Torchlight Reviews

While I’m on the subject of reviews, why not turn our attention over to Runic Games’ Torchlight? A handful of new critiques to follow…

RPGWatch gives it a 4/5:

Torchlight has gotten loads of attention and has become something of a media darling in late 2009 – yet as some have noted very few reviews have made reference to the vast similarities to 2005’s Fate. I have no idea why that is, but let me again be clear: if you played Fate you will see more than a passing resemblance in Torchlight. That is good and bad, as I said: because if you liked Fate, chances are you’ll enjoy Torchlight; but if you didn’t like Fate don’t even bother trying Torchlight. Torchlight is a pure action-RPG, and as such doesn’t pretend to be ‘story driven’ or character centric – not even to the limited extent of games like Sacred or Titan Quest. But as I said at the outset – it never tries to be those things, it just aims for pure action-RPG fun, and it absolutely succeeds at being an evolutionary step forward from Fate in that regard.

DigitalBattle gives it a 9/10:

The game is extremely accessible, and will run on pretty much any system there’s even a (netbook) mode so you can play on the go on underpowered netbook laptops. Despite lots of gameplay value the campaign is around 15 hours long Torchlight retails for only $20 on Steam. Even if there is no multiplayer and not much new, it’s hard not to recommend to RPG fans and PC gamers alike.

ApertureGames gives it a 7/10:

In perhaps too many ways, Torchlight delivers just what is expected and no more. Apart from the town being generic, the quests are completely unimaginative. All the quests are essentially tasks that you would be doing anyway, and can neatly be grouped into (while you’re down there killing guys, kill this particular guy) or (while you’re down there collecting loot, collect this particular loot.)

And GamersInfo doesn’t do the scoring thing:

In conclusion, Torchlight shows everything that has been played before in the hack-‘n’-slash genre. It doesn’t really push the genre forward, nor does it pull the genre into the abyss. Instead, it is a love letter to fans of the genre. Everything that is loved about the game that started it all is present. It isn’t creepy or out to disturb you. Instead, it is about being fun. There is enough content in the mines to keep anyone happy for a long time. And $20 is the perfect price to pay for it. Unless you dislike exploration, nonstop action and tons of customization, there is no reason not to pick it up at some time. If you don’t believe me, there is a nice long demo to sample. Now, please excuse me. I need to rotate my schedule around so I can fit in more Torchlight.