Torchlight

Like Neverwinter Nights, Torchlight is a game that is greatly enhanced by modding support. There are vast range of mods available, ranging from annoyance-eliminating (all items are identified) to game-changing (a mod that adds more than a DOZEN NEW CLASSES). Lots of people have called this game a Diablo clone, and they are not wrong. But the level of randomization in this game is even greater than Diablo's. The only thing Diablo's maps randomized was the layout: you are still going to go through the cathedral, to the catacombs, the caves, then finally Hell itself. BUT, where Torchlight diverges are the scrolls that port you to random dungeons that are suited to your character level. The graphics, even by today's standards, are impressive. In fact, I was playing this game on my laptop at my college, and a passerby stopped and asked me 'Is that Diablo 3?'. He was wrong, but he was also right. When a larger game developer starts imitating a smaller game developer, you know they must be doing something right. If it weren't for the mods, this game would like get a lower score. It was a brilliant move on the developers part to allow modding, thus ensuring that people will continue to play for years to come, just like NWN. As for gameplay, I throughly enjoyed it. My favourite aspects of the game are ranged combat. It offered complex options that none of the Diablo games from 1 - 3. Dual wielding with two ranged weapons is something that is something is not often offered, even in later games like WoW. As for Diablo 3, the only character that can dual wield ranged weapons effectively is the Demon Hunter, and that is with only one class of weapon. In Torchlight, you could have a pistol in one hand, and a wand in the other. At the end of the day, if you were to ask me I prefered Torchlight or Diablo 3, I go with Torchlight, every time. No DRM, no online-only requirement, and best of all, no accounts that got locked multiple times due to 'suspicious behaviour', i.e, I didn't play the game for months because it sucks, and now I want back in, but I can't. With Torchlight 2 out on Steam, you could own 2 great games with hundreds of hours of replayable gameplay for half the cost of Diablo 3 alone. You simply can't go wrong. Blizzard, go to the corner, think about what you did, and take this game with you. With luck, Starcraft 2's expansions will treat us far better than Diablo 3 ever did.

So, it's an ARPG called Torchlight. This is the best way to describe the game in short. [~] It still looks "charming" enough to play, because of the graphical style, but it offers nothing more. Gameplay is overally fun enough, but nothing special. Progression, class selection is lacking comparing to other ARPG's even to those what's are from the sameish year zone. [-] I don't see why should I recommend this to anyone, sure get it free or very cheap state or if you want a full Torchligh franchise playthrough, but probably better to start with the second game or when the 3rd comes out, just with that. [-] It's still not a bad game, but has some serious issues. -My biggest is the fact that you can't rebind your keys, dealbreaker to me. -Also there are pathing issues, but that's quiet common in ARPG's. Also, I played on Hard and there is a quiet big difficulty spike at the last part of the game. At this point, my character had no real issues, but in the last levels, suddenly enemies with one shot attacks appeared and the final boss fight felt impossible to me. Sure, maybe you need to grind some more to complete, but that is where a new issue came in and that is the enviroment of the game. It's very, very boring. 3 Star

It's pretty and fun for the first couple of levels, after the repetitiveness sets in. Unfortunately it got boring very fast. Everything is very repetitive: just run around dungeons and eliminate enemies the same way. The monsters are the same, only reskinned (they are the same on the 28th level as on the first ones!). Very much loot drop, which decreases the value of items. Gather and sell, gather and sell, .... And no story to drive me forward. Sorry, it has potential, if it wouldn't be so repetitive.

Very enjoyable take on the hack'n'slash genre. For me this is the one that recaptures some of the magic of those early games of Diablo 1 & 2, something most of the clones failed to do. Fun factor is high, the pain of running back to town to sell all the loot you're bound to collect has been dissipated by the fact that you can send your pet back to hawk your stuff. The graphics have a sense of fun, some may not like the cartoony nature, but they're alright by me, with some nice steampunk touches. Smooth, enjoyable, playable.

If you enjoy killing mobs and collecting loot, this game is for you. Lots of fun crawling through dungeons, enjoyable art and jokes. Simple, but enticing gameplay