Torchlight - Reviews

This is the place where the leaders of the Chosen post news. News about the Chosen, news about drow/Eilistraee, news about NWN/NWN2 and news generally considered interesting to us. This is also the place where you can comment on those news items. :rss:

Moderators: Shir'le E. Illios, Bhaern Quel

Post Reply
User avatar
Shir'le E. Illios
High Priestess
High Priestess
Posts: 2352
Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 9:51 pm
Location: Eilistraee.com
Contact:

Torchlight - Reviews

Post by Shir'le E. Illios »

[url=http://www.torchlightgame.com/:3ekm25se]Torchlight[/url:3ekm25se] is, by all accounts, a Diablo clone. But one in the best sense of the word. Where most other Diablo clones fall short it seems that this one gets things right, which isn’t all [i:3ekm25se]that[/i:3ekm25se] surprising if you consider that it is developed by people who worked on the original Diablo games and is made by the Mythos development team (Mythos being that free-to-play side-project to Hellgate: London that was originally just intended to be a tech demo, but was fun enough to develop as a full game... until Flagship Studios went under). I think that [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchlight:3ekm25se]Wikipedia[/url:3ekm25se] sums it up quite nicely:

[quote:3ekm25se]Development of the game is led by Travis Baldree, designer of [i:3ekm25se]Fate[/i:3ekm25se], and Max Schaefer and Erich Schaefer, co-designers of [i:3ekm25se]Diablo[/i:3ekm25se] and [i:3ekm25se]Diablo II[/i:3ekm25se], joined by the team that developed [i:3ekm25se]Mythos[/i:3ekm25se].[/quote:3ekm25se]
Of course, as a Diablo clone that means it’s light on story and heavy on action. Killing monsters and gathering loot are the main purposes of the game. As such it hardly classifies as a roleplaying game (in my mind), but even so for those interested in the Diablo games this might be a fun game to wait the time until Diablo 3.

It is a single-player only game, though the developers have said that they’re working on an MMO version of the game as well. Here’s the launch trailer from GameSpot:

[center:3ekm25se][html]<embed id="mymovie" width="432" height="362" flashvars="playerMode=embedded&movieAspect=4.3&flavor=EmbeddedPlayerVersion&skin=http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cn ... ight%3D362" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" name="mymovie" style="" src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/cn ... oteus2.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"/>[/html][/center:3ekm25se]
The game has just been released, though I think that it’s only available as a digital product for now. Next to on the official homepage you can find it on [url=http://store.steampowered.com/app/41500/:3ekm25se]Steam[/url:3ekm25se] and [url=http://www.direct2drive.co.uk/8666/prod ... d:3ekm25se]Direct2Drive[/url:3ekm25se] ([url=http://www.direct2drive.com/3/8663/prod ... d:3ekm25se]US version[/url:3ekm25se]). And with it being released there’s a number of reviews floating around, as well as a demo (which I haven’t tried yet).

The first review is from fansite [url=http://www.runicgamesfansite.com/2009/1 ... /:3ekm25se]Runic Games[/url:3ekm25se]. Here’s an excerpt:

[quote:3ekm25se]I’ll start off by saying I haven’t finished the game yet. I was playing on Medium difficulty mode, with the Destroyer. I think I made it down to level 23 before I finally decided to take a break. 23 levels in roughly 7 hours of gameplay time (I subtracted the time required for eating, bathroom breaks, and one bleary eyed short walk to the grocery store) doesn’t include the two side quest dungeons, the split dungeons required for one quest, my adventures into secret random dungeons, or trips to town. By that estimation, I’d say one floor takes about 10-15 minutes to complete, with some areas taking longer than others. That’s a pretty good amount of time, and I haven’t even come close to attempting to clear a single floor yet.[/quote:3ekm25se]
[url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... t:3ekm25se]The Escapist[/url:3ekm25se] also has a review, with accompanying video supplement (as they usually do). Here’s an excerpt:

[quote:3ekm25se] The game does have a story, but it's secondary to everything else: In the small mining town of Torchlight, there has been a recent surge in monster activity inside the town's mine, where workers uncover the magical substance called Ember. Go into the mines, kill the monsters, venture ever lower into the tunnels beneath the mountain and uncover strangely varied scenery the deeper you descend - we've heard it all before, and it's mainly just a pretext for what [i:3ekm25se]Torchlight[/i:3ekm25se] does very, very well: The acquisition of phat lewts.[/quote:3ekm25se]
Another review is up at [url=http://www.warcry.com/articles/view/rev ... G:3ekm25se]WarCry[/url:3ekm25se], who among other things have this to say:

[quote:3ekm25se] The old saying that when a door closes, there's an open window somewhere is applicable to Runic Games. Within months of Flagship closing, Baldree and Schaefer created Runic Games. The studio immediately began working on Torchlight, taking the best of what they had learned developing Mythos, Diablo and Fate and putting it to work. Now the time has come to see if dreams and redemption will come with Torchlight.

Torchlight will be released October 27th via digital download either from Steam or directly from Runic. Coming in at a mere $20, Torchlight will initially be released as a single player game, though people will also have a level builder with which to toy and create custom maps. At some point in the indistinct future, publisher Perfect World will be hosting a Torchlight MMO.[/quote:3ekm25se]
The review that’s up at [url=http://www.rpgamer.com/games/other/pc/t ... l:3ekm25se]RPGamer[/url:3ekm25se] includes the following quote:

[quote:3ekm25se]The battle system is easy to jump into, but has a lot of subtleties which master players can experiment with if they so choose. There are three classes -- Destroyer, Alchemist, and Vanquisher. The first two are male only, while the third is female only. Each follow, but are not limited to, a traditional archetype: The Destroyer is an in-your-face melee class wielding a weapon and shield or giant two handed weapons; the Alchemist is a spell-flinger with minions to boss around; the Vanquisher is an assassin, frequently relying on ranged weapons. This doesn't mean each are forced into only these roles. An alchemist can pick up a shield, and a Destroyer can wield a bow if they so choose, and all three classes get four spell slots where they may equip scrolls to bolster their offensive repertoires. Regardless of which class they select, players may choose a dog or cat sidekick at the start of their adventure. This pet is a wonder unto itself and has its own inventory, can equip rings and necklaces, can run to town to sell for the player, and can equip two spells of its own -- thus, an integral part of any adventurer's day.[/quote:3ekm25se]
And the final review is over at [url=http://cheatcc.com/pc/rev/torchlightrev ... l:3ekm25se]Cheat Code Central[/url:3ekm25se], with the following excerpt:

[quote:3ekm25se]Torchlight plays like I imagine Diablo 2 would play if all of the fluff and annoying parts were stripped out. While this means that the game has great influences, sometimes those influences are a bit too prevalent. If you're a Blizzard fan, you'll instantly recognize the "squad-like" behavior of many enemies - a group of weaker enemies will often have a commander of some kind, such as a Shaman that can resurrect the weak enemies. And I could swear that I once saw the spitting image of the giant dwarf statue from outside World of Warcraft's Ironforge inside one of Torchlight's fortresses. Warcraft obviously played a big role in inspiring the art and architectural style of Torchlight.[/quote:3ekm25se]
I’m generally not that big of a fan of Action-RPGs as they seem to focus on the worst parts of roleplaying games while pretty much ignoring all the good parts, but they can be a nice, throw-away diversion now and again. And since this one seems, from all accounts, to be a pretty good one I thought it worth reporting on.


[b:3ekm25se][UPDATE][/b:3ekm25se]

GameSpot now also [url=http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/torchligh ... w:3ekm25se]has a review up[/url:3ekm25se], giving it an 8.0. Instead of making a new news post about that I thought I'd just add it to the list here. Here's an excerpt:

[quote:3ekm25se]You don't need to wait for Diablo III. Fans of action-oriented role-playing can get a first-rate fix of hacking and slashing right now in Torchlight, a great dungeon crawl from the designers of the first two Diablo games and the cult hit Fate. Runic Games has forged a letter-perfect copy of the action role-playing formula with fast-paced combat and cartoonish graphics that will keep you clicking until the wee hours.[/quote:3ekm25se]
Still haven't tried the demo; am too busy with other things.


[[url=http://www.torchlightgame.com/:3ekm25se]link[/url:3ekm25se]] to official Torchlight homepage.
[[url=http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/torchligh ... 5:3ekm25se]link[/url:3ekm25se]] to launch trailer at GameSpot.
[[url=http://www.runicgamesfansite.com/2009/1 ... /:3ekm25se]link[/url:3ekm25se]] to review at Runic Games.
[[url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... t:3ekm25se]link[/url:3ekm25se]] to review at The Escapist.
[[url=http://www.warcry.com/articles/view/rev ... G:3ekm25se]link[/url:3ekm25se]] to review at WarCry.
[[url=http://www.rpgamer.com/games/other/pc/t ... l:3ekm25se]link[/url:3ekm25se]] to review at RPGamer.
[[url=http://cheatcc.com/pc/rev/torchlightrev ... l:3ekm25se]link[/url:3ekm25se]] to review at Cheat Code Central.
[[url=http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/torchligh ... w:3ekm25se]link[/url:3ekm25se]] to review at GameSpot.


Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le
F'sarn natha tithaur wun l'su'aco.

-= Shir'le E. Illios =-
Chosen of Eilistraee
Post Reply