Considering the number of hours I dumped into Torchlight on both my PC and my MacBook Pro on the go (gotta love the cloud saving), I should’t be that excited about an Xbox Live Arcade version of the game. But I am. Very.
But according to Travis Baldtree, the president of the game’s develop Runic Games, I have every right to be: it sounds like a completely new experience.
First and foremost, combat has been fit to better suit the Xbox 360 controller. That is to say that point and click has given way to direct control over your character, more in the vein of games like Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance and Sony Online Entertainment’s PlayStation 3 Champions of Norrath titles.
“Combat pace feels ‘faster’ and more maneuverable,” Baldtree says on the Runic Games forums. You don’t “target” specific enemies in the game, instead you’ll get a red highlight which dictates the primary target.
You’ll also notice if you look at screens of the game that the user interface has completely been reworked for the console.
“Nothing works the same,” Baldtree explains. “[We created] all new art and navigation.”
“We iterated on the UI a ridiculous amount,” he adds.
If you’re worried if the experience will be watered down, save your concern with what you’ll be telling your bosses when you’re late for work because you were up all night playing Torchlight.
“Pretty much everything from the PC version is here,” Baldtree says. “We didn’t remove any features, with the exception of secondary weapon sets, because there was no way we could find that didn’t feel horrible in inventory management. Socketing, enchanting, fishing, the infinite dungeon, [and] item combination are all represented.”
In fact, the XBLA version of the game may even have a slight edge over earlier iterations. The game will feature three new armor sets (one for each of the game’s classes), new random quests, and a brand new pet: a Chakawary.
XBLA gamers are also going to get a tiny peek at what to expect with the game’s sequel, currently confirmed for a PC and Mac 2011 release. Things like reduced loading times, “better animation blending [that] makes combat snappier,” and a new automap system are all cribbed from the forthcoming title.
No firm date or price on the game yet, but Torchlight is expected to launch as part of 2011 “Xbox Live Arcade House Party,” which starts February 18 with Hard Corp Uprising.
Bad news for PlayStation 3 owners, though: “No PS3 plans to speak of,” Baldtree says. “Microsoft is acting as the publisher on this one.”
