Review: Torchlight II [Buy now, read later.]

Torchlight is a game that most if not all PC gamers should know by now. In fact it’s a name that even a good chunk of console gamers will recognize – it’s just that great of a game. But recently, developer Runic Games released the much anticipated sequel – Torchlight II.  How well does it stack up to the original, and more importantly how does it compare to Blizzard’s Diablo III? Find out in our review.

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For the few of you who don’t know about Torchlight, it’s a dungeon-crawler game that has you spending endless hours exploring caves, dungeons, and more while destroying loads of various monsters and looting a seemingly endless pile of gems, armor, weapons, and more from multiple sources. It’s a basic concept but it’s proven to be popular through other games like the Diablo series.

Honestly, there is not much of a story in Torchlight – at least not enough to keep you engulfed in it for that reason. It thrives on the endless killing and loot though so you find yourself easily forgetting about the story portion of the game. The game offers four brand new classes for players to choose from, though the most original sounding one is the Outlander, a gunslinger that has some other cool weaponry. The remaining classes are pretty standard and offer up melee, spellcasting, and resourcefulness. My time thus far has been with a Berserker as I’ve always loved melee battling, but I can see the Outlander being successful in this game too.

What I love about Torchlight, or any of these questing games is the fact it’s so quick paced and you always have a new quest or a new area available to explore. It’s unbelievably addictive and can hold your attention for hours on end as you clear out dungeons and take down some wicked bosses while scoring the great loot. Take note though, Torchlight II definitely seems more difficult than its predecessor and you may die frequently as you’re starting out. Death isn’t the end though, and you have a choice on where to respawn… You can respawn right where you died in return for a very hefty percentage of your gold, or at the beginning of the current dungeon for a smaller percentage, or back in town for free. It really depends on how lazy you are and whether you want to travel back to the point where you died.

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Let’s talk about some of the new additions in Torchlight II – online and LAN co-operative play! You play with a minimum of four players in co-op, and up to six player’s total. Everyoneactually gets their own loot drop so that helps to cut down on players just in it to get loot, or looking to ruin the experience in general.

TorchED is an editor that Runic Games has built and will allow players to create mods and share them with the community. Modding keeps a PC game alive for years to come – look at Counter-strike or Half-Life, or even ARMA II and all you can see is potential.

The interface has been updated and has a fresh clean look for players this time around. You can easily compare new weapons/armor and trinkets to the stuff you’ve got equipped or transfer stuff between you and your pet. Speaking of your pet, they can still run off to town any time and sell stuff for you, but now you can also create a shopping list and have them bring the items back – running out of health potions? No worries any longer. RPG fans will love the customization skill trees available as you can really build most of the characters in a variety of ways.  It’s totally up to you on how to spend skill points and there’s most than enough abilities that you’ll want to play again to try out new paths to greatness.

Torchlight II is nothing short of fantastic and it improves on the original in every way, plus it stands tall next to Diablo III [which costs three times as much and does not support mods]. Runic Games has another winner on their hands, and you can too for only $19.99 on Steam.  If you love dungeon crawlers, looting, and fun times with your friends, Torchlight II is a must-own title.

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