This is not exactly the perfect comparison as Torchlight 2 is currently in Beta and Diablo 3 hasn’t even been out a week. But it seems like a lot of people are really interested in comparing these two games. Given that Torchlight 2 is still only in beta and a release could be as much as 5 months away, I think the average player has nothing to worry about and would definitely be able to play both games if they wanted to.
Diablo 3 and Torchlight 2 are both currently PC only; hack’n slash, point and click dungeon crawlers. Diablo made this genre what it is today. But there are STILL very few games out there like either of these titles outside of their own respective franchises. These games are about the finding of loot(treasure!) and all the things that come with it. Both games could be accused of veering too much into the MMO space with their recent releases. Given one has an Auction House and the other lets you play with up to 6 other players(not confirmed as of this article). But both games can be played single player in their traditional fashion(for the most part). Both games are incredible time sinks and that is probably why the question of which one is better exists at all.
Let’s start with main most obvious differences and move on from there. First and foremost Diablo 3 is out now and costs around $60. Torchlight 2 will be out sometime in the near future and it will cost around $20. Diablo 3 you can go to the store and buy or download from Blizzard. Torchlight 2 you will probably have to buy on Steam; at least for the first couple weeks to months. Then, probably,you will be able to get it through a boxed copy or perhaps other downloadable services. But as I believe Torchlight 2 will be getting Steam Achievements your probably going to activate a Steam key to play it anyway.
In Torchlight 2 and Diablo 3 you can play with other people online. In Diablo the top number of people is 4, in Torchlight 2 they are currently going with 6. Torchlight 2 you can play offline in a single player game. In Diablo 3 you MUST be connected to the internet at all times in order to play. This is due to their Auction House and it functions like a DRM. There are also some technical reasons for multiplayer, but with multiplayer you would have to be connected online anyway, so this isn’t really part of the all ways online restriction.This was also true of Starcraft 2, by the way.
Torchlight 2 has a whimsical art style. Diablo 3’s art style is much more serious and more like the previous games that were dubbed at the time as horror titles. An example of each follows.
Diablo 3
Torchlight 2
Torchlight 2
Diablo 3
While put side by side both games don’t look incredibly different environmentally. The characters and story are definitely much different in that Torchlight 2 features a more cartoony style while Diablo 3 is trying for the dark fantasy vibe I mentioned earlier. Torchlight 2 also features pets that can help you out in combat and can run items to town for you and sell them. These amazing creatures can also somehow buy items for you in town as well. I guess it’s best not too think about how and why they can do this. In Diablo 3, the closest you get to this are your companions. Who are humans who come along with you on your quests and fight by your side. They can only be equipped with a limited number of weapons and equipment. Also, your companions actively take part in some of the story you are on, they talk to you. They are equal members in the story. In Torchlight and Torchlight 2 pets are just there. Torchlight 2 petsare different mechanically because they have bag space. This was obviously done to increase difficulty and slow down the player’s progress in Diablo 3. This also brings up another major difference between the two games.
Torchlight 2 on (Normal) and Diablo 3(Normal) are pretty different. While both games have their hard spots, it seems like both games are more or less tuned to be relatively easy on Normal difficulty. However, I leveled to 13 in a matter of an hour in Torchlight 2, while took me more like 3-4 hours to do the same in Diablo 3. You level much slower in Diablo 3 but the levels mean a lot more. In Diablo 3 a level can mean the difference between knowing a skill or not. It can also mean having a particular Rune or not. Both can dramatically effect gameplay. While playing Torchlight 2 it seemed like every 3 or 4 levels were significant. I really wasn’t seeing too much difference in a skill I was using at level one to one I was using at level 4. I’m sure there was a numerical improvement, but considering how much I changed weapons and armor I really couldn’t tell if it was the skill that was making me better or my loot.
While in Torchlight 2 you DO have direct control over how many points you put into what attributes. Something that Diablo 3 doesn’t let you do. This feature seems a bit on the inconsequential side. As all I usually did was take the three skills that effected my class the most and put all the points there. My one criticism of Torchlight 2 is that no matter how many points you seem to put into Focus and Vitality you all ways end up losing it ultra-fast. I don’t remember this being that bad in the original Torchlight. Perhaps they are just trying to make the game harder. This is interesting considering Diablo 3 elected not to let you touch these attribute points and yet I’m wondering if this was out of simplification or simply because it streamlined the design.
Torchlight 2’s less stressfully technical specs make it a better online game. But as a single player game while some things seem perfectly fine; you sometimes get the feeling like you are going through the same four environments over and over. While this repetition can be seen somewhat in Diablo 3, the game does go out of it’s way to make areas look interesting and fresh as much as possible. I never got the feeling I was ACTUALLY going through the same area over and over. Even if it was just a variance on the same tile set. While Torchlight 2 definitely attempts this. The art style is SO paired down that there is just SO MUCH you can do with it.
Fortunately for the average player both games will run very well on just about any machine made in the past 4 years. In fact, you can probably play Torchlight 2 on a machine older than that as it is simply an enhanced version of the original Torchlight engine. Unfortunately, there are definitely areas where this shows. The main starter town is rather 2 dimensional even if it is a multi-level area. The area just seemed flat to me. Perhaps that is my main criticism of the game. It just seems rather flat. Even though in this title they definitely attempted to make use of vertical spaces. Usually this does more harm than good by simply making the player wonder whether or not his character can reach up there or not. This isn’t mitigated by the fact that sometimes your character isn’t even SUPPOSED to try to reach for the vertical space. It’s only a monster spawning area or maybe there to make the level seem more open.
One thing that Torchlight 2 will allow that Diablo 3 will not; is support for Mods. This allows players to create their own levels, areas, classes, stories, and other fun things. The new level of quality that comes with Torchlight 2 from the original will certainly make this a title to watch for community Mod-makers who can really take things in a whole new direction. I remember my favorite class from the original Torchlight is a Mod-makers class called,”Valkyrie.” Which was a cross between a Warrior and a Alchemist class; or pretty close to it. I loved playing the class and that character ended up being my main one in the game. Things like that are really at the heart and soul of Torchlight as a franchise.
Finally, I would just like to mention that no matter what I’ve said in this article, I will be excited to play Torchlight 2 when it comes out of beta and I’m having an excellent time playing Diablo 3 right now. For $20 it’s hard not to buy Torchlight 2, no matter how you might feel about it. In closing, I just want to say that Torchlight 2 is currently in Beta so many of the things I said will probably change before it’s final release. Especially the leveling and loot drops. These are the kinds of things developers tweak at the last minute. Also, they might take another pass at the graphics. Many developers leave that for last as well.
Final note: Just wanted to also mention that a preview for Torchlight 2 and a review for Diablo 3 are on the way. But as both games are rather large this will take some time…..
No comments:
Post a Comment