Torchlight

The gaming world sits and waits, impatiently, for the next Diablo title. "How much longer?", we ask. "It'll be ready when it's ready," comes the emphatic answer, like a mother warding off hungry eyes from a pie in the oven. Why are we, as Xbox 360 gamers, so anxious about the developmental state of a PC game? Because right now signs are pointing to the possibility that Blizzard may bring this much hyped title to our beloved consoles. And that is good news indeed. Still, that's for the future. What we need right now is something to keep our hand in; something to fill the gap and remind us what made the Diablo franchise so popular. Now, like mana from heaven, Runic Games has dropped the answer right in our digital laps, with an Xbox LIVE Arcade release of Torchlight - a dungeon crawler which proved its worth as a PC title back in 2009.

It's hard to imagine a developer better suited to delivering that classic Diablo charm than Runic Games. Formed by two of Blizzard North's founding members, together with Fate creator Travis Baldree, this team has the credentials for the job, and their experience with the genre shines through brightly for Torchlight. It's not an exaggeration to say that just about every aspect of this game has been clearly influenced by the Diablo franchise, with mostly positive results. So gamers can expect the same isometric viewpoint, randomly generated level layouts, all manner of foul creatures to slay, and of course, an abundance of treasure to be retrieved from the depths. Even the interface reeks of Diablo, with the red and blue orbs indicating health and mana levels. Thankfully, it's no insult to be considered a Diablo-alike, especially when the game in question has been handled with such love for the subject matter as this one has.

Being an RPG - although most would consider this an RPG-lite - there is naturally a storyline to follow, and this one is as traditional a fantasy tale as you could wish for. Below the quaint hamlet of Torchlight, miners have stumbled upon a rich vein of Ember, an ore with powerful magical properties, which is having some rather strange side-effects on those who encounter it. The player hasn't as much as unpacked his or her bags before being drawn into a quest to delve into the darkness of the mines in an attempt to discover the true nature of the Ember and its corruptive properties. At the root of the problem is an alchemist named Alric who is suffering from a bit of what I like to call Government Sickness (ie. chronic corruption), and it's up to our hero/heroine to get down there and impeach his Ember-addicted ass by any means necessary. Queue your usual brand of "You'll never stop me, weakling! Ha ha ha!" talk that comes from anyone drunk with power. Torchlight doesn't offer an award winning plot, but it does serve as a backdrop for a very entertaining dungeon crawler which spans around 30 vast levels.

The story may struggle to keep your mind from wondering, but Torchlight remains a fervently addictive game for other reasons. Central to this is the collect-em-all nature of the treasure system, together with the simple yet rewarding gameplay which makes trawling the dank crypts and underground castles a most entertaining experience. Regardless of your player class - either the melee specialist Destroyer, spell-casting Alchemist or ranged weapon pro Vanquisher - plundering the dungeons is hardly ever particularly challenging, so you tend to tear your way through reams of nasty beasts without having to over-think anything. Controlling your character couldn't be easier, and it's only on the highest difficulty settings that you will have to sit up and concentrate. Runic Games has managed to successfully map the controls from the PC version to the Xbox 360 gamepad, and it works like a charm. It's only when you pull up your character menus that things become a little cluttered, with a plethora of tabs to flick through, but it soon becomes easy enough to understand. Skill advancements, spell and ability upgrade trees, quest status and character equipment screens are just a button press or two away, even if it seems quite daunting at first.

Character development is an essential part to a game like this, and Torchlight does well in this respect too. Obviously the different character classes have their own specialities, and within these classes is quite a robust system to accommodate your play style. Focus on ranged spells, couple that with some defensive "always on" abilities and some magically enhanced armor; or put all your efforts into heavy weaponry and strength; it's up to you. You also have a loyal pet by your side, a worthy ally in battle who can be taught to use spells and can also be loaded with your unwanted treasure and sent off back to town to sell what you don't need. A simple yet ingenious idea, because it means you no longer have to grind back and forth with Town Portal scrolls when your inventory is full.

One aspect of Torchlight which is quite different from the Diablo series is its visual approach to the dungeon crawler theme. This is a generally lighthearted affair, with subtle colouring and almost pleasant environments - never as ominous and brooding as its spiritual ancestors. There are many nasty creatures which you wouldn't wish to encounter in a dark alley, and they do explode in a shower of blood, but it's handled in a more jovial style this time around. Again, this easygoing style compliments the game's straightforward atmosphere, where the focus is on exploration, collecting rare and valuable artifacts and weaponry, and ripping through crowds of over sized killer spiders with an enchanted axe. The music sets the tone for the adventuring too, with more dramatic pieces accompanying the underground sections and welcoming fantasy melodies swirling through the town of Torchlight itself.

For a game that was originally released in 2009, Torchlight has held up surprisingly well. Obviously we tend to be far more forgiving of Arcade games, primarily down to pricing when compared to retail products, but even so, this is a charming game that hides its lower budget roots well. As a hack-and-slash RPG, Torchlight doesn't do anything even remotely different to what has come before, but at the same time it doesn't try to either. Only the most cynical of gamers will find much to complain about here - one possible issue being the lack of multiplayer in any form. True, not every game needs a multiplayer component to be successful, but perhaps a co-op mode would have been just what Torchlight needed to elevate it to classic status. As it stands, Runic Games has done justice to a genre which, although not as prominent as it once was, still has realms of fans eager to whittle away the night hours deep underground. Torchlight fills a dungeon-sized gap in the market, and does so with style and a generous heart.

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