First, let me say that I think the comparisons between Torchlight and Diablo II are reasonable, but also giving Diablo too much credit. The dungeon-crawling genre has been around since the turn-based, randomly generated hack-n-slash fest, Rogue (and all its derivatives). I will grant that Diablo and Diablo II took the genre to a new graphical and real-time direction. Since the phenomenal success of Blizzard’s bloodfest it has been inevitably copied and rehashed over and over again.
This most recent reiteration of the genre comes from the people that originally made Diablo and the most recent successful reincarnation, Fate. With this pedigree it is not surprising that the hack-n-slash gameplay is spot-on. However I am surprised at the lack of innovation in the title. This is not to say the game is bad or not worth the $20 price tag… far from it… but it is a little light on the cutting edge for a genre that needs innovation.
Torchlight is pretty. It does not go for the gruesome realism route of modern games and amps the characters and creatures to cartoonish levels. If you want a more realistic-looking successor to Diablo II, go try Titan Quest. This is more like the World of Warcraft version of fantasy. The textures and models are crisp and support most modern resolutions (something Diablo II has not aged well with), without overwhelming even modest integrated graphic chipsets (I use an Intel GMA 4500MHD). The game flows well and moves seamlessly between integrated story scenes and the game. The level designs are randomly generated, but flow very well together, even containing some multiple heights components. This is probably the most prominent innovation in the game. Fate used a similar system, but always felt less organic in its level design, more grid-like than the general flow found in Torchlight.
Some of the features that the reviewers have been fawning over baffle me, since they are found in Fate or Titan Quest prior to this game. The game companion is a direct copy of the feature in Fate, even down to the shapeshifting fish and remote loot sales. Fishing in the game is also found in Fate as are most of the game’s town locations and merchants. The only significant gameplay differences I found from Fate were the inclusion of specific classes (similar to most other crawlers, going back to the D&D roots of the games) and the inclusion of loot that works as groups (found in Diablo and Titan Quest). These elements are nice and make the game feel different than Fate to enough of a degree that I could justify buying the game.
VERDICT – This is the classic pick-up-and-play dungeon crawler. You only mean to play for a couple of minutes and find hours have vanished in your quest for just one more level. It isn’t deep in story or mechanics (go play Fallout 3 for that), but it infinitely replayable and viscerally satisfying.
PROS -
- Smooth graphics that run on even low-end machines with aplomb, but look nice on competent machines.
- Character classes allow for distinct styles of gameplay and give distinct, varied upgrade paths.
- All of the good parts of Fate are here.
- Mechanics are simple, but addictive
- Cheap
CONS -
- Lacks any significant innovation of the genre