Cynical Gamer reviews Titan Quest

The way I would have reviewed Titan Quest.

Sometimes, when a game is released which borrows heavily from another it is not done very well and comes off looking like a poor substitute. It is like going to a concert of your favourite band and getting karaoke. You know all of the tunes being played but they are performed badly. Sometimes to the point of being comical. Games are much like this. For those diehard Diablo fans Titan Quest may come across in this way. A poor karaoke substitute of their favourite song. So, this is the way I will review Titan Quest. As though it is a karaoke substitute of my favourite song.

Once in a while a band comes along who makes hit after hit without fail and without looking like they will ever make a flop. That band would be Blizzard. They have managed to pump out hit after hit without fail. Warcraft, Diablo and World of Warcraft have all, in some way, redefined the genre and been a massive commercial success. Their latest number one hit is World of Warcraft. A game which does not look like leaving the charts, let alone taking a dip in sales. Prior to World of Warcraft being released Blizzard helped to redefine the RPG genre with their hack and slash epics Diablo and Diablo 2. There have been many imitators of this great game, however, none have been able to match the original. Until Titan Quest. Let's face it. Titan Quest is Diablo just set in a different area and with some nice 3D effects. It is as simple as that.

As far as music goes games fall in to similar lines with the different genres representing different types of music. Shooters are Heavy Metal. Role Playing Games are Classical. Racing Games are Punk/Grunge. Fighting Games are hip hop and Nintendo games, well, they are something else altogether. Role Playing Games are classical because it is one of the long established genres which has a number of specific guidelines in order to be classified within this genre. Role Playing Games are the epics of gaming.

Titan Quest is a pitch perfect rendition of Diablo. The melody is carried competantly through varies side quests and the aim is the same. You are a lone hero set to save the world. It doesn't get much simpler than that. The hack and slash provides a steady, mind-numbing rhythm to the game which is enjoyable in a completely mindless way.

The reason why these games beat to the same tune is that for all intents and purposes they feel exactly like the same game. Even the sounds and effects in game you would think were from the same sound studio. The merchant system is virtually identical. The level system is a little more developed. There are no randomly generated areas in Titan Quest, but the levels are so long and involved you won't notice the difference. The hack and slash elements beat virtually to the same drum. You don't get much more involved than point and click, point and click, press 1 to replenish health, 2 to replenish mana, and whatever else you have allocated for spells and buffs. The NPCs even crap on about the same mindless and irrelevant quests which are there to keep you entertained while you progress to beat the bad guy (Diablo in Diablo and a Titan in Titan Quest). You get so involved with your pointing and clicking that it is far easier just to skip the NPC dialogue than listen to them drone on, much the same way that I approached NPC dialogue in Diablo, because it is completely irrelevant to the process of hack and slash.

It is hard to separate Titan Quest from Diablo. There are a few things which have been implemented in Titan Quest which are nice touches, but, ultimately, if they weren't there you wouldn't miss them. Being able to reallocate skill points being one of them. Not having to pay for portals is another.

It is fair to say that a good karaoke version of Diablo has been a long time coming. However, maybe, Titan Quest has missed the boat. MMOs are huge now. When Diablo was released there wasn't this sort of competition in the marketplace. Now everyone wants to pump out an MMO hit and walk away with a huge pile of cash.

Unfortunately, Titan Quests need to replicate Diablo may also be its greatest downfall. This will be the things which keep the fans away and make it just a poor karaoke substitute. For some Diablo represents the best of the genre. For others hack and slash shouldn't even be classified as being a RPG. I don't believe that Titan Quest will be able to last the distance and become a classic replayed on Golden Oldies radio stations until time immemorial. Unfortunately, it will pass quickly in to gaming oblivion. A karaoke tune which sounds alright on the night, but not something you would want to listen to on the radio all the time. You only need to look at the limited number of online servers worldwide and the lack of support for dedicated servers from the developer to know this.

I love playing Titan Quest. I'll rock on to its tune until I've finished it on every difficulty then I'll probably leave it on the shelf and not come back to it again. In those times when I have a pang to play Diablo 2 again I may even consider reinstalling Titan Quest instead.

My Rating System for Titan Quest:
As an outstanding karaoke version of Diablo 10/10
As a long term hit which will go the distance 2/10
Something which will be a favourite on Karaoke Machines 5/10
Total Score: 5.5/10

This is the way the Cynical Gamer would have reviewed Titan Quest.