Former Diablo Devs Shed Light on New Action-RPG

Remember all that Flagship Games brouhaha that arose last year when the developer – composed of former Blizzard employees – went into a tailspin, taking the US edition of Hellgate: London with it? Well, a gaggle of those gifted men and women reassembled at Runic Games, where they’re currently making another run at Diablo’s throne with an action-MMORPG called Torchlight.

The game’s “plot” – if, at this early stage, one could even call it that -- apparently breaks down like this:

“Adventurers set out from the town of Torchlight into the nearby mountains in search of the magic ore that imbues their equipment with power, yet imperils their very existence."

Gotta watch out for those mountains. They’re medieval man’s natural enemy, clearly.

Chinese online gaming company Perfect World will publish this tryst between Mythos and Diablo, which boasts the support of Max and Erich Schaefer – two of Blizzard North’s co-founders – as well as Diablo I and II composer Matt Uelmen.

It’s Diablo, but with tiny cartoon skeletons so precious you’d sooner attach cute, misspelled captions to their visages than give ‘em a bit of the old hack ‘n’ slash. What’s not to like? Unless you’re holding out for Diablo III: “Realistic” Edition, Torchlight looks like one to keep an eye on.