Titan Quest

When I saw the statistics, I was surprised- Diablo II was one of the biggest RPGs of all time. It makes sense- the game is fun, randomly generated, basic but very deep, and enjoyable. But, as things tend to go, the market has not seen a hack and slash to the level of the Diablo series since... well... Diablo II. Most games that try to be Diablo nowadays (Gauntlet, Neverwinter Nights, et al) always end up failing to some degree.

Who would have guessed we'd find Diablo gameplay in a game based on Greek Mythology.

Titan Quest, developed by Iron Lore and published by THQ, is a game that essentially takes the hack-and-slash methodology from games like Diablo and mixes it in with a kind of Greek style only seen in titles like God of War. As in basically any mythological title, the ancient gods of Greece have popped out of nowhere and plan to battle the new gods, and thus it requires a puny human to fight the legions of demons to find the secrets to imprison the gods. Long story short, grab your sword, there are things to kill.


Titan Quest is so much like Diablo II, it is hard for me to write a really deep review without taking a look at my Diablo II review. In fact, Titan Quest reminds me so much of Diablo II, I must unfortunately admit that it really brings itself down as such. But let me break down the game before I launch into a rating-

First off, Titan Quest is all about hacking and slashing baddies, again much like Diablo II. Your character will slay hundreds to thousands of enemies in order to get to the achieved point and complete quests, missions, and generally anything else people in Greece did in those days. Quests range from stupid things like saving cattle to fighting big monsters (Again like Diablo II)- and that's just about it in a nutshell.

Regrettably, that's about it. Naturally, you can pick up items and carry them around, having the same item-slot system from Diablo II to work your inventory and essentially restrict you from carrying a virtual armory in your toga. Weapons in Titan Quest range from swords to pikes- and, while they do not carry the feeling of awesome power that games like Diablo II portrayed, they all fit the game style like a glove, and nothing feels out of place- granted that one would expect “Leggings of Dexterity” in Greek Mythology. Iron Lore was apparently lazy enough to steal names from Diablo II in the highest degree, even forgoing the concept of inventing a new name of “Minor Potion”. That's kinda lazy.

One thing that Iron Lore was NOT lazy upon was the graphics engine, which is really a surprising highlight to Titan Quest. Fully 3D, Titan Quest is basically what I would expect Diablo III to look like minus the Greek look, with the same menu system and controls as seen in other titles. The graphics are even so detailed as to feature reflective water and swaying trees- which seems to be pointless considering the engine is forced into the same pseudo-isometric view at all times. Regardless, it's nice to see such effort put into the engine, and those with high powered systems will be able to enjoy the wonderful swaying trees and dynamically falling items while they click madly for about 10 hours.


Speaking of clicking, Titan Quest is like Diablo II in one big irritating flaw that almost kills the enjoyability of the title: an almost carpal-tunnel inducing mouse based game. While shooters tend to put a lot of controls on the keyboard and strategy games contain a lot of shortcuts, Titan Quest sticks by the all-to-painful method of “Click to move, click to attack, click to equip, click to talk, click to add status points, click to accept a quest, click to check a quest, click to exit the game”. I'm sure hardcore Diablo players have index fingers made of steel by now, but the average gamer will probably experience defined pain in the finger after about an hour of this title due to the insane amount of clicking required to even progress an inch. I'm not asking for a WASD style, nor am I asking for some kind of magical voice based system- but something to relieve this issue is needed badly. Hell, if Iron Lore wanted to, I bet they could have dropped the concept of the “really cool dropping effect for potions” and worked on the “make the character fight so we don't end up with players with broken fingers”.

One place that Titan Quest, much akin to Diablo II, excels in is the multiplayer. Based on the Diablo II multiplayer (I swear Google will index this review as a Diablo II review instead of a Titan Quest review...), Titan Quest allows you to really stratify your team into a effective party and blast through the game, or play one of many available extra maps- or even make your own. This makes Titan Quest instantly a huge game, because even if you get bored of the actual core gameplay, there is a slowly growing user base who can provide new maps for your enjoyment. This is basically the concept that made the Half Life series so powerful, and I think we're seeing another powerful game in the making.


But, as I said, Titan Quest is Titan Quest- not Diablo III- and that is what sometimes kills this game. Titan Quest seems so directly thieving from Blizzard that one could almost expect a lawsuit in the future- to be honest, I can only say it's a direct copy. This is a great thing for Diablo II fans, but people looking for a more adventure based game will find a very modern Diablo II in Greece. This disappoints me, because I partly feel screwed over (That they did not try to make Titan Quest a more original game), and I also feel as of Iron Lore just got lazy with the game. Don't get me wrong, however- Titan Quest is a great game.

To close, I have to say that, as I mentioned above, Titan Quest is a good game. A very good game. Hack and slash fans will rejoice when they play Titan Quest, because it does everything right: but that is only because it directly steals from Diablo II in virtually every aspect of gameplay. All in all, gamers looking for a decent throwback to their Diablo hack and slash days will enjoy the hell out of Titan Quest- but anyone who isn't into that kind of repetitive clicking (Or just those with weak index fingers) may want to find a simpler and more original game.

4 star(s) out of 5

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