I found my dog was carting my gear back to the sellers so often he could hardly assist me in the fight. Running through the game is a brief campaign, however truly relishing the hunt for greatness and glory is a time honoured tradition for RPG players of any genre. This game keeps you coming back for more, more monster’s, more loot and plenty fun.

Torchlight is a great title well worth adding to any RPG collection, the new take on a old classic system is something that might just help hold us all over while we wait for Diablo III. My only real peave with this game was the lack of a co-op mode, it’s almost criminal. Still with the modding tools released we might see something in the works soon. Thank you Runic games for giving me just a little taste of the glory day’s of gaming.
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