I heard about this new indy release while listening to the PC Gamer podcast on my commute this morning.  After checking out the website, I must say I’m very eager to check it out.

Torchlight appears to be a Diablo-style, loot-collecting action RPG, and the art design is a gorgeous-looking cartoonish, steampunk / fantasy hybrid.  Moreover, the music has been composed by none other than Blizzard ex-pat Matt Uelmen, whose chops include contributions to the StarCraft, Diablo, World of Warcraft, and WoW: Burning Crusade soundtracks.

Now, it’s not that I really need something more to play this season, but the system requirements are quite forgiving, and the price tag is a very-reasonable $20.  So, at the very least, this game is totally getting installed on my work laptop for evening entertainment on some upcoming business trips.

The developer, Runic Games, consists of a bunch of folks previously with Blizzard North (Diablo series) and Flagship Seattle (Mythos), and President Travis Baldree created WildTangent’s 2005 title Fate.  No question that the action RPG chops are prodigious at Runic.  They are currently working on a playable demo for Torchlight, and a Mac OS X Snow Leopard version is slated for a January release.  Can’t wait to give it a test drive!