Game mechanics are instantly familiar: click and hold the mouse button to walk or run; Fate makes use of the stamina meter, which depletes as the character runs. Once the meter is empty, the player can only walk, while the meter refills slowly; standing still allows the meter to refill faster.

Clicking on an enemy attacks it; holding the mouse button down continues the attack. Special attacks can be mapped to the number buttons. Weapons, armor, and items frequently drop from vanquished enemies, making inventory management crucial. Given that better items are found in levels lower than your current one does help with strategizing which weapons and armor you'll equip. There is, however, nothing like the frustration gotten from finding a particularly attractive weapon that's unusable because it requires more points in a specific stat than you have. This, however, is merely the price you pay for early specialization.

An interesting feature of Fate is that you receive a pet that fights along with you, right from the beginning of the game. The pet -- either a dog or a cat; there doesn't seem to be any difference between the two -- also levels up alongside you, and can he healed with potions by dragging such over its window in the upper left corner of the screen. Unfortunately, there's no way to control your pet, so often you'll see it running off to attack the nearest enemy, whether or not you're ready to engage.

Other than the abovementioned, it's standard Diablo/Mythos all the way, right down to the Town Portal scroll, socketable gems, named elite items, etc. If this sounds like something you want, you can download the demo for Mac, or grab the PC version, with Undiscovered Realms sequel also available.