In by Runic Games (available on the online game service), you're an adventurer drawn by the Ember to a quaint village that is rapidly becoming corrupted by the ore that is mined beneath it. While you'd really like to track down the real estate agent that sold them this track of land, instead you grab your sword and delve into dozens of randomized dungeons built by civilizations that long ago fell to the power of the Ember.

Despite being a relative new company, Runic has assembled a heavyweight cast of creative talents, including Max and Schaefer, the co-designers of Diablo 1 and 2, and , designer of Fate. Based on the credentials of the designers, you might guess that Torchlight is halfway between Diablo and Fate. And you'd be right. The visual style will remind you of World of Warcraft while the gameplay is reminiscent of Diablo.

Torchlight is likeable because it's very, very familiar. The randomized dungeons, constant pet companion (that can never die but only flee), choice of where to spawn after you die, and paper-thin plot can all trace their origins back to Fate. Fate, incidentally, is often credited as being one of the best "Diablo clones" out there. Torchlight is even better. You'll journey through dozens of randomized dungeons, collect loot, level up, defeat an assortment of monsters, and eventually come face to face with an evil that lurks deep below the town of Torchlight. Obviously, you'll stumble onto cliches about as often as you find new items.

The Diablo series is known for its many classes while Fate only offered one. Torchlight not surprisingly splits the difference and has three: the Destroyer, the Alchemist, and the Vanquisher. The Destroyer is your typical melee-focused tank, the Alchemist is a ranged conjurer that uses powerful spells and summoned beasts to defeat foes and the Vanquisher is a ranger DPS class that uses bows, guns, and traps. Depending on what skills you select and what weapons you choose to arm yourself with, the three classes play pretty similarly. My Alchemist initially used a lot of melee weapons until I switched him to duel wielding wands or pistols. His class-specific skills allow for lots of magic use, but the Vanquisher and Destroyer skills aren't revolutionary enough to fundamentally alter how you play. Click on a baddie or unleash hotkey ability--either way, the baddie goes down.

The town of Torchlight acts as a central hub where you can attain side quests, sell or buy goods, and store loot. Like in Fate, when you're deep in a dungeon you can send your pet back to town to sell your goods. Otherwise, you can use a town scroll portal to get out and personally sell/buy goods. I found myself heading to town anytime I ran out of identity scrolls (used to identify mysterious objects) and this routine was one of the more annoying chores of the game and one of my main criticisms of Fate. I have no idea why they decided to keep this portal system, because the portal/hub system are some of the most inconvenient and frustrating aspects of the game. Transportation to the town immediately takes you out of the action and artificially inflate the game's length due to sheer time spent loading screens and running errands. You came to Torchlight to kill things, not be a used parts salesman.