Titan Quest

[JAGeRaeth]

It is my honor ... no my duty to inform the lot of you that Titan Quest (http://www.titanquestgame.com/) releases today.

" OMG RATH U NUB, WHAT'S TITE'N QUST ? " you may ask.

Well, jerkface. Titan quest is something I've been looking forward to for a long, long, long time.

As a hardcore Dee-ah-bib-lo (http://www.blizzard.com/diablo2/)fan from wayyyyyyy back ( OMG HELLFIRE BARDS ), I'm constantly in search of new games that are, more or less, Diablo clones. I've played, and for the most part, at least partially enjoyed most of them out there. Here's a recap for something to look for to play on the 4th of July, if Blizz doesn't change the patch day. This is, by no means, a complete list. Only what I can remember while I'm here at work being bored enough to link a bunch of old PC titles :

Nox (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nox_Game)

Darkstone (http://www.rpgplanet.com/darkstone/gallery.htm)

Revenant (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/revenant/index.html)

Divine Divinity (http://www.larian.com/Site/english/divinity/screen_overview.html)

Dungeon Siege 1 and 2 (http://www.gaspowered.com/ds2/news.php?preloaded=1)

Sacred (http://eng.sacred-game.com/screens.php?)

Space Hack (http://spacehack.rebelmind.com/en/gallery)

Throne of Darkness (http://www.deafgamers.com/todarkness.htm)

This list goes on and on and on.

However, what gets me all gooey about Titan Quest is the storyline. It take popular Roman, Norse, Egyptian, and Chinese mythology and rolls them all up into a neat little package.

The characters themselves are a mix of Dungeon Siege and Diablo. Like Dungeon Siege you simply choose male or female as your avatar. Your skills and abilities are granted as points each time you level up like Diablo. One set of points is for your attributes ( which, this time around, include your health and mana supplies so don't neglect to put points there ). The other set is for your abilities.

Abilities are granted in two forms. The abilities themselves ( i.e. Sword Mastery, Improved Shield Blocking, etc ... ) and the ability category ( i.e. Survival, Magic Schools, Hunting ). Putting points in the category gives blanket increases to ALL abilities in that category and unlocks new specific abilities inside the category itself. Putting points in the individual abilites increases the effectiveness of that ability.

You get to pick a main ability at level 2 and a secondary ability at level 8.

It's difficult to explain on paper, but you can get the demo and try it out yourself. (http://www.gamedaily.com/download/info/?packageid=0078701235)

Enjoy !

[Wookie]

The sad thing is that the game is still really buggy and almost everyone crashes within 2 hours. They have not found a definitive reason for the crashes that occur and I've see no word on any patching for it during the first patch this July 5th. The game is very colorful and the graphic detail is really nice, however for some the gameplay is too much like Diablo 2 and i considered slow. Currently with the ease of cheating, a closed multiplayer realm is in dire need with this game. I would say that it has a GREAT skill tree setup and the item charts having rares, uniques (called epics), and even legendary item at higher levels. However I feel this game is in danger of becoming a shelf game with the lack of support it has.