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Platform: PC
Genre: Action RPG
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Iron Lore
ETA:  2006

 

 

 

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Titan Quest

 

With any form of entertainment, when someone creates something new for their respective medium that becomes a huge success the risk of being constantly associated with that triumph can be quite daunting.  Some people just don't like being typecast into one role for the rest of their lives, even if they are at the top of their field for it.  The same can hold true in the world of video games.  While some noted developers certainly relish in being the kings of their genre, constantly searching for ways to improve and refine it, others look to try something a little different with each new project.  The latter appears to be the case with Brian Sullivan, creator of the Age of Empires series.  Stepping away from the real-time strategy genre, he and his team at Iron Lore are working on a new action RPG for the PC.

 

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Embracing the world of antiquity, players will be thrust into a land oozing with Greek and Egyptian mythology in Titan Quest.  As the title of the game suggests, the Titans, the powerful beings that roamed the Earth before the Greek gods were born, have escaped their eternal prisons.   Now these mighty creatures are understandable angry, becoming a huge threat to the world.  It will be the player’s task to find a way to return the Titans to their prison and peace to the land.

 

While traveling around Greece, and Egypt to do this, players will be treated to some very detailed graphics as Iron Lore is working to create very life-like environments that walk the line between realism and the fantastic.  One will be able to find themselves walking through 

a lush, green field with tall, green grass, or a stately regional capital, or even a humble Greek village, among the various environments throughout the game.

 

When players set off on their quest, they’ll choose from one of the basic classes of the game, each of which’s stats can be tweaked and improved over the course of the game.  The gameplay itself is a very appreciative nod to Blizzard’s classic action RPG, Diablo.  Players will find themselves running around fighting local wildlife, soldiers, and mythical creatures from a three quarter 

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over head view, gaining experience, and scoring loot all the while.  Interestingly, the loot in the game will be a lot more realistically dropped than in something like Diablo.  In the Blizzard RPG, players could get fancy weapons, armor and the like from killing even the wildlife, which doesn’t make much sense from a realism standpoint.  In order to make Titan Quest more believable, players will only get items like these from killing humanoids.  The kicker is that players will even be able to see an enemy carrying the weapon or armor that they are going to drop before fighting them.  So, if you see a bad guy wandering around with a really nice looking axe that you real want, run up and fight him.  If you win, he’ll drop the axe, and it’s all yours.

 

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Overall, it doesn’t appear that Iron Lore is trying to turn the action RPG genre on its head with Titan Quest.  They just want to make an extremely fun, good-looking game, with just enough tweaks to it to make the experience feel fresh.  Gamers will have to wait a while before they can try it out for themselves, as the game currently has an ambiguous 2006 release date attached to it.

 

Mr. Nash

(August 28, 2005)