For a game without a big budget or any major branding, Torchlight is, in a word: Impressive.
From Runic Games, a bunch of ex-staff whose resumes include the magic words “Diablo”, “Mythos” and “Fate”, comes the slightly-cartoony dungeon romp that was almost destined to die. Until Steam picked it up.
We checked out the demo, available on Steam, and were pleasantly surprised with what we came away with.
There are some beautiful scenes, with dark caverns, extra details like enemies mining away in lower levels, and of course, bosses to kill and loot to steal. Loot – while not plentiful – is still in enough abundance that you won't be complaining. Before long, you'll be checking out and comparing gear to see which is the best bang for your buck.
It follows the standard that we've come to know and love – White, green, blue, and gold – and while we're not sure if this is due to the demo's influence, we found two gold, named items within the first few sidequests. Not too shabby.
 Electo-Shock Jellies and You (Click to Enlarge)
Torchlight is filled with little tweaks that make the game much better overall. For starters, there's two different equipment sets, so you can switch between weapons and armor should the need arise without clogging up bag space. This makes it really handy to have a ranged set of gear that enhances ranged damage, and then switch to a melee build when the enemies wander in too close.
If you want, you can even equip a one-handed gun and another melee weapon in the other, dual-wielding them. We spotted an animation of our Vanquisher firing off a shot with the blunderbuss we had equipped, before turning around to smash her wicked axe right into the face of another enemy right next to her.
 Loot glorious Loot (Click to Enlarge)
The story sets your heroes in the town of Torchlight. Its deep dungeon caverns have been discovered as a source of Ember, a rich and mysterious ore with magical properties. But evil has also lived within its depths, and you are tasked with figuring out what's going on rather quickly into the game.
Check out that named item we found at only level 7!
While you'll hit the “end of demo” section eventually, there's plenty of meat within the demo for you to see it's probably worth the money to plonk down for a copy of the game.
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