Review: Titan Quest

I decided that I shouldn't worry about the hiatus and really just do what I gotta' do. Especially when I've got snippets of time between each assignment. So here's my review of Titan Quest and the expansion, Immortal Throne.

Disclaimer: This review assumes that people who will play it will install Immortal Throne from the get-go. The game feels incomplete otherwise.

Comparisons to Diablo 2 are bound to happen especially as the D-game happens to be the great titan of action-RPGs and anything to follow is really just Diablo 2 with better graphics and upgraded bits and bobs. Which is exactly what Titan Quest is.

Underneath the shiny graphics, interesting Greek/Egyptian/Roman/Chinese mythology settings, interesting class and skill designs, is an action-RPG that demands you keep your finger clicking at the onslaught of monsters that it throws at you. Be prepared to grind a lot as you make your way through familiar mythology locales from the Pantheon to the Great Pyramids to the Great Wall of China.

To begin, the action is most definitely visceral, and in part helped by the beautiful graphics. All the creatures look highly detailed and every hack and slash lands a satisfying blow on them. The Havok engine means they all die in interesting rag-doll fashion, dropping items or armor that they are wearing on their bodies. It's a lot more realistic than in Diablo 2 where it is possible for a rat to carry a spear or a bag of coins.

You won't see that in Titan Quest, and most of the loot will be found where it should be, locked away in chests. Although, these chests can be unrealistically found out in the middle of some field. But this is an action-RPG, we're supposed to suspend much belief in exchange for an epic adventure.

And epic adventure Iron Lore does provide. The mythological settings means that unless you came out of a hole sometime recently, you'd know about the great ancient gods like Zeus, Apollo, etc and heroes like Odysseus and Ajax. The story is of the titans, the original creators of the universe, who had a bad tiff with the gods and were banished for eternity. But out of the blue, and for a reason I can't really remember, they have been freed from their imprisonment and it is up to you to stop them from world domination.

The story, even if it is a bit weak, is well told through the large number of NPCs scattered throughout the 5 distinct worlds. It feels less lonely than in Diablo 2 where there are just a handful of warriors in little refugee camps. In Titan Quest, there are sprawling cities with citizens ambling about, doing their stuff, whilst war rages on outside. Many of them can be talked to, just to hear their comments about what's going on, or interrogate for further information as to various quests. The voice-acting is above par, and thankfully, they aren't all Americans pretending to be Greek/Roman/Chinese etc. The Greeks and the Romans sound like they are from that part of the world. Some of the things they say are definitely worth listening to, quirky or profound.

The settings are well-realized. There are some huge locales, and whenever you run up a huge flight of stairs to get to a temple or a monument, it feels so grand. Or running through the fields of Elyssium really does feel all pretty and heaven-like. Some of the bosses are so huge they do take up a fair bit of screen, and the fights are just as epic. There is much variation in the settings, from desolate deserts, to lush forests, farmland, frigid tundras, caves and the endless stream of eye candy means you'll never get bored at the very least, with the visuals. It is complemented by a very grand soundtrack, from regal choirs to thundering orchestras.

The only thing that differs here from Diablo 2 is that the environments are not randomly generated so upon subsequent playthroughs, the maps are all the same. Iron Lore believed that this will let the players appreciate the hand-crafted design of the maps, as opposed to leaving it randomized. Which means replayability will come down to other things which I will get to later.

Now, I talked all about the style and not yet about the substance. The gameplay mechanics is ultimately what will make or break this game. First of all, for those who are looking for a Diablo 2-like game will have much to like here.

It's all about no-brainer hack and slash or zap through dungeons and dungeons, with a myriad of skills and class development to delve into. There are 9 masteries (including Dream from Immortal Throne) which are the the specializations that you as a player must choose. You start of with one of the 9 (Warfare, storm, hunting, etc.) and then after a certain level, you get to choose another. Meaning that there is a whopping total of 81 classes to specialize in depending on the two masteries you choose.

The customization is definetly epic and the skills in each of the 9 masteries has been well-balanced and tuned, meaning that it is a lot of fun to explore what kinda' neat tricks you can play around with through the game. On top of that, there is a lot of loot to pick up, from rare to epic to legendary stuff. With graphical quality on their side, Iron Lore can afford to throw in a lot of very distinct and detailed looking armor and weapons. Be sure to have a decent enough computer to turn up the detail though, otherwise it'll look drab, far worse than even the sprites of Diablo 2.

Another unique feature are items called artifacts which when equipped, permanently boost your stats overall. Artifacts do shake things up a little as they are a rarity in themselves because players are required to build them out of smaller pieces of "essences" (like Diablo 2's runes). Essences come in all shapes and sizes and recipes to build, and Artifacts will require specific ones, and if you can be bothered to seek them out, you've got your hands on a nice little booster.

There are very good player-friendly features with this game. Iron Lore really looked at Diablo 2 and saw how they can improve specifically on the latter's gameplay issues. If you didn't like the way you placed skill points, or accidentally chose the wrong skill, there is an immediate undo button. But if you only realized later on that you spec-ed your points wrong, there is guy who can do it for you in towns for a fee.

Another neat thing is the ease at which you can transfer items between characters you've made. If you pick up a rare spear that you'd like your other character to use, there is an in-game feature that lets you do so. Before, in Diablo 2, you had to have someone else play your alternate character just so you can actively pass the item to them. Or you'd have to log in to one character, drop the item in a persistent world, hope no one steals it, and then log in as the other character to pick it up. Titan Quest says, "Don't worry, just put it here and when you log in as the other guy, he'll see it straight away."

Oh and death, there isn't a major punishment for dying. In fact, you don't drop your items, don't lose money and you certainly aren't far from your last checkpoint (which are these fountains). There are no big letters scrawled across your screen that says "YOU DIED". If you die, you immediately respawn at the last fountain you touched, instead of all the way back in town, and you can just get right back into the fray. The only thing you lose is a little experience momentarily, but it can be recovered by touching the tombstone you left upon death.

Also, town portals which are a staple of RPGs are present in Titan Quest, except this time you don't have to keep buying them. You are given a portal "stone" that will let you travel between major waypoints (most situated in towns) whenever you want. Its usage is infinite so you can go crazy in dropping them anywhere and everywhere, if that's really your thing. And when playing with friends, this becomes a whole new mechanic of getting back into the fight: if a friend dies, just open a portal, and let them come through from wherever they respawned.

And yet the game doesn't go easy on players. The difficulty ramps up significantly in the later acts of the game, even on normal difficulty, and I found myself dying a lot in the final expansion act. Perhaps this was more to do with my poor optimization of character as opposed to Iron Lore just really wanting to punish people. Still, I still have fun and have yet to rage-quit.

There are side quests in the game, which range from simple delivery runs to kill X monster. All provide incentives like big fat experience raises, or special loot. It also prolongs the game which took at least 25 hours to get through, main and nearly all side quests completed.

There's a lot to like about this game, and as mentioned before, the action is great. There's a lot of it and spells are positively earth-shattering. But therein lies the rub.... that's it. There's nothing more to the game. You kill monsters after monsters, talk to some NPCs, collect some stuff for side quests and then kill some more stuff.

I couldn't help but see how different this was from Diablo 2, and I realized it wasn't any different, any yet Diablo 2 entertained me even more so. Why was this?

The answer is simple: reward. The goal in action-RPGs is not the senseless violence that it throws at you, but the reward at the end of it. The prize at the end of the cave, that shiny sword that you are awaiting to get your grubby paws on.

The major problem I found with Titan Quest was that it did not reward enough. Here is the best example of this. The final boss. The very last dude you are supposed to fight, the Diablo of Titan Quest, a big badass guy that will tear you limb to limb. He's a tough 'un and even with a friend to playthrough, we died several times before we brought the beast down.

And then guess what? No rare items. Literally. There was not a single rare drop. I know fighting Diablo can drop some boring stuff, but at least they were rare. In Titan Quest, not nary a drop of rareness. I thought this was a glitch but I found it to be the case through the entire play.

Caves or long dungeons with chests at the end should reward the player for exploration, and yet they contained absolutely nothing. The randomization is so random it feels almost as if Iron Lore is being stingy with their handouts. Of course I did pick up my fair share of rare items, but boss fights were the least satisfying with the measley rewards. It was only upon a second playthrough in Epic difficulty did I started to see more items (including Legendary ones) flow in.

For casual gamers, this is far too long a wait. Also, whilst Titan Quest does a lot of things better than Diablo 2, I can't help but feel that Diablo 2 is that edgier and cooler game still. Perhaps its the lore of Diablo 2, it's so dark and menacing and new, and as a hero, your fight is against an evil that can possibly even consume you. Everything in Titan Quest is shiny and quite happy. Even the monsters, whilst ugly and nasty, don't quite feel like they'd violate you in anyway.

Diablo's unforgettable line, "Not even death can save you from me" is just legendary. Forever sticking in players' minds as they scurry about like little ants around his giant evilness, as the greatest villain in RPGs ever.

Multiplayer works. I hadn't tried the internet thing, but the LAN thing works. Most of the time. There were some cases of elastic banding and lag, but they were manageable. Also there was a glitch that meant a player may not see any monsters in a room, whilst the host can see them. It's a strange 'un but easily remedied by the player quitting and rejoining the game. The party mechanics are as usual, share experience and money earned, and it's far easier to sort out quests than in Diablo 2. TQ is definetly a better time with friends.

Overall, Titan Quest as an experience seems a lot slower. I feel I can't power my way through the first couple of acts, and be more concerned with character development and item collecting as in Diablo 2. In TQ, you're supposed to take the time to travel across the vast landscapes, enjoy the scenery, kill a couple of bad guys, and immerse yourself in the story. "Take your time" is their response to Diablo 2's frenetic "kill, kill, loot, kill". A different experience altogether, one that is certainly enjoyable in its own right.

For those looking for a hardcore stats-heavy lethal action-RPG that demands your attention all of the time, just keep playing Diablo 2. But if you want an interesting alternative that fills your hunger for some point-click-kill action, but makes it less painful, than TQ is your best best for now. Just be prepared for a lot of grind.

Replace Diablo 2? Nah. Filler before Diablo 3? Definetly.