Late last year a small, but incredibly well made action RPG was released that, eventually, went on to become a footnote in the annals of RPG history. That game was, of course, Torchlight, a game which was not only well received critically, but also went on to be a financial success for Runic Games as gamers were heralding the title as the next best thing to Diablo 2.  Luckily for us the guys over at Runic were on hand at PAX showing off the title and Max Scheafer himself helped guide us through the bigger and better world of Torchlight II.

To say that Torchlight II is simply a bigger version of Torchlight would not be doing any justice to the title. Let’s put it this way. The first Diablo was good. A lot of people really enjoyed the game and overall it was a success in establishing a franchise. Diablo 2, on the other hand, not only continued that franchise, it established a legacy. This is the volume by which Torchlight II will surpass the original game, which makes sense since Max himself worked on both the original Diablo games as well.

So, first off, there are four brand new classes. While the original three are no longer playable they will appear as NPCs in various areas of the game. Unfortunately, only two of the four new classes were playable on the floor: the Outlander and the Railman. The Outlander plays as a sort of gunman/shooter character with a bit of magic enhanced abilities. The Railman, on the other hand, is a sort of engineer tank. What this means is that you’ll be building up runes in order to help bash your way through waves of enemies. It’s an interesting concept and one that isn’t easily grasped unless you play the game. Still though, both new classes are incredibly interesting and fun to play. The final two classes have not yet been announced.

Continuing on, and this will be a delight for those of you who like to play with others, Torchlight II will ship with online multiplayer/co-op. It’s a pretty simple service, basically just peer-to-peer. There’s no chat rooms or other such areas a la Diablo 2, but what is there seemed solid. While the actual multiplayer functionality will be pretty barren, Max did say they would include clan tags so that you and your friends could form up official-ish groups.

Of course, what would all these great new toys be without a great new world to explore? This, in my opinion, is where Torchlight II will really shine. Where as the original game simply had you in a single town going down various levels in a mine, Torchlight II features an overworld with plenty of outside areas to explore. Additionally, the game will features a number of environments and more than a single hub town, similar to what you had in Diablo 2. And, as with Torchlight, all dungeons — caves, forests, underworld, overworld, etc. — will continue to be randomly generated to ensure a unique experience through each locale.

Finally, as with the original game, Torchlight II will ship with the complete engine that the game was made on. This means that the entire game will be modable. You can create new weapons, maps, dungeons, skills, and even new classes should you decide to invest that kind of work. The tools the developers are using right now to create the game will be the same ones you’ll have access to upon the release of the game ensuring that the game has an active modding community attached to it.

Torchlight II is destined to be another smash hit so long as Runic can keep up with the same level of polish that the first game had. Overall, and this is from Max himself, the game is roughly four times the size as the original game, which means you’re not only getting a meatier game willed with features lacking in Torchlight, you’re also getting a much longer game.

Torchlight II is set for release in either April or May of 2011 with the same price as the original ($19.99), and, as with the original, you can expect the game to be available on a number of digital distribution platforms as well as the developers own site (where they retain 100% of the profits).

We’ll keep up with our Torchlight II coverage as we get updates from the developer. Stay tuned!

[Torchlight II]

Trailer