The running theme in nearly every Torchlight 2 review is its inescapable comparison to Diablo 3 - heck, even we did it in our glowing evaluation of the game. Given launch proximity and that Runic Games CEO Max Schafer co-founded Blizzard North, creating Diablo and Diablo 2, it's only natural. Even with Torchlight 2's comparison to the behemoth of Diablo 3, with its bottomless budget and army of designers, the $20 title holds its own.

  • GameSpy (5/5): "Oh yes, there's LAN play, and yes, it works perfectly. I didn't even sign up for the Runic account you need to play online until after I'd tested out a couple of hours of four-player co-op (it supports up to six) over the gold old-fashioned LAN. Dropping in on a friend with an open game is as easy as popping open the server browser -- and when I had to leave, the other three guys kept playing as though the host dropping were no big deal."
  • Ten Ton Hammer (93/100): "Easily the richest, lowest wattage, and most fun dungeon crawler experience launched in recent memory, at a third of the box price (and seemingly without the launch frustrations) of Diablo 3. Or just buy the four-pack for the same price of ~$US 60 and introduce or re-introduce someone to this side of PC gaming."
  • IGN (91/100): "Torchlight 2 doesn't do anything radically new, but does everything incredibly well. It fits all the pieces of varied monster behavior, interesting items, excellent skill design and random surprises together into a near-perfect formula, where the action never stops and rewards are never far away."
  • GamesBeat (85/100): "Torchlight 2 is undoubtedly worth the $20 price, and it's high on replay value with new classes to discover. The problems it does have are mostly minor, but it's not for gamers looking for an involved story. And in some places, it could use a little more depth."

Gallery: Torchlight 2

Metareview: Torchlight 2 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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