Torchlight (PC)
Genre: Action RPG Publisher: Runic Games Developer: Runic Games Players: 1
The town of Ember has struck hard times, both figuratively and literally. As these things sometimes go, local miners tunnelled a bit too deep, awakening – you guessed it – an ancient evil, which is threatening the town and terrorising everybody that lives there. This is where you and your faithful pet come in, ready to save the day by fighting (and looting) all the way down to the bottom of the pit.
The story itself is a bit thin on the ground, and really isn’t one of the title’s strengths. What little plot there is basically serves as an excuse to go dungeon-diving. There are no lengthy cut-scenes to bog the action down, and within a minute of starting a new game you’ll be thrown into combat with the denizens of Ember’s mines.
One thing that deserves special mention is the game’s distinctive art style. Although somewhat reminiscent of the Warcraft series, Torchlight has an aesthetic all its own. It’s perpetually night in the town of Ember itself, giving the whole game a subterranean feel. The townsfolk and monsters you’ll encounter seem to have been rendered in that almost-cartoony style, which will be familiar to fans of Team Fortress 2. Also, the enemies you face on different floors actually have different traits and tactics, giving each area of the mines its own particular feel.
There are three different character classes on offer in Torchlight, each based around a different style of play. The Destroyer is the melee class, with skills based around getting into combat and bashing skulls. The Vanquisher specialises in ranged combat with rifles and crossbows, while the Alchemist’s skills are magic-based, combining melee and ranged combat with the ability to summon minions.
Interestingly for an RPG, there are no real choices to be made regarding the appearance of your character. The Destroyer is always a musclebound, moustachioed tough guy, while the Vanquisher is always a brunette female that looks like she belongs in a Disney movie. The one area of customisation available is in picking and naming the pet that will accompany you during the game, and there you get to choose either a dog or a cat, both of which function identically.
As well as a level-up system that would be familiar to anybody who has played an RPG since… well, forever, you also earn fame points by taking on particularly fearsome beasties. When you become more well-known, you earn a few extra skill points that you can put toward the various buffs and special abilities available for each of the classes.
While each of the different character classes supposedly fills a particular niche, you can tailor them to fit just about any playing style you like. I found that a combination of melee and ranged was the most fun to play, but pouring all of your skill points into one or two abilities made battles hilariously one-sided. Of course, when you move up into the higher difficulty levels, you’ll need all the destructive power your character can muster.
According to the developers, the main single-player quest will take about 20 hours to complete. While you could probably blaze through the game in less time than that, there are plenty of side quests to tackle whenever you want a break from the storyline, and one of the merchants in the town sells scrolls unlocking random dungeons. The game flows along quite nicely when you have the option to divert from the main action whenever you feel like it.
The procedurally-generated dungeons are surprisingly diverse. Each tile set has different features and enemies, and there are different traps and even secret areas in every map. There are plenty of small animations and background details, coupled with rooms of differing elevations, bridges spanning huge chasms, and distant monsters going about their business far below. Runic have done quite a job of making levels look bigger than they really are, something which you don’t really notice until you’ve been playing for a while.
As well as periodic waypoints and scrolls that allow you to return to town on a whim, your pet takes care of any excess loot you want to turn in for cash. This isn’t a game that requires a lot of backtracking through empty levels – the whole experience is geared around killing monsters and acquiring loot. When you die, you’re given the option of instant resurrection with a hefty fine, starting again at the beginning of the level with a smaller fine, or heading back to back to the town. There isn't really any moment in the game where you don't have the option of getting straight into the action.
There are a few minor graphical issues, which are to be expected with a title of this complexity. A few pieces of equipment didn’t look quite right, and the onscreen action can get a little confusing, particularly when you’re involved in melee combat. A few more options for customising the appearance of your heroes and their pets would also be nice. Also, the fishing system was fun for a change of pace, but didn’t really have much appeal after the first few times of trying it out.
As a single player game, balance isn’t as big an issue as it would be for a multiplayer title. This is good, as a few of the game’s features just beg to be abused. As well as a camp stash for items you don’t have room for in your inventory, there’s a shared stash which you can use to share items between characters. Handy for when your Vanquisher finds a weapon that would be better suited to another character, but it occasionally makes getting through the first few mines with a new character ridiculously easy. Likewise with the enchantment system – taking a regular weapon and applying a few random enchantments to it was an easy way to get ahead, particularly on the lower difficulty settings.
Minor gripes aside, there’s no escaping just how addictive Torchlight is. It’s extremely easy to sit down intending to play for a few minutes, only to look up and see that two hours has gone by. The few balance and graphical issues really don’t detract that much from what is as solid a first release as you could hope for from a new company. Torchlight is ambitious, well-executed and, most of all, some of the best fun PC gamers can get for the price.
By Lachlan (1st Nov 2009)
Surprisingly enough, this budget-priced title from an independent developer is one of the most compulsive action RPGs the PC has seen in years.
The formula for a Diablo-style action RPG seems so simple you wonder how anybody could mess it up. All you need are some monsters with self-preservation skills equal to the terrorists from ‘80s action movies, some ludicrously overpowered weapons, a few procedurally generated dungeons to run around in, and you’re good to go.
All so easy, and yet we’ve been inundated with entries to the field that just don’t stack up. From Too Human to Titan Quest, it seems like some developers just love to find new ways of ruining a good thing. I just can’t help but feel a little trepidation when I hear of a new entry into the field. Thankfully, Torchlight is one of the best action RPG experiences to hit the PC in a long time.
The town of Ember has struck hard times, both figuratively and literally. As these things sometimes go, local miners tunnelled a bit too deep, awakening – you guessed it – an ancient evil, which is threatening the town and terrorising everybody that lives there. This is where you and your faithful pet come in, ready to save the day by fighting (and looting) all the way down to the bottom of the pit.
The story itself is a bit thin on the ground, and really isn’t one of the title’s strengths. What little plot there is basically serves as an excuse to go dungeon-diving. There are no lengthy cut-scenes to bog the action down, and within a minute of starting a new game you’ll be thrown into combat with the denizens of Ember’s mines.
One thing that deserves special mention is the game’s distinctive art style. Although somewhat reminiscent of the Warcraft series, Torchlight has an aesthetic all its own. It’s perpetually night in the town of Ember itself, giving the whole game a subterranean feel. The townsfolk and monsters you’ll encounter seem to have been rendered in that almost-cartoony style, which will be familiar to fans of Team Fortress 2. Also, the enemies you face on different floors actually have different traits and tactics, giving each area of the mines its own particular feel.
There are three different character classes on offer in Torchlight, each based around a different style of play. The Destroyer is the melee class, with skills based around getting into combat and bashing skulls. The Vanquisher specialises in ranged combat with rifles and crossbows, while the Alchemist’s skills are magic-based, combining melee and ranged combat with the ability to summon minions.
Interestingly for an RPG, there are no real choices to be made regarding the appearance of your character. The Destroyer is always a musclebound, moustachioed tough guy, while the Vanquisher is always a brunette female that looks like she belongs in a Disney movie. The one area of customisation available is in picking and naming the pet that will accompany you during the game, and there you get to choose either a dog or a cat, both of which function identically.
As well as a level-up system that would be familiar to anybody who has played an RPG since… well, forever, you also earn fame points by taking on particularly fearsome beasties. When you become more well-known, you earn a few extra skill points that you can put toward the various buffs and special abilities available for each of the classes.
While each of the different character classes supposedly fills a particular niche, you can tailor them to fit just about any playing style you like. I found that a combination of melee and ranged was the most fun to play, but pouring all of your skill points into one or two abilities made battles hilariously one-sided. Of course, when you move up into the higher difficulty levels, you’ll need all the destructive power your character can muster.
According to the developers, the main single-player quest will take about 20 hours to complete. While you could probably blaze through the game in less time than that, there are plenty of side quests to tackle whenever you want a break from the storyline, and one of the merchants in the town sells scrolls unlocking random dungeons. The game flows along quite nicely when you have the option to divert from the main action whenever you feel like it.
The procedurally-generated dungeons are surprisingly diverse. Each tile set has different features and enemies, and there are different traps and even secret areas in every map. There are plenty of small animations and background details, coupled with rooms of differing elevations, bridges spanning huge chasms, and distant monsters going about their business far below. Runic have done quite a job of making levels look bigger than they really are, something which you don’t really notice until you’ve been playing for a while.
As well as periodic waypoints and scrolls that allow you to return to town on a whim, your pet takes care of any excess loot you want to turn in for cash. This isn’t a game that requires a lot of backtracking through empty levels – the whole experience is geared around killing monsters and acquiring loot. When you die, you’re given the option of instant resurrection with a hefty fine, starting again at the beginning of the level with a smaller fine, or heading back to back to the town. There isn't really any moment in the game where you don't have the option of getting straight into the action.
There are a few minor graphical issues, which are to be expected with a title of this complexity. A few pieces of equipment didn’t look quite right, and the onscreen action can get a little confusing, particularly when you’re involved in melee combat. A few more options for customising the appearance of your heroes and their pets would also be nice. Also, the fishing system was fun for a change of pace, but didn’t really have much appeal after the first few times of trying it out.
As a single player game, balance isn’t as big an issue as it would be for a multiplayer title. This is good, as a few of the game’s features just beg to be abused. As well as a camp stash for items you don’t have room for in your inventory, there’s a shared stash which you can use to share items between characters. Handy for when your Vanquisher finds a weapon that would be better suited to another character, but it occasionally makes getting through the first few mines with a new character ridiculously easy. Likewise with the enchantment system – taking a regular weapon and applying a few random enchantments to it was an easy way to get ahead, particularly on the lower difficulty settings.
Minor gripes aside, there’s no escaping just how addictive Torchlight is. It’s extremely easy to sit down intending to play for a few minutes, only to look up and see that two hours has gone by. The few balance and graphical issues really don’t detract that much from what is as solid a first release as you could hope for from a new company. Torchlight is ambitious, well-executed and, most of all, some of the best fun PC gamers can get for the price.
8.6
Single Play
8.7
Friend Play
7.0
Multi Play
0.0
Graphics
8.4
Sound
8.7
Challenge
8.9
Entertainment
8.5
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Torchlight
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Torchlight (PC)
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Torchlight launch trailer 02:28 By: Keith B |
I retract my statement about the level editor, it's bloody hard to operate. Still 9/10, I'm looking forward to more releases for Runic Games.
The whole game is pretty great overall, probably one of the best dungeon-crawlers yet available for the PC.
Level editor on a dungeon crawler? Sounds awesome.
The level editor is now available, which should see an increase in content being swapped between players.