Torchlight II Preview

PC Gamer brings us yet another preview of Runic Games’ Torchlight II, although the piece won’t be anything new for subscribers of the magazine, as it already appeared on issue 231 of PC Gamer UK. Here’s a sampling from this hands-on write-up:

Guiding you will be a bulked-out plot. Whereas the first game’s story was largely incidental to the action, its sequel aims for a more balanced approach. (We don’t want to change the action-oriented nature of the game, but we want the story to feel more immersive and compelling,) Schaefer says. (This time we even hired a real writer!)

The sequel has been delayed a little by the process of getting the first Torchlight out on the Xbox 360, but PC gamers shouldn’t feel left out. (It gave our artists and level designers a bit more time to make cool stuff,) says Schaefer. (Also, we made some technological optimisations based on the necessities of porting to the Xbox.) That should mean that Torchlight II will have the same low system requirements of its predecessor, despite an increased polygon count and larger environments. Schaefer won’t commit to whether it would come with the much-loved netbook mode of the first game though. (We’ll wait till its done before saying anything about netbooks, just to be on the safe side.)

By starting with the same basic technology and tools as the original game, the focus this time around can be placed more squarely on more and better content. (We’ve got a great running start. The development cycle will be around two years, which is almost twice as long as we took on Torchlight,) Schaefer says.