Initial Thoughts On Torchlight and EVE

Well, it's been a few days since I've gotten both Torchlight and started my 21-day trial of EVE, and while I may not be ready to do full reviews yet, I do have some initial thoughts to share.

I guess I'll start by talking about EVE because I have a lot less to say about it. I've really only put about 5 hours into EVE so far(which is nothing for an MMO) so I can't say I've experienced much but my feelings on what I have experienced are varied. I feel like EVE is incredibly complex and innovative for its time. The combination of detailed graphics as well as it's incredibly realistic space travel physics engine is just astonishing. Traveling across an entire solar system in a matter of seconds is really an amazing feeling. And while these things may be great, they're really the extent of praise I'm willing to give to EVE at the moment. The game is also very economy and freedom oriented but I really haven't been playing enough to say if I like these things or not.

The bad part about EVE though is definitely its incredibly steep and punishing learning curve. Right from the get go you have this extremely complicated interface filled with tons of windows that link to several more windows each. I'm finding that it really is a hassle to try and immerse myself into this game because every hour or so of playing it I begin to feel incredibly overwhelmed and need to take a break. Perhaps this is something that will pass eventually but I know it won't be happening anytime soon, that is, if I'm still playing this game in a week or so.

Torchlight on the other hand is a completely different story. With an easy learning curve and a simple diabloesque premise, I haven't really been having the same problems with Torchlight as I've been having with EVE. In fact, the only real problems I have with Torchlight seem to be bugs that the development team is already aware of and is working on putting out a patch to fix. Things like long loading times, experience and item duping exploits and other assorted problems can get in the way, but for the most part Torchlight is a pretty good game. Especially for 18 bucks.

Full Reviews for both games coming November.

Ravenis is Steampowered!

Now that I've got a solid internet connection going on my laptop I'm starting to venture into more PC gaming via Steam. I've never really been much of a PC gamer, aside from a few MMO's I've played over the years. Though I think it's funny that I never knew about Steam before because it really is pretty awesome for PC gaming, particularly if you are playing online. Right now I've only been playing a game called Trackmania Nations Forever which is a free racing game that isn't half bad, but I've also got Torchlight, a highly anticipated diablo-esque game that comes with an editor, on pre-order, as well as a 21 day free trial of EVE that's currently downloading. Expect reviews for all 3 of these games. Well, maybe not EVE but I'll probably at least talk about it in a post. I'm still unsure if I want to review an MMO, but we'll see.