Titan Quest

Reviewed by Ismael Samayoa
September 19, 2006

Developer: Iron Lore Entertainment Publisher: THQ Website: Click Here Platform(s): PC Number of Players: 1 ESRB Rating: T for Teen Review Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Screenshot. Courtesy THQ. Click image to enlarge.

When you think of RPGs you think of elves, wizards, dragons, and some guy in a shiny tin can swinging a big sword somewhere near a castle, as NPCs speak in their best English or Scottish accent. Every once in a while there comes a game that offers the challenge of monster bashing in a different environment, and the game is called Titan Quest. Titan Quest has gamers run their characters through the nations of Greece , Egypt , and Asia as they adventure in a time period that is rarely portrayed in RPG games.

In the demo the player starts off with a male character that looks like a football player going to a toga party and ends up at a lush farmland somewhere in Greece . Gamers start off at 1 st level and quickly raise their character's level by going on quick missions for the nearby villages. The hero fights his way through clumps of ravens, satyrs, boars and other beasties. He also picks up loot that can be sold to local vendors. As for the graphics in the fight scenes, I can say that I get a case of the giggles every time I make satyrs fly through the air and that the mechanics of the fighting animation are smoother than most games that I have played. Gamers who love good voice work in their RPG games will not be disappointed by the voice acting in the Greek area of this game. The NPCs that hang around the village give vocal tidbits that add some flavor to the story and are a refreshing change from medieval style voice work that most gamers are used to in RPGs.

If there is one thing to complain about Titan Quest graphics, it is the lack of variety in the equipment design. Where is the glow on magical items? What about a few different designs for the weapons or armor? With little visual variety in your equipment, Titan Quest becomes a number game, and your character winds up looking generic.

Titan Quest is a player-friendly RPG with game play very much like Diablo. But I find its replay value low because of the lack of interest in my generic PC. Titan Quest is a hack-and-slash game with improved 3D graphics. When one looks at the game that way, it can be said that Titan Quest gives a little bit of the old classic game play, with a new 3D look.

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