Indigo-Entertainment - Saving the World Again: A Torchlight 2 Beta Review

Saving the World Again: A Torchlight 2 Beta Review

06/07/2012
Posted by Mark Paolo Cabrera
Posted in Reviews

Years after three heroes have stopped the corruption trying to take over the town of Torchlight, another evil is threatening to plunge the world into madness. One of the three heroes, the Alchemist has been corrupted by the being called Ordrak and made his way out of Torchlight to wreak havoc and bring the world into chaos. Now, it is up to four individuals to try and stop him. Will they succeed? Or will the world as we know it become eternal darkness?

Torchlight 2 is the sequel to Runic Games’ dungeon-runner action RPG Torchlight. It shares the same genre with the Skyrim and the Diablo series. It’s not as popular as these games but it can be considered a true gem hidden in a haystack. We were fortunate enough to gain access to its closed beta run and we were definitely overjoyed with what we saw. We will definitely recommend this title to everyone, and here are the reasons why.

The Character Classes

The original Torchlight featured 3 classes that can be specialized into 3 skill trees providing different experiences even for players that chose the same classes.

The second game banks on this even more. Torchlight 2 features 4 unique classes with different skill trees that offers a wide variety of playstyle. Are you a marksman that delivers death from afar? An outlander suits you. Want to sit and watch as your minions tear your enemies apart? You sir were born to be an engineer. No matter what playstyle you have, there’s most likely a class in Torchlight 2 that you’ll love.

Could I interest you in getting one of `em Bulldogs?

Do trust me good sir, I am an Engineer

Pets

Pets is a feature that Torchlight can surely boast of. Aside from being a trusty companion that scratches and bites your opponents, they provide extra storage space. If both your and your pet’s packs are full, you can even send them to town to sell the items. The only downside is you’ll miss your cute lovable pet for a minute or two. You won’t even need to come back to town since you can even instruct your pet to fetch potions for you from the town’s apothecary.

The initial game features 2 pets, a wolf and a cat. Torchlight 2 now offers a total of 8 pets with each pet having multiple appearances to choose from. Want a Bulldog? You got it. Want a white panther(If that even makes sense)? No problem!

Multiplayer

One of the general criticisms of Torchlight is that it didn’t have any kind of multiplayer support. That is understandable as being able to play with your friends makes a game a lot more fun. Well, great news! Torchlight 2 now offers multiplayer support. You can play it with friends of up to 6 people (at least in beta) either via a Local Area Network or via the Internet. We were lucky enough to try this out in beta and we sure had a lot of fun. We can’t wait for the release and have a 6-man raid in a dungeon deep down.

Y u so big?

Graphics: 5/5

Torchlight 2 features beautiful out of this world areas with wondrous lighting and great detail; spell effects, fog, corpses, blood. Torchlight 2 is highly polished and is definitely one of the most beautiful games out there.

Audio: 5/5

Matt Uelmen. Do you know who he is? He’s just the guy that did the scores for the first 2 Diablo games. He’s also the same person that did the scores for both Torchlight games. From the tranquil music in the town, to the dread wrought music inside crypts. Even the epic music in boss battles were done by this guy.

Fun Factor: 5/5

The game is definitely FUN. Running through a dungeon killing each creature that you set sight on has always been fun. Torchlight 2 brings this to a whole new level by giving you different ways to kill them. Squash them like a bug or rip them to pieces, you are the master of your own game. Add the fact that you can do so while having your friends around. The game also features different game difficulties. Whether you choose to bully those monsters or sweat yourself a little for those hard earned gear, nothing is stopping you from doing what is fun.

By the way, there’s this hardcore mode where if you die, your character is permanently dead. Definitely not for the faint-hearted, now that’s real hardcore.

Replayability: 4/5

The game is hack and slash for most of the time. There are quests and a storyline, but what will you do after? We’re not really sure yet as the beta didn’t really allow us to finish the game, we’re kinda hoping that there’s a raid system eventually that will allow you to run dungeons to get better and better gears. The first game did have a retirement system that allows you to start the game again with a more powerful version of one of your gears. It’s still primarily grinding but it’s still too early to tell.

Overall: 4.75/5

We have overly enjoyed the beta and we can’t wait for the actual release. It’s one of those games that you’ll play and most likely get hooked on for months. We’re hoping to explore with other players so if you’ll be getting a copy of Torchlight, be sure to send us a message. Peace!

Torchlight 2 can be purchased from Steam for $20.00, or $60.00 for a pack of 4