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Tag: Runic Games

  • Gaming Week 33: Torchlight 2 (PC)

    Gaming Week 33: Torchlight 2 (PC)

    FUCK THE SERVERSSS
    This is the screen you’re greeted with every time you start up Torchlight 2. You have to log into Runic’s servers in the bottom right corner to play online with others.

    I have fond memories of Torchlight on the 360, but after playing it for 14+ hours and 100% the game, I couldn’t help but feel a little deflated that there wasn’t more. Torchlight 2 came out 6 months after my first review, but due to other games and other things happening in my life, I gave it a pass as I knew I wouldn’t be able to give it the time and attention it deserved. Finally, I got Torchlight 2 for £4.99 when it was on sale in March, but even then I put playing it off until I had someone else to play with. I can safely say, that as of this week, I have played Torchlight 2 from start to finish.

    FUCK THE GIBS
    Battles can get quite intense, making it difficult to see your own player amongst all the fireworks and gibs.

    You start Torchlight 2 as you did the first game: selecting a class and a pet to go on your adventure with. From here, you get introduced to the main narrative that’ll keep you adventuring throughout the campaign, which consists of a very strong, evil Alchemist (the same one you could play as in the first Torchlight) being overwhelmed by the same evil that corrupted the caves under the original town of Torchlight. You start your epic quest just after Torchlight is destroyed, and you must embark on a adventure trying to put a stop to the alchemist as he makes his way across the world disturbing the peace. Not a bad set up by any means, I just wish the cut scenes were better narrated and higher fidelity to properly portray the story, as it stands, the cut scenes feel disconnected to the main campaign.

    One of the biggest differences you’ll find with Torchlight 1 and 2 is the new addition of multiplayer. You can’t miss it, a runic account being the first thing Torchlight 2 asks you to create when you first get into the game, it ensures that all players are able to connect to multiplayer if they so wish. I’d hugely recommend it if you have a internet connection, as without other people, torchlight 2 feels a bit empty and joyless. Levels are huge and vast, with plenty of enemies to take on and kill for all that sweet XP, but without someone to share this XP and experience with, Torchlight 2 feels like a empty shell of a game that could of been so much more. Multiplayer works by wondering the whole world with each other, players are able to go into separate areas, and play the game as if they were alone, with the addition of trading and XP sharing to add (XP sharing only happens if you’re both in the same area, kill enemies in separate areas, and the other player doesn’t get anything.)

    FUCK THE ITEMS
    The fantastic method of storing items with your pet has returned, even allowing you to send them back to town with the junk you want to sell, it was innovative back in Torchlight 1, and it continues to be a fantastic idea in Torchlight 2.

    Item management is still a pleasure in Torchlight 2; It’s very fast and easy to sort through all the junk you get on an adventure, and certainly helps you turn items into gold as and when you’d like. Most items can be worn by all classes, which means its very rare to get items that you can’t use. This feature was great for trading, as I was a berserker, and my brother was a mage, so we traded back and forth with staff’s and melee weapons. I can imagine playing this alone may make item drops a bit more boring, but as a whole, the item system works fantastic for a loot game like Torchlight 2.

    Combat has changed slightly from the old Torchlight 1, with the control system becoming more akin to Diablo than a third person game. This may be in part, due to the fact Torchlight 2 is PC only, requiring a mouse to move your character around, and for every action in the whole game. If needed, you don’t even need to use your keyboard to perform actions; a single click on the bar at the bottom will cast a spell or skill. It’s a small change, and one I’m still not sure I like yet, but is a move in the right direction to becoming less of a action/adventure game and more of a RPG. Combat entails using the mouse to click on anything you want doing: be it clicking on an enemy to continue attacking them, to clicking on loot to pick it all up, its simple, and brings the RPG game back to it’s roots. My berserker character was certainly equipped and ready for what the campaign had in store for him, meaning I only died a handful of times throughout the campaign. Skills were powerful, but not too powerful to break the gameplay, inviting for some creative ways to take on bosses towards the end game. (My favourite ability was to freeze a enemy which would increase my attack on them by 34% for 4 seconds.)

    FUCK THE QUESTSSS
    Quests are narrated, giving a nice feel to Torchlight 2. Most of the story and quests are boring, but for most people, that’s not the reason they’re playing Torchlight 2.

    In conclusion, Torchlight 2 is more of the same, but with elements that have transformed the feel to appeal to a wider audience. Is it worth the £14.99 asking price? My 20 hours of gametime is certainly a testament to how engaging it can truly be, albeit make sure to experience this with friends, playing alone I could only muster an hour or two before getting quite bored.

    3/5

  • Torchlight XBLA Review

    Torchlight fills a void that I’ve wanted to close lately: an urge to play Diablo 3 without having to pay the £44.99 my store is asking for. I bought it a while back when it was 400 MSP (Now retailing at 1200MSP or £9.99 without being in sale), and I must say it’s worth every penny. I’m 14 hours in and one of the last achievements I need to get is to get my fame at the highest I can (from what I’m aware, level 33 is the highest), and yet I feel I still could play this game plenty more, which is saying a lot for such a cheap title. I’ve played games a lot less and paid up to 4 times as much, which makes me truly value how much of a step in the right direction Torchlight was for XBLA games.

    The game starts off with a lone wonderer (a character of your choosing) coming across the town of Torchlight, where supposedly there has been many monster attacks recently. You are given control of your character and can then explore the town. At this point in the game there really is no need; you have next to no money and there’s nothing to fight until you reach the other side. Upon helping a man being attacked near a cave, you proceed inside, going down floor by floor until the story is finished (the cave is technically endless, the game finishes around 33). I say story, but what I technically mean is a narrative to justify trekking through the cave. It doesn’t work, but is at least something to work towards.

    The three Torchlight Classes to choose from
    Here are the three characters you should get used to looking at

    Torchlight comes with the traditional three classes: Destroyer (Melee expert), Alchemist (Magic expert) and Vanquisher (Ranged expert). Each class is best suited to certain weapons, magic and armour. Within each class there are different abilities to unlock, allowing for a player to still chose a magic route even if they’ve chosen the Melee class (albeit the magic would be more catered to attack magic rather than defensive). This gives a lot more freedom than most games allow, showing that the gameplay really can be taken advantage of by any player style.

    Combat is simple: you press the X button to use what weapon you currently have equipped, you then assign different spells/abilities to the buttons Y,B,RT,LT. At the start of the game you’ll find yourself only using the X button until you start levelling up and making use of the better abilities in the game. I found myself using only the abilities towards of the end of the game: having so many mana potions made this possible. Mana potions and Health potions are administered using the LB and RB buttons, making the process of healing extremely easy, no need to pause the game every few seconds. Weapons can be assigned in the menu, as well as all of the players spells.

    Player action in Torchlight
    Fighting up close in Torchlight: The camera can be zoomed in, but I wouldn’t recommend it

    Loot comes in all different shapes and sizes as you’d expect. Majority of it is junk, but you’ll occasionally come across a valuable piece that will last you a good portion of the game. Some pieces of loot will need to be identified before you can equip or use it, meaning that in theory a player will have to choose wisely what they identify, and what they don’t. This wasn’t a problem for me during my playthrough, as I had enough identify scrolls to identify most objects I came across. One thing I’d like to point out is the unique way Torchlight deals with junk items you find around the place. Once in the menu you can swap items you don’t want with your pet, enabling you to carry a lot more. If you really don’t want all this loot, and instead want to get the money, you can send your pet back to the town, which will gain you a profit whilst still going through the dungeons. This is a fantastic feature that allows you all the benefits of loot, with little of the drawbacks. A slight drawback of all this cash is what to spend it on: There’s nothing. I found that the only thing I spent my money on was the enchanting service, which in itself has drawbacks. (Every time you enchant an item there’s a greater chance the item will become disenchanted, which happens all too often.)

    A pet in Torchlight
    Pet’s become a great addition to the gameplay, taking loot and transforming is just the start of it

    Your pet is not only a bag for loot, it also becomes an invaluable ally in fighting; using spells just like the player and even transforming into a whole new creature when fed a fish. This makes for some very interesting gameplay situations, for example towards the end of the game my pet was just the normal wolf, and was completely underpowered, yet at the start I transformed him into a troll and he was completely overpowered. Players should heed my warning: use your pet to your advantage, doing so will make the game a lot more enjoyable, and a lot easier.

    Overall Torchlight is a fantastic game which could become a torch bearer for all XBLA games; it shows a standard of gameplay rarely seen on a downloadable game. Bear in mind that this game was made in 11 months, and you see how much of an accomplishment Torchlight is for Runic Games. There is a lot more I could say about Torchlight, but the main question is: Should you buy it? I think the answer for most gamers is a reassuring “yes”.