Torchlight Review, Accidentally for Gamer.ru

And again, hello dear readers! Today I would like to tell you about the recently released Torchlight, a game from the creators of Fate, the unreleased Mythos, and partly Diablo 1 and 2.

These are not insect antennae, these are homing missiles

Torchlight is an action/RPG where you have just a few things to do: chop, slash, carve, collect, sell, and... fish. "What, fish?" - you ask. Yes, fish, but more on that later.

I'll start, as usual, with some technical nonsense.

So, the technical nonsense.

According to official statements, Torchlight should work on netbooks. Moreover: "The system requirements are so low that we play on netbooks in the office!" So say the folks at Runic Games. Some of you may remember that I have an Acer Aspire One A150 netbook (what's there to hide?). As a gaming machine, it is pretty weak: only 1 GB of RAM, with Intel GMA 950 as the graphics adapter... Not a gamer's dream, in general. So it was a pleasant surprise for me when Torchlight not only launched but also didn't lag in the menu. In that very menu, I discovered a button called "Netbook Mode". It's not hard to guess what it does. Got it? Wrong! Whatever this option does, my game runs absolutely the same, whether it's on or off. I was also amazed (though not for the first time) that the FPS is not affected by the resolution. Numerous tests showed that whether at 640x400 or 1024x600, Torchlight runs exactly the same. Disabling unnecessary processes (unneeded Windows services, background programs, antivirus) also had no impact on the game. A sturdy game.

Looks very much like ripples on water, but no. These are just ice explosions

After listening to all this tirade, you are probably ready to exclaim: "So how does the game work?!" I won’t cheer you up: poorly. You can play on a netbook, but it's not the most enjoyable pastime (but we are professionals, right?). For those who still decide to try out their netbook and nerves, I want to note that the cursor in Torchlight does not lag with the game. No matter how much the game glitches, the glove (which is the cursor in the game) still moves smoothly, without delays or anything else. But I reiterate, it’s not worth playing Torchlight: you’re unlikely to get enjoyment from the process.

So I’ll finish this tedious and not very useful section (I think for most the game will "fly") and move on to what people judge by, to...

What is that over there?...

...the graphics.

To properly evaluate the game and graphics, I managed to briefly access a modern computer. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it. The developers chose a very successful graphical style. A sort of cartoonish look with an echo of Fate. In this article, both screenshots with graphics settings maxed out at 1280x1024 and images at minimal settings with netbook resolution 1024x600 are used, so you can compare the difference in image quality.

I was very pleased with the various special effects of spells and abilities. Everything looks very impressive and modern.

For example, like this...

Every combat action is characterized by flying numbers. Some may not care for it, but I enjoy seeing a multitude of different texts and numbers flying across the screen. It somehow warms the soul...

Though the game is in full 3D, you cannot rotate the camera. But this does not affect the annihilation of hordes of monsters at all. If the character goes behind a wall, they start to become transparent through the aforementioned wall. The same happens with the heroic cat (or dog, or many other forms).

...or like this

The interface.

The interface mimics other RPGs almost completely. Nothing new has been introduced into the genre, nor why? What’s the point of reinventing the wheel? In Torchlight, every button is in its place, everything is intuitive, and your hands naturally reach for the keys.

The inventory is based on a slot principle. This means that any item in the bag takes up exactly one cell, whether it’s a two-handed axe or a small stone. Hovering the cursor over the item will show its characteristics next to the characteristics of the used equivalent. In general, it’s standard.

There’s nothing to comment here. Just a bunch of enemies.

Standards are also adhered to in highlighting items on the ground. When pressing Alt (or turning on a special option), a frame with the item’s name appears over each item. And here in this place, Runic missed the mark. It’s not hard to click on one table. But when there are many (tables), they start glitching. One jumps over another, and hitting the one in the back is almost impossible. This is not nitpicking; it’s truly disruptive.

Most importantly, the gameplay.

You could talk infinitely about the gameplay. To put it briefly: chop monsters, collect trophies, and sell them back. And now in detail...

Let’s start with the main character having their own personal pet. Initially, it’s either a cat (though more likely a lynx) or a dog (though it looks more like a wolf). But during the course of the game, the pet can be transformed into something else. Not forever, just for a time, but still. You can polymorph using fish, which you have to catch first. The animal can become a blob of jelly, a goblin, and many other forms.

And even this

I would also like to say a bit more about collecting trophies. The developers wisely concluded that picking up each of the 50 piles of gold, each containing 20 coins, is somewhat inefficient. So they decided: the gold automatically flows to the hero! Flows - that’s too figurative: it simply moves to the inventory by itself when the hero runs past. The rest of the equipment can be picked up either by yourself or through your little buddy. They also have their own inventory. Moreover, your best friend can be sent to town to sell the looted goods. It’s just a pity they can’t bring potions and scrolls...

The monster slaughter has impressed me incredibly. Why, I’ll explain now. Torchlight is the only game I remember where the hero literally tosses enemies aside. Skeletons, zombies, spiders - all simply explode away from the hero tearing through. It all looks incredibly impressive.

What a monster!

In the game, there are ordinary monsters and mini-bosses, as well as a few epic bosses (it would be strange not to have them in such a game?). They are, as expected, fatter, stronger, and faster (but not smarter) than the rest. And you can get the biggest reward from them. The rewards can be different: green, blue, gold, and... Drum roll... purple! Or in layman's terms - "set items". Anyone who has played MMOs or any Diablo clone will immediately know what this is. Those who haven’t played - listen further. Purple items do not appear individually; they always come in sets. For example, a helmet, armor, shield, and amulet. Individually, they are just cool items. But if you gather them all together, they provide tremendous bonuses (though in reality, not that tremendous).

Lastly, I would like to say a few words about the notes. Naturally not about do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si and the treble clef. But about what those notes turn into. About the music. Even though Matt Uelmen (yes, the same one!) wrote many compositions for the game, I will stop at just one. The one that plays in the town of Torchlight. Hearing just a couple of its snippets, any modern gamer will instantly recognize where it’s from. After these lines, any normal gamer, even without hearing the composition, will shout: "The same thing plays at the camp of the...!" But shh! Otherwise, why play?

You can spin this laser around you. It becomes an effective meat grinder

In conclusion...

...I would like to say about the game as a whole. Torchlight, no matter how you turn it, is just a regular Diablo clone. Some may weave Fate in here, some may mention Titan Quest, but that doesn’t change anything. And you know what? I am very glad that Runic did not try to reinvent the wheel but simply made what Blizzard has long been doing. A beautiful hack-and-slash, excuse the simplicity. I have long awaited a game where you can simply go forward, scattering various monsters with fireballs and lightning. A game where you do not need to think about complex builds, where you do not need to memorize voluminous lore (though when the online portion of the project comes out, you will certainly have to). Where everything is done brilliantly simply, without fuss.

I would recommend Torchlight to fans of Diablo. This is just the game that will help pass the time until the "third coming". And you know what? I would really like the "third coming" to resemble Torchlight as much as possible.

I will not give a rating. Guess for yourself.