Torchlight II

Torchlight II
Cover art with the game's four classes (clockwise from top: Embermage, Berserker, Outlander, and Engineer).
Developer(s)	Runic Games
Distributor(s)	Perfect World, Steam
Designer(s)	Travis Baldree
Composer(s)	Matt Uelmen
Series	Torchlight
Engine	OGRE
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows Mac OS X
Release date(s)	Microsoft Windows September 20, 2012
Genre(s)	Action role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Media/distribution	Download, CD/DVD

Torchlight II is an action role-playing game developed by Runic Games, released on September 20, 2012. It is the sequel to Runic's 2009 ARPG, Torchlight, and features peer-to-peer multiplayer support and extended modding capabilities. A release for Mac OS is planned for some time after the Windows release. Runic Games originally estimated the PC version's release date to be sometime in 2011, but in November 2011 company president Travis Baldree announced the game release date would be pushed back to 2012 to allow time for further polishing and beta testing.

Plot

Years after the end of the original Torchlight, The Alchemist gets corrupted by the Ember Blight coming from the Heart of Ordrak, the evil being who had been the source of the corruption under the town of Torchlight, and then destroys the town. The player character takes on a quest to stop this villain, who is using Ordrak's power to disturb the balance between the world's six elements.

As the game progresses, the player treks across large geographical areas, corresponding to three "acts" of the story and an epilogue.Act I is set in the mountainous Estherian Steppes, and Act II takes the player to a desert known as the Mana Wastes.


Character classes The game features four playable character classes. The Engineer (formerly known as the Railman) is a heavy melee fighter who uses ember-powered steampunk technology; the Outlander is a wandering nomad who uses ranged weapons and "low magic". The Berserker uses quick attacks and animal-themed special powers, and the Embermage is a highly trained spell-casting class with elemental attacks.The three classes from the original Torchlight do not return as playable characters, and are instead presented in the game world as NPCs.

Multiplayer

As stated in the trailer for Torchlight II, Runic games have announced that they "heard their [the fans'] pleas" and criticism concerning the fact that Torchlight was a lonely experience without co-op. In addition to single-player mode, an all-new cooperative multiplayer mode has been added, supporting both internet and LAN play. Runic has not yet decided on the maximum number of players per game, but Runic co-founder Max Schaefer mentioned that in their testing, groups of 2-6 players gave the best experience. Optional PVP (player versus player) has been confirmed by Runic.

Gameplay

Like the original Torchlight, Torchlight II features randomly-generated dungeons for the player to explore, and numerous types of monsters to fight for experience and loot. Torchlight II maintains the same basic gameplay as its predecessor, but features overland areas with multiple hub towns, and a longer campaign. Other new features include time of day cycles, weather effects, and a redesigned user interface. Players are able to customize character appearance with choice of sex, face, hair style and hair color. Additionally, several elements from the first game return, such as pets, fishing, and a retirement system.

Development

Though the original Torchlight received positive reviews, the game's lack of any multiplayer modes was a near-universal criticism of the title by critics and fans alike. Prior to the release of the first game, Runic Games had announced plans to develop a MMORPG set in the Torchlight game world to follow the release of the single player game. However, in August 2010, Runic announced they were developing Torchlight II, a sequel which was conceived not only as a way to give the series multiplayer support, but also to give Runic "more experience with making a multiplayer Torchlight." Some of the work on Torchlight II is intended to carry over to Runic Games' upcoming Torchlight MMORPG, which the company plans to focus on following the release of the sequel.
In late 2010, Runic Games' increased involvement in the Xbox Live Arcade port of the first Torchlight game caused a delay in the development of the sequel, but memory and loading time optimizations developed for the port led to improvements in the PC version of Torchlight II.
Unlike its predecessor, Torchlight II features cinematic sequences, which are produced by Klei Entertainment, the developer of Eets and Shank.

Video

                                                             Rating-8.0