Played Lately: Torchlight

• As you might have expected, the first thing I did after getting out of work Tuesday night was to go home and feed and nurture my ailing wife. She caught my plague, so it's only fair I take care of her first, right? What did you think I was going to say?


• The second thing I did was load up Torchlight and give it a try. It was everything I expected and more. It's pretty funny how going from the livestreams to the real game just felt like a continuation of play. I was able to jump right into familiar environments and take on my enemies without hesitation.


• But not everything was spoiled for me. The videos don't give the feel for how comfortable and immediate playing the game is. After trying my hand at Titan Quest and Sacred 2, I forgot how right the original Diablo felt. Even Diablo II started to stray from the purity of that experience. Playing Torchlight is like diving into the deep end of the nostalgia pool.


• The videos also don't do a great job showing off how cool your character's abilities are. My first character was the Vanquisher, of course. And she played exactly like I wanted her to. I could stand off and shoot baddies with impunity. Then when they got close, I could back off and start my fusillade again. Firing those bows and rifles are even more fun with the Ricochet skill you start with. Bouncing shots between enemies never gets old. I was even trying trick shots just to see how well they worked. This from a guy who can't sink a lone ball on a pool table.


• The game looks great. It's been compared to World of Warcraft because of the exaggerated style and that fits. I love that over-the-top illustrative style because it make the characters and monsters more iconic. Reality in games is highly overrated, I think.


• I'm going to have a hard time decided where to spend my time over the next several days. I want to get into Champions Online again for the Blood Moon event. But Torchlight has that same jump-in-and-play quality. Such sweet agony deciding between two great games. Now everyone else stop talking about Borderlands so I don't have to make matters worse, please!.

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