Posted 9:46 pm Tuesday, December 18, 2012
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‘Torchlight 2’ exceptional role-playing game, much cheaper than most
This past weekend, Entertainment Editor Stewart Smith took a look at his favorite games of the past year. While there are certainly some great games on that list, being primarily a PC gamer myself I felt the platform deserved its own list.
You can look forward to seeing that list this weekend in Marquee but, because I know gamers have a marked taste for instant gratification, I thought I’d give readers a bit of a an early peek — in this case a look at one of my favorite games of the years, Runic Games’ “Torchlight 2.”
An action role-playing game in the vein of “Diablo” and similar titles (the lead developers at Runic actually worked on the original “Diablo”), “Torchlight” was a fun little romp with fast-and-furious game play and — for an indie game with low system requirements — a surprisingly pretty and colorful graphic style.
While it was released to almost universally positive reviews, the one consistent criticism was the lack of a multiplayer option.
Runic listened and its successor, “Torchlight 2” keeps or improves on everything that made the original so much fun, while simultaneously adding all the extended hours of fun that come with a multiplayer experience.
You can look forward to seeing that list this weekend in Marquee but, because I know gamers have a marked taste for instant gratification, I thought I’d give readers a bit of a an early peek — in this case a look at one of my favorite games of the years, Runic Games’ “Torchlight 2.”
An action role-playing game in the vein of “Diablo” and similar titles (the lead developers at Runic actually worked on the original “Diablo”), “Torchlight” was a fun little romp with fast-and-furious game play and — for an indie game with low system requirements — a surprisingly pretty and colorful graphic style.
While it was released to almost universally positive reviews, the one consistent criticism was the lack of a multiplayer option.
Runic listened and its successor, “Torchlight 2” keeps or improves on everything that made the original so much fun, while simultaneously adding all the extended hours of fun that come with a multiplayer experience.
Whether you choose to blast your enemies from afar or keep things up-close and personal, “TL2” keeps things fun by adding lots of variations and fun abilities. The game features 4 unique and versatile classes, all of which bring the Torchlight universe’s quirky steam punk feel to the traditional roles found in ARPGs. “TL2” has excellent class balance, escalating difficulty modes and furious, frantically fun action.
In fact, “Torchlight 2” not only is a worthy successor to its predecessor, it’s also a good alternative to one of the more disappointing titles of the year — Blizzard’s “Diablo III.”
The Diablo franchise practically started the ARPG genre and its third installment was widely considered one of the most anticipated games of the year. But various design choices, most notably a real-money auction house that allowed players to buy and sell in-game items for real world dollars, were widely criticized and even outright rejected by fans. Dismal reviews and bugs also hurt the game.
If you’re among those who’ve grown tired of “D3” or were scared away by the bad press, then “Torchlight 2” is the game for you.
With the possible of Bethesda’s “Skyrim” (released late in 2011), I’ve played “Torchlight 2” far more than any other game this year; that’s a rather remarkable feat given the amount of time I spend playing games —and that Runic only just released “TL2” on Sept. 20. It’s just that entertaining and for fans of the ARPG genre I simply can’t recommend it enough. At just $20 it’s a steal — one third the price of “D3” and three-times as fun.
“Torchlight 2” is available through digital download on Steam.
In fact, “Torchlight 2” not only is a worthy successor to its predecessor, it’s also a good alternative to one of the more disappointing titles of the year — Blizzard’s “Diablo III.”
The Diablo franchise practically started the ARPG genre and its third installment was widely considered one of the most anticipated games of the year. But various design choices, most notably a real-money auction house that allowed players to buy and sell in-game items for real world dollars, were widely criticized and even outright rejected by fans. Dismal reviews and bugs also hurt the game.
If you’re among those who’ve grown tired of “D3” or were scared away by the bad press, then “Torchlight 2” is the game for you.
With the possible of Bethesda’s “Skyrim” (released late in 2011), I’ve played “Torchlight 2” far more than any other game this year; that’s a rather remarkable feat given the amount of time I spend playing games —and that Runic only just released “TL2” on Sept. 20. It’s just that entertaining and for fans of the ARPG genre I simply can’t recommend it enough. At just $20 it’s a steal — one third the price of “D3” and three-times as fun.
“Torchlight 2” is available through digital download on Steam.
