Torchlight is nothing short of an homage to Diablo — it’s even made by developers who worked on Diablo and Diablo 2. Featuring stylized “World of Warcraft” looks, a long campaign and a cheap price, it seems like the obvious game to play for all those waiting for Diablo 3. And guess what? It certainly is.

In Torchlight, you play as either a Destroyer, Vanquisher, and Alchemist. The Destroyer is your usual “warrior” the Vanquisher the “ranger” and the Alchemist the “mage”. It’s simple and to the point, and this is the same case with the story, as it basically serves as the only purpose and connection between the different dungeons.The game features a wonderful steampunk art style, where swords and axes coexist with not just alchemy and magic, but shotguns as well. It’s also one of the most surprisingly good PC games to be released in a long time.

The gameplay is where it’s all at for Torchlight, because if you love Diablo, or even similar games like Baldur’s Gate and Dungeon Siege, you’ll love Torchlight. Especially the visuals, which resemble a lot like Warcraft 3 and WoW, look great, and will run smooth on almost any system — a plus amongst all the photo-realistic games which require high-end systems. The gameplay consists of a lot of hack and slash, lots of loot hunting, lots of dungeons and of course, lots of item management as well. It’s clear that the developers have root in the RPG genre, because the game follows all the rules to the point, which means any RPG fan will feel right and home. However, it also means that there isn’t much new to see here, nit much innovation to speak of. Besides the visuals and the art style, Torchlight might just pass as another RPG.

But it doesn’t for just those reasons — the look and feel of the game, its polished state and the fact that it sticks to all that’s good in RPGs, while avoiding much of what is bad. The game has a great sense of balance, which isn’t seen often. You’ll have a lot of weapons at your disposal to kills all the enemies you’ll encounter, most of which are original and interesting — besides the usual pack or orcs and goblins you’ll encounter. One thing that the game is missing is a multiplayer mode, as Torchlight would have been a blast to play in co-op with a friend or two. It’s really the one thing that keeps the game from being the perfect fit for any RPG fan.

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.

The Good:
Great artstyle and visuals
Great soundtrack
Lots of dungeons/gameplay
Easy, intuitive controls

The Bad:
No multiplayer
Not much innovation

Overall score: 9/10