Torchlight

Genre: Roguelike, RPG, adventure
Release Date: October 27th 2009
Platforms: PC, Mac, Xbox 360
Score: 7/10
Similar Titles: Diablo, Titan Quest, Dungeon Siege

I've always thought of Torchlight as Diablo 2.5, although a few might be a little upset with me besmirching Blizzard so. At any rate, Torchlight is a great singleplayer timesink if you're a fan of Roguelikes.

Looks like a shiny Diablo to me.

What you will find upon purchasing this game (or stealing, for the unscrupulous), is an incredibly polished top down hack and slash. As you derp your way through a few floors of the ember mines of Torchlight, beating down on various goblins, zombies, and whatnot- you will probably wonder if there is much more to the game than this. Not really. But it's hella fun anyway.

Trees aren't your friend in Torchlight.

By polished I don't mean the graphics, which are only marginally better than Diablo 2. The whole engine is very smooth, and you'll be hard pressed to find a bug in the game, and it's unlikely that one you find will even screw up your fun.

The first thing you need to be aware of before playing this game, is the excellent modding community. You can find hundreds of different addons for the game, including minor tweaks to make the game a challenge (because it really isn't), or major overhauls that give you new classes to try out. If you are a person who can't really play a game through twice, then make sure you grab a few before you start. When you think the game would be better with "insert problem here", take a look on google, because somebody has probably already created a fix for it.

Most of the spells are cool but a little too powerful.

Beginning your journey is pretty straightforward, and the story isn't anything special enough to slow your progress down. Hilarious example: The land, world and town are all called Torchlight. In fact, reading my abilities and deciding which one to choose was easily the most time consuming part of the game.

The town of Torchlight.

After picking from the three class archetypes, warrior mage and rogue (Destroyer, Alchemist and Vanquisher)- you'll promptly wander from the town into the dungeon and on your way hitting things with your puny staff before you know it. Upon realising where the level up button is, you shall realise you are already level 5 and be at a loss for where to put your skill points. Don't worry though, because whichever ability you choose will be overpowered anyway.

Does nobody know how to keep their money in one place?

Gear and equipment are a huge part of the game. Items drop constantly from enemies and it's a good idea to carry a load of identify scrolls until you luck out on the identify spell. It's also easy to clear your space by sending your companion up to the surface to sell unwanted junk. What I find very appealing is how you truly do feel powerful when you get a full set of armor, a new weapon will see you ploughing down the next few levels.

Your inventory is sadly the small one on the right.

Gems can be socketed into your equipment for additional benefits, and all of your items can be powered up at the town for cash; new stats will be added each time you purchase an upgrade. While all this sounds good and dandy, these extra bonuses are overkill until you get really deep into the mines.

The other part of making your character a monster muncher revolves around choosing new spells and passive abilities as you gain levels. There are some really strong skills for each class, and it's a good idea to experiment a little before you decide to start your main playthrough. Every 5 levels or so a new tier of spells is unlocked, not exactly an original mechanic but I'm not complaining.

Bosses only provide a challenge half the time.

All of the above combined creates a repetitive system of hacking your way through the mine, teleporting back up into town and selling stuff- rinse, and repeat. While this simplistic procedure might not be the most desirable of your list of games to play, I shall return to my earlier point; this game is a time killer at heart. A time killer designed to prey on those of you dedicated to Diablo, and maybe convert a couple new people to genre at the same time. That being said, Torchlight is still a great investment for any RPG fan- until you can get Diablo 3 that is.

So by all means grab a copy of Torchlight, if you like games designed to keep you occupied as opposed to entertained.

There will be a lot of looting.