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GAME REVIEW TORCHLIGHT WORDS BY KEONI CHAVEZ Runic Games is a relatively new game studio headed up by Max and Erich Schaefer, the two brothers who brought the world Diabloand Diablo 2. They formed Runic in 2008 by keeping together the team that developed Mythosfor Flagshop Studios. If you recognize even one of those games, then you’ll know why it matters: Torchlightis the spiritual successor to all three of them. That may be a heady statement to take in, but it’s absolutely true. Torchlight features the same kind of point-and-click combat and loot management that the aforementioned games did, but there are enough nifty innovations to brand it as its own product. First and foremost, the basics are there: click to move, click to fight, click to pick items up. Right-click to use special attacks. Health and mana potion management are key. Items are categorized by color-coded rarity. Scrolls for object identification and returning to the town hub. These elements all feel good and familiar, and make picking the game up extremely easy. What makes Torchlight special, however, are the subtleties. Right away, you’ll notice the pet. You’ll choose from either a Husky or a lynx, and there is no functional difference between the two, so it’s entirely up to your personal preference. Your pet will follow you and fight by your side, but there’s much more to it than you might expect. Not only will your pet level up alongside you and get stronger, but you may also equip it with items to enhance its functionality. For instance, you might give your pet a ring that increases its defense against fire-based attacks, or a necklace that improves its critical strike rating. Even better, you can teach your pet to cast spells, both offensive and defensive, simply by dropping a spell scroll into its character window. There’s nothing better than having your pet summon a trio of skeletal archers to fight with you, especially when you don’t even have to command it; your pet takes the initiative all by itself. Another great attribute of your pet is its transformative aspect. Scattered throughout the dungeons of Torchlight are pools in which you may fish. There is a mini-game that starts when you drop your line into a pool, and victory will net you one of many different types of fish. Feeding any one of these fish to your pet will turn it into an entirely different kind of creature for a duration of time, with different abilities. But perhaps the most amazing thing your pet can do for you is to sell your unwanted items. At any time while exploring, you may transfer items from your inventory into your pet’s, or have your pet pick up items itself by shift- clicking them. A button-click will send your pet back to the surface to sell your items to a merchant, during which time you’ll fight alone. After a given duration of time your pet will return with the profit of the sale. As anyone who’s played this type of adventure game knows, this is a huge innovation and one that is long overdue. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Torchlight simply refines the gameplay that Diabloand its million clones have made standard, and it does it with style. While there are only three adventurer classes — Destroyer, Alchemist, and Vanquisher — there is enough variety in each dedicated tech tree to make replaying the game over a worthwhile proposition, and that’s even before considering playthrough at higher difficulty levels. Torchlight is a title that satisfies, and the sooner you get it the happier you’ll be. Name Torchlight Web Site Price $19.95 downloadable Pros Pet mechanic a nice addition to tried-and-true gameplay; loot lust in full effect; great replay value; amazing price point Cons Extremely difficult to stop playing Summary Though it’s a cliche, it’s still true: if you loved Diablo, you’ll love Torchlight Rating ★★★★★ 42 MacDirectory

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