Torchlight Review

My finger hurts. A lot.

Back when Game Central previewed Torchlight at PAX, I noticed lead designer Travis Baldree clicking a lot. However, my perception of clicks-per-second must be off  ’cause my hands are literally on fire while typing this. All because of Runic Games’ debut hack-and-slash action RPG (ARPG).

Not much has changed from what we illustrated in our preview, but that’s certainly not a bad thing. In fact, I’m actually glad not much has changed since then, because Torchlight will be the most fun you’ve had for $20 in a long, long time.

Taking cues from already-established ARPGs such as the Diablo series and Titan Quest, Torchlight solidifies the genre by balancing out all the key factors that make games from that genre tons of fun. It isn’t just mindless clicking, but instead it gives the player the impression that they’re doing something special with each click. It adds a whole layer of personality that’s missing from many hack-and-slash games these days. That aspect alone is worth the purchase; it’s painfully obvious that Runic was insanely passionate about this game when developing it.

As expected of any game of this sort, the real point of it is to kill baddies and steal their loot. And Torchlight delivers plenty of it. You can select up to three different classes to play; these include an Alchemist, a Vanquisher, or a Destroyer. The specialty of these are magic, ranged, and melee, respectively. You also get to choose a dog or cat to act as your violent companion while trudging through the depths of the subterranean catacombs. From there, the game almost immediately thrusts you into the action, but not before introducing you to the town of Torchlight, where you get quests, barter for items and equipment, and get back-story through dialogues with the townspeople.

Speaking of the back-story: it isn’t exactly the most genius piece of storytelling in the history of video games. In fact, I’d say it’s the complete antithesis to Planescape: Torment. However, I’m not necessarily knocking it because of the lack of story. The game’s inherent essence as an action RPG, to me, automatically allows for the lack of a narrative objective to aim towards. It’s always been the case for the genre to avoid focusing on a story; Torchlight doesn’t lose its fun factor for its absence of a compelling plot. But, in case you’re wondering, there’s some evil “Ember” (material used to power the city… kinda like Tiberium in Command & Conquer) in the realms underneath Torchlight, and it’s up to you to squash it.

Environments vary greatly, and it’s rare to see only one enemy on screen at a time.

Much like the story, the gameplay isn’t overly complex. You and your companion go through many levels in pure ARPG style, clicking away on the dozens of baddies constantly filling your screen. The game’s user interface is surprisingly polished and makes for an easy introductory learning experience. The heads-up display (HUD) is fairly simple to use, allowing straightforward customization for the player’s likings. If you want to have “1″ drink a health potion, or cast a “Ricochet” projectile spell, it’s as simple as dragging and dropping icons onto the respective numerical position. When you’re not frantically clicking on bad guys, you’ll mainly be using these menus.

Going along the main (albeit slim) storyline, you can also receive side-quests to garner more experience and better items. These quests are generally tougher than following the plot line exclusively, but if you don’t do these quests, you’ll lose the opportunity to level up above your enemies to gain the upper hand. If you’re on “Normal” difficulty, however, don’t worry about leveling up, since it’s oddly simple under that selection. Nearly six hours into one game on “Normal,” I had amassed nearly 100 dormant health potions, since I had no need for them – the enemies never even hit me. Still, such a nitpick can be addressed quite simply by changing the difficulty or enabling the “Hardcore” gameplay mode. It seems to me Runic hit a hump on the “Normal” setting, since they designed the game with both the hardcore ARPGers and newcomers to the genre (me). Nevertheless, it’s a minor complaint which shouldn’t go against overall judgment of the game.

After all the looting, head back to town to sell it all. Or stay put and have your pet do it automatically!

On the trek through Torchlight’s many environments, you’ll encounter an incredible variety of enemies. While a lot of them are your generic skeletons and spiders, others are foes you don’t commonly see in these sorts of games, such as the Mimic treasure chest that tries to eat you when you loot it. Not that the stereotypical enemies are bad, in fact they all look quite neat with the game’s pretty art style.

As pointed out in our preview, the game goes for a “blocky”  artistic approach. Which, according to Baldree, allows the game to age much nicer than its contemporary peers. I gotta agree with him. The game is quite beautiful, and I can totally see it being just as relevant five years from now. Each unit is designed so specially, that I have to frown every time I see a whole group of enemies flooding towards me. “I have to kill these beautiful enemies? It’s like spitting on a beautiful acrylic!”

Upgrading skills and specialties.

If a blocky visual construct or high fantasy setting just isn’t your fancy, don’t worry – the game is completely moddable. The recently released TorchEd allows any purchaser of the game to try their hand at changing the game to their liking. Judging by our ever beloved PC gaming community, I wouldn’t be surprised to see many top-quality mods in the near future.

Further evidence of its influence from Diablo, the game’s music is composed by Matt Uelman, who fashioned the music for that series. I think I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: to me, aside from the gameplay, music is the most important factor in a game. Torchlight successfully brings back a feeling of music that I haven’t felt since the late ’90s. It doesn’t have the now-typical orchestral score that you would find in a movie – this game has music that was obviously designed for a game. Each song is radically different from the other, and provides a perfect listening experience. I don’t think I’ve heard a game soundtrack since Thief: Deadly Shadows where I felt the music perfectly complemented the medium. I’ve listened through the music outside of the game a handful of times already.

In the end, Torchlight is a fantastic title. Designed for both the hardcore and the newbies, the game will eat up your hours late at night, just as Civilization did many moons ago. The solid control mechanics turns the common “boring gameplay” complaint of hack-and-slash ARPGs on its head. With the low price tag of $20, there’s absolutely no reason to pass it over. I heartily recommend purchasing directly from Runic Games themselves.

Now please excuse me while I go make my index finger numb.