Buying video games in ordinary shops is so last year. These days, it’s all about Digital Distribution. What’s that? Well, it’s doing your games shopping on the internet. But unlike Amazon and Ebay, once you’ve paid for your game, you download it straight to your computer; no packaging, no fuss. It’s not only very convenient, but it means that games that might not survive in your local GAME store stand a chance of being played. This issue’s game, Torchlight, is available only through Digital Distribution, so at a glance it looked like it was going to be a game aimed at only the fanatics, but it’s managed to prove itself as something more.
Produced by the surprisingly tiny development team Runic Games, Torchlight is an ‘Action RPG’, where you select between the burly Destroyer, the femme-fatale Vanquisher, and the magic using (and slightly geeky looking) Alchemist; head to the titular town of Torchlight – which just so happens to have a mine infested with evil sorcerors and agressive monsters – and make your fame and fortune exploring dungeons and giving giant spiders a good beating.
Lord of the Rings it ain’t, but it’s refreshing to have a game that shirks a cliche story for some old-fashioned fisticuffs ‘n’ fireballs. Indeed, there are many elements of the game that channel fantasy adventure games gone by; anyone who’s played the Diablo games will feel more than home here. But so as not to alienate those who weren’t part of the PC gaming circuit back then (which includes me!), Runic has taken lengths to make sure anyone can play.
This means that the game has 4 different difficulty levels, and although the gameplay is the same in all of them – controlling both movement and attacking with the mouse, you let loose brutal attacks and dodge the retaliation in a flurry of clicking – the game is considerably more lenient on the easier settings, so much so that anyone familiar with this type of game will most likely have a better time by starting out immediately on the Hard setting.
The game is of a decent length, and the crunchy sound effects and comic book-style graphics make for a very satisfying playing experience, but with only 3 playable characters to choose from and no multiplayer mode, there’s a danger of not having enough content to keep you playing. But that’s where the solid (and still growing) online community comes in. Runic has a program available for download that lets people make their own content. Now, more dungeons, more quests, and more characters to try out are only a few clicks away.
A real treat for fans of the genre and a gentle introduction to those new to it; couple it with a very modest £15 price tag, it’s well worth giving it a try.
(Torchlight can be downloaded from http://www.runicgames.com, and is also available on STEAM – http://store.steampowered.com)