Video Games

Torchlight Review

With the announcement of Torchlight II, there’s no better time to get into the original. Torchlight is an action RPG with one hell of a pedigree – designed by Travis Baldree (Fate), Max Schaefer and Erich Schaefer (Diablo and Diablo II) and the team behind Mythos. It’s no surprise then, that the game is of a very high quality. Players take control of a preset character class – Destroyer, Vanquisher or Alchemist (roughly soldier, ranger or mage in generic terms). You then choose a cat or dog to keep you company and you’re ready. Your adventure starts in the town of Torchlight, situated above a complex cave network. In the rock around Torchlight is a magical substance known as ember, and the mysteries surrounding this element provides the meat of the storyline. 

Torchlight Making Its Way To Consoles

If you were a diehard Diablo fan and have a Steam account you probably already know about Torchlight, a game with a simple concept, but a lot of charm and nostalgia.  I had the chance to play it at a friend’s house and while its gameplay is nothing new it still has that addictive feel about it, to make your character stronger and look more bad ass.  Something that anyone who has played World of Warcraft before can tell you is a combination that can lead to hours upon hours of game time.  So it’s no shock that they did so well, not to mention the fact it was only $20, and now they want to share the love and bring it to both the PSN and Xbox Live Arcade. 

Dungeon Defenders out this Winter on PSN

Trendy Entertainment has announced today on the PlayStation Blog that Dungeon Defenders will be coming to the PlayStation Network this winter, and will support PlayStation Move and 3D. Dungeon Defenders is a class based action game where up to 4 players can team up locally via split-screen or online (which will have split screen support as well) to take on waves of enemies. Players will choose one of four “Hero” classes and be able to learn new abilities, as well as upgrade various weapons and equipment.

Final Fantasy XIV delayed due to memory issue

Hiromichi Tanaka, the producer of Final Fantasy XIV has suggested that the main reason why the PS3 version of the game has been delayed is an issue involving insufficient memory. Speaking via a translator Hiromichi said in an interview with VG247: “They are adjusting the memory size and customising it; it took longer then we were expecting. But we’re really working hard to bring it out as soon as possible.”The interviewer tried to clear up exactly what was meant by “memory” and whether it may have related to Blu-ray or HDD. But Hiromichi’s reply of simply the word “memory” would suggest it is likely linked to a RAM issue. This is the first time the developer has discussed why the PS3 version has been delayed.

Are Your Children Playing with Killographic Sexboxes?

There’s one good thing about having spent the last four months cleaning up the biggest oil spill in the country’s history; the mainstream media has been too busy with the Gulf to cover frivolous stories like controversial video games.  With an unpopular health care bill, a Hatian earthquake, and The World Cup occupying the headlines, it’s been a good year for us gamers and our killographic sexboxes.

There was a short uproar over the new Medal of Honor game which lets you play as the Taliban, but that died down when the Ground Zero Mosque debate hit the front page. This week I was bracing myself for outrage over the nudity in Mafia II, but the news channels are too busy covering Lindsey Lohan to even notice naked ladies in some game.  In fact, the last time I saw some shrill talking head complain about sex in video games on CNN was last year when Dragon Age had that boy-on-elf gay sex scene.  

PSN and Retail Releases for the Week of 8/24/10

Sony is offering a more complete 3-D package with MotorStorm 3D Rift, a standalone single player racing experience that takes full advantage of that 3-D TV you’ve been eyeing. Released on the heels of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game, EA brings us Shank, a 2-D side-scrolling beat-em-up that lets you murder a ton of fools. If that sounds too intimidating (or repetitive), give the free demo a try. MAG has an open beta for some new modes beginning today. Just keep in mind that the beta requires the MAG disc to gain access.

Ninja Robots and Indie Games On Sale This Week

This week Steam’s Mid-week Madness sale is the indie action game Plain Sight for a whopping 80% off of its already low price of ten dollars.  If you like ninja robots, and you’re poor, you should have a look.  And speaking of big sales, Gamersgate.com is in the final week of an awesome indie game sale, with 35 games going for up to 75% off.  That’s just three or four bucks to grab artsy-smarty titles like Braid, or Zombie Driver.  Okay, Zombie Driver ain’t gonna impress the wine and cheese crowd, but it’s on sale for a measly two fifty.