A faster-paced, more fun version of Diablo, from the makers of Diablo!
There are three classes to choose from, a warrior, spellcaster and a rogue. These classes have their own unique skills in addition to a basic skillset shared between them all. The passive skills range from extra damage and defense to increased likelihood of better loot.
Once the game starts you will notice the point of view is 3rd person omniscient, fixed above your character as you explore the world of Torchlight. A great feature is being able to zoom in to see your hero in more detail - as much detail as a cartoon hero will allow anyway. The graphics almost seem to poke fun at anything with blocky or chunky objects - most notably chins. Controls are also simple - a bind is available for left and right click for the mouse, and a switch is available through using the tab key. An array of skills can also be assigned to hotkeys.
As would be expected, the game is linear and the story somewhat worn - some gemstones (ahem, they call it Ember) in the mines have been corrupted by something, and the place is full of monsters. Your task ... is to descend into the heart of the evil and offer your services to whatever dark force resides there. No, seriously you want to slay it, am I right?
Combat is fast. By the time you get past floor 30 you may very well encounter four bosses and their minions at once, in addition to the common denizens of the map. But if things get too tough, don't hesitate to sick your pet on them! With just a choice of cat or dog to start with, it's not the world's most exciting pet, but with a bit of gear and some tlc your pet could easily become as powerful as your hero. To make things more interesting, you can go fishing for a large variety of polymorph fishes you can feed to your pet, changing it's strengths and weaknesses for a time.
There are dungeon quests available in town (eg. kill this, go get this), a stash for storage, a group stash for swapping items between your characters (very handy this one), a merchant offering gamble items, and a merchant offering transmuting services (combining items to make new items). Sound familiar...? How about a villain called Alric?
For all my sarcasm, it IS actually a lot of fun. You'll love smashing through hordes of foes with area-of-effect super skills, racking up huge critical hit probabilities, amassing godly fame from slaying bosses. Even the plot's dialogue is entertaining, cliche and over-the-top. "No! I will NOT be beaten here...!"
You may not agree with my rating, but you will come to agree with my reasons behind it. Torchlight, like so many games in my collection, are hard to stop once you start playing. Each time you want to quit, you'll think "oh, just one more level up", or "I'll just clear another dungeon/boss/quest". This is what great gaming is all about. Who cares if it doesn't have multiplayer? I certainly don't!