And it’s not only the levels themselves that look great. All the graphics in Torchlight are top-notch. Torchlight sports a cartoonish look, keeping things from becoming too dark and dreary. The various spell and ability effects are solid, and everything runs along very smoothly. In fact, the system requirements for Torchlight are surprisingly low, and can be tweaked to allow players with older systems to have just as much enjoyment as those with bleeding-edge rigs. The audio fares equally well, with solid voice work and a simply great musical score.
And now a word about the loot—Torchlight gets this spot-on. Action RPGs are unabashedly about the carrot-and-stick of finding that next special piece of equipment. The loot drop rate and type seems perfect, not drowning players in too much cool stuff as to make everything ho-hum, and not being stingy, either. There are plenty of magical, rare, and unique items, as well as socketable items and sets. Players can also play around with enchanting item on their own, with its risks and rewards, as well as fiddling with the transmutation aspect.
The main plot demands about 15-20 hours of adventuring per character, and can be done at varying difficulty levels. Once the main story is complete, players can embark on a much deeper (infinite?) dungeon to further advance their character. Should players decide to be done with a character, they can “retire” that character from play and bequeath some bonuses on the next. While many players will complain that there is no multiplayer aspect to Torchlight, I had no problem with it at all. I prefer the solo campaigns for most games, and I firmly believe that many games hurt themselves by trying to shoe-horn multiplayer functionality where it needn’t belong. Still, players can look forward to Runic Games’ upcoming MMO set in the Torchlight universe to scratch that multiplayer itch.
I had an absolute blast with Torchlight, and I’ll be returning at least a few more times to try out some additional character concepts. There’s just a ton of well-done ARPG goodness here. And while I usually don’t comment on the price of the games I review, Torchlight brings all this goodness to players for just $20. That’s an incredible amount of fun for a bargain-priced title. For action RPG fans, Torchlight is a title not to be missed.
A- | A fantastic action RPG for a bargain price. This is exactly what indie titles should be. |
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