Gaming Torchlight Review

http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/pc/2009/10/31/torchlight-review/1

Torchlight - an action RPG that borrows heavily from Diablo 2 and isn't afraid to admit it. We take a look at this dungeon-crawling epic to see whether borrowing those mechanics is still a good idea in this day and age, or whether Torchlight should be left in the dark.

 

This look great, but with No co-op I won't be buying it. My gaming buddy's are all saying the same thing, so I don't know how popular this is going to be...

 

Hmm when i first read diablo clone i thought this would get a 4 or 5 bt to see it gets a 9 is intriguing however i don't really see a market for it

 

It really really needs a demo.. I like inderpendantly produced games, but its Diablo 3 is the one I am waiting for...

 

It does have a demo

 

Nice if this was released in 2001 i would definatly have got it. As it is saying its better than Diablo II 8years later well. I have my pre orders lined up for Diablo3 Starcraft2 and MassEffect2 i think i will stick with Diablo actual than a over bright cartoon clone .

 

Awe, no co-op.

I'll still pick it up.

 

No multiplayer, no purchase.

This reviewer should not review these games until 1) he learns that Diablo 1/2 are the best in the genre and 2) learns the difference between the words "to" and "too", yes this is the internet, but please don't send off a review in internet-speak. He can also find the two other less mistakes in his spelling/grammar. Find all three, win a prize!

Yours in "Kids these days" Plasma,
Star*Dagger

 

If we're going to be like that, then don't you think it premature to already form a judgement on a game (nay, a whole genre) when you haven't played all the games in question - let alone the one that's actually being reviewed? Especially when you're dismissing it on the lack of a single mode that, while it may be important to some, actually isn't to an awful lot of people? Granted, you may be talking from the position of "Well, it's just my opinion that multiplayer is an essential part of the game and that Torchlight can't live up to Diablo 2 without it" - but if you're allowing yourself a subjective opinion, then surely you have to allow one for others too - thus negating your argument?

As for the grammar - I'll have a comb through it later tonight. Guess whoever edited this review must have missed 'em.

 

Hmm.. finding download link failure on my part, anyone care to share the URL?

 

Googled it, it's not found on the developers web page.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/41510/

 

Trying the demo. I'm in 2 minds over this review though, on the one hand 9/10 from bit-tech doesn't come around too often, on the other Diablo 2 is my favourite game of all time. This is to the extent that I actually don't need something from the genre to tie me over, I'm happy waiting for Diablo 3. Oh and lines like "Torchlight has over Diablo though is simply the graphics". Really, better graphics 8 years later? And if that comment was purely based on art direction, we're going to have to agree to disagree.
In a way this sounds like Diablo 1 to me. A single town with a single dungeon that goes down many many levels. I'm wondering how expansive the MMO version will be, it would probably be more suited to my tastes if it has more varied areas and classes.

 

Still Joe, Star*Dagger has a point: The multiplayer (and battle-net) is what made the diablo franchise this successful. Whenever an Action RPG is released most people will judge it by it's multiplayer merits. This is essentially were Titan Quest, Loki etc failed. It's not about the storyline, but about the combat while chiling with your friends. You hated Diablo 2, fine, but why can't you see that it would have been much more fun with your friends?

Unfortunately Torchlight has no multiplayer mode, which is important to a lot of people. These poeple won't buy Torchlight. It doesn't matter if the game itself is actually good or bad, as it will be boring to complete it alone (single player) anyway.

 

I don't think that's true at all, I didn't play much D2 online, that was back in the days of dial up before unlimited surfing deals, so spending a lot of time on the internet was a big no-no. It's just as good single player as it is multiplayer IMO.

 

I am playing this game for 4 days and i must say i am impressed how far can a indie game can go, but... It is a complete rip-off diablo II.
There are two orc like creatures that can take gems or weapons apart destroying the other: for example if you want to keep a gem from a weapon, the weapon will be destroyed.
You can use firearms - wich is really nice.
There are those "map to short dungeon lvl *" wich are amazing!
Some other things wich i can't remember are cool too...

The game IS REALLY GOOD, and i think it deserve the 9/10 Joe gave, after all it's an indie game. I really don't understand though is why Joe hated Diablo II and loved this one. It just doesn't make any sense...

The only thing i would point in this game is that it's kinda too easy. I am now lvl 18 and haven't died not once. But again i am an old monkey at games and I know all the gameplay cliches for survival.

I have to agree with Veles: DII was good as it is! I almost never played multiplayer, and I am a big fan of it. The history of the game is quite imersive. Mainly if you played DI entirely and know whats happening there. I rememer that Diablo II was the first game to force a pseudo 3d view. Remeber that option that squished the things that were not in the centre of the screen? HUGE tech going there!

BTW I am playing borderlands too, wich I am liking a lot - not fantastic, but a good game. Clearly inspired in past Fallouts - but still a FPS

 

Not so much a rip-off. The Runic team is made almost completely out of ex-Blizzard North people, who were all the lead designers and team members on Diablo 1 (and maybe 2, can't recall).

As for why I like this more than Diablo 2, it's a personal, storytelling and aesthetic thing. Diablo 2, by the time I played it, was over-hyped, graphically behind and surrounded by a complex story and lore that I quickly learned I didn't care much for. It was also another one of those games where the predominant colour is brown and the fact that the dungeons were generated on a tile-basis made me feel that the areas, while much more varied, were also lacking in personality. By the time I played Diablo 2, I had played a hundred other games like it before - ruining the fact that, as everyone says, what made Diablo so great was that it was the first game in that genre to be done so well. It was the Half-Life of action RPGs.

That said, while I personally didn't like the look and feel of Diablo 2 because of the graphical and timing issues, I was able to still appreciate the subtlety and balancing of it all - which is why in my blog post I mentioned giving it a retrospective 8/10.

What Torchlight does in my eyes though is directly address all the issues I took with Diablo. The story is delivered not in a long FMV that makes no sense to anyone who hasn't played the first game (and then dribbled out through dialogs), it's just quickly dumped on you in 30 seconds. You can get stuck right in without it getting in the way, while the palette and graphical style is much more varied and engaging. Not just a wash of browns and murky greens, but lots of colour in a caricatured (and very WOWesque) art style. On top of that, the dungeons are generated not based on tiles, but on a module system and the pieces are much larger and intricate, giving a feeling of a more thoroughly crafted world. If you didn't know the dungeon was randomly generated to start with then it'd be hard to cotton on, unlike in D2.

Torchlight still has issues - and the lack of multiplayer is a big one - but to me, it's not enough to completely dismiss the game and the bulk of what is there more than compensates for what isn't there. Those of you who like the idea but loath the lack of MP still have Diablo 2 to play if it's still that good in your eyes - or you can wait for the Torchlight MMO which is on the way.

 

I was interested, until the "No Co-Op" part came up.

DII on at lan = lolz

 

Personally, 90% of the time I couldn't care less about multiplayer so long as it has a terrific singleplayer mode/storyline. Co-op is usually a worthy feature though.

Looking at previews of Diablo III, however, it does seem more cinematic and modern which is what keeps me skeptical about Torchlight.

 

I've just given the demo a 15 minute blast, it has a lot of what games industry call "polish (shiny)", very nice WoW style cartoon graphics to boot. A little bit of a rip off the concepts seen from Diablo, but that basic idea can be traced back to Rogue anyways.

Much better than Dungeon Seige, I was very dissapointed when I played D.S., I felt cheated of my money actually.

I am not sure if I would buy this game yet. I've got a whole bunch of AAA titles on pre order, and a whole bunch of games to play still, Street Fighter 4, Fallen Earth, Guitar Hero Matalica, Tekken 6, Dragon Age Origins and Modern War 2. There's a small fortune of games that I actually paid money for.
Edit: also bought Gratuitous Space Battles.
Edit 2: Made up my mind now, I'll be passing on this one, there's no co-op. serious downer for me.

 

I haven't had sex with every woman on the planet either but from looking at them and spending some time with them I can tell which ones will be winners pretty quick. If one of them says *Sorry I am not into your favorite thang* there are still 2.9999 billion females left on the planet.
And as far as not playing it, screw it, I'll download it now from Steam and try it out. It is a very small amount of cash.

Yours in Adjudicatory Plasma,
Star*Dagger

P.S. If you ever mistake "too" and "to" in a published article again I will plasma torp the bit-tech offices. R type. And there is no e in judgment