Titan Quest Preview

Although I have officially been considered an adult for a while now, I still have the habit of reading Adrian Mole books. It's nice to read about Adrian immersing himself in the Norwegian leather industry, describing his pains as being a wannabe intellectual from a bad family, trying to get rid of his virginal status in the era of bad haircuts, social instability and Maggie Thatcher (Holy hell you need a new hobby -Ed.). Anyway, there is an instance when the post-adolescent Adrian decides to leave home due to the decision of his parents to rent his room. It is then that he stumbles across a strange fellow who offers to rent him a room with the condition he and his mates may use it on Thursdays. "You may also stay, if you like," says the beaming man. "My friends won't mind. They are nice people." Then he notices a blood stain on the carpet and goes on to explain, "Don't let this worry you. We only kill animals; we're opposed to human sacrifices." The comforting thought of having to share his room with people performing ritual sacrifice does not appeal to Adrian, but that's a whole different story. The point is that, while some things may hold to the same premise, apply similar mechanism or obey the same rule, that does not necessarily make them the same. (Maybe I should try and explain that to the sacrificial animals.) So when I say that Iron Lore is currently working on a game highly reminiscent of the game which has achieved cult status among RPG fans - and I mean Diablo - this does not mean we will have to deal with another uninspiring, unimaginative, and outrageously superficial Diablo clone. Similarities between these two games are not accidental - the developer has, after all, admitted to being avid Diablo fans, so the decision to make an immersive role-playing game inspired by the popular franchise and enrich it with new, inspiring elements seems to be a logical continuation of their devotion to Diablo.

ADDENUM BY 2LIONS: I feel this is a good spot to assure everyone that this is going to be one kick ass game. No, I wasn't paid by Iron Lore to say that, I simply got to see the title behind-closed-doors at the E3, as the developers showed it off to the world for the first time. My verdict: One of the best PC games on the show, a truly next-gen Diablo-like experience that combines powerful technology and beautiful art to create a wholly unique and immersive action RPG world that has all the necessary qualities to become a huge hit. No, really. This is going to be one great game, mark my words.

Back to the preview...

Titan Quest was under development at Iron Lore for several years, and yet they kept a lid on it. It was not until this year's Expo at LA that more info was shared on the debut game of the Diablo-loving developer. Although the game bears many resemblances to Diablo, it also introduces some new gameplay elements as well as exciting, colorful and nicely designed environments and an intricate character creation system. The E3 presentation demonstrated several locations in ancient Greece and Egypt, featuring many mythological and historical references that will appeal to the player. Various locations include the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the Parthenon and the maze of Knossos, as well as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. That is something that I fully appreciate being all hooked up on world mythology, ancient cultures and stuff. The demonstration showed some satyr and Cyclops-related fights, as well as a level in Egypt with mummies, making it impossible not to notice the visual neatness of the environments and lovely character design, rendering the mythological beings all the more believable.

Titan Quest offers a seamless world with an intriguing back story which deals with the history of the Titans and their escape from Tartarus. If you're not familiar with Greek mythology, suffice it to say the Titans were powerful gods who ruled the world before the rise of the Olympians. Their leader and the ruler of the world was Cronus, who had the habit of eating his newborn children in order to prevent them from dethroning him one day (Lovely -Ed.). However, some of his children survived thanks to their mother Rhea. It was Zeus, the later ruler of heaven and earth, who finally dethroned his father (Cronus) and, after a long and fierce battle, threw him and the other Titans into the dark pit of Tartarus. Titan Quest features a story where the Titans manage to escape their prison and, feeling a bit off after an eternity spent in chains, wreak havoc upon the world.

The character creation and development system hold to the familiar concept of picking a suitable character and gradually advancing his skills by gaining levels. This concept has been broadened by the possibility of creating multi-class characters by means of improving your character's skills in several fields. You are able to assign gained skill points to any class you see fit, thus enabling your character to become proficient in several classes. Depending on your preferred style of combat, your character will gain skill points that can be assigned any way you like. This makes for 25 different classes, the combination of which should make the gaming experience unique. You may also choose to focus on several skills, increasing their stats every time you earn enough points, which may lead to creating some very powerful skills and spells. You know the drill.

Not only does the character development offer plenty of possibilities, but it's also possible to make further customization by endowing your character with some of the numerous weapons and spells that are to be found in the game. The developer boasts that with a large number of different weapons and equipment the final number should make for more than a thousand different items. These items are, of course, usually dropped by your opponents, with the fact that enemies never possess any items that do not make sense or seem illogical for their race or class. The player is able to loot everything they're carrying once you slay them, but don't expect them to be loaded with bizarre pieces of equipment that do not fit their character (Finally. I get tired of killing rats and having them drop full suits of chain mail -Ed). Of course, more powerful enemies tend to drop more valuable items which, once their original owners (involuntarily) part with them, are yours to use as you please, to be traded or used otherwise. This is a slightly improved version of a standard RPG system which the developer believes will bring some more believability into the game world.

All this wouldn't have make sense if combat wasn't up to the task. Iron Lore has promised an advanced AI, meaning your encounters with enemies should be about much more than taking revenge on virtual punching bags. Your opponents will use different tactics in combat, allowing them to use the circumstances to their advantage, also being able to heal themselves and put up a solid resistance to your attacks. The combat itself makes use of rag doll physics, adding a dose of realism into the game. It should be also possible to assign your skills to mouse buttons, thus making combat fairly simple and enjoyable.

I have already mentioned the great visuals of the game, which uses full 3D settings endowed with a lot of detail and precision. One of the really striking features of this engine is that the environment is, well, fully 3D, meaning that it has true depth. For example, if you happen to be fighting on top of a gorge, NPCs and objects will be fully interactive at the bottom of it as well, giving a special sense of perspective and realism to the game world. If you drop a stone from the top of the gorge, it will actually hit some poor schmuck at the bottom.