Titan Quest- underrated clone?

Anyone else feel it's under-rated?

I recently bought Titan Quest and it's expansion off of steam on a whim, I wasn't expecting much, it only got an average of 75 percent. I have to say, I think this game is very underrated, it's not going to win any points on originality, but the game looks beautiful as opposed to dark like most hack-in-slash games also it has an excellent sense of scale thanks to a lack of any obvious loading when entering new area's, it's wonderfully addictive, iv played it 13.5 hours in the day's I've owned it, and I'd go as far to say it's more fun than Diablo II.

I love the game. Ever since I stopped playing Diablo 2 I later got the urge to play a diablo-like game (I would've played D2 again, but I played it A LOT!). I've tried Sacred, Fate, Dungeon Siege, Hellgate London, Silverfall and perhaps more that I can't recall at the moment, and none of them pulled me in longer than the main campagin.

But Titan Quest, I've played so far 8 characters, many of them on Epic mode (I haven't unlocked Legendary yet, I usually get the urge to try out a new build). Even though the levels aren't random, I keep comming back to it. It's a lot of fun, I love it.

Edit: If you havn't already, download the community patch. It fixes a lot of things, and it's constantly being updated.

I disagree. It's not underrated in the least. I'd say the game got the score it deserved.

- The game lacks randomly generated areas. If you've played through the game, it's really hard to give it a second playthrough because you know exactly what to expect and when to expect it.

- Crap story. The story is nearly inexistent. Diablo 1 and 2 atleast had pretty decent backstories.

- Broken skill system. Certain skill classes are overpowered and others are underpowered. Certain hybrids just fail outright. An insane amount of useless skills too. Pets pull too much agro as well.

- Very little character customization. You get to pick a tunic color. Woopty. My friend and I looked identical for the first 20 levels. I was a mage-type, he was a warrior-type.

- They skimped out on the loot. If they were going to make a Diablo clone, they could have atleast gotten this right. As far as I remember, Titan Quest only had basic loot, magic loot, set loot, and unique loot. Diablo 2 had basic loot, magic loot, rare loot, unique loot, and set loot. Since Titan Quest lacked unique loot - it made the game less fun because it was that much more rare when you got a good item.

- Unrealistic locations. Take your starting area. Am I the only one who noticed Sparta was a boot camp? Darnassus wasn't even a boot camp. It was a single merchant (and he wasn't even human!). These towns are really small and silly.

- INSANE starting difficulty. I was playing the game with a friend and the game was extremely hard for the first few hours. Health potions were rare. The Centaur boss took an upward of 500 hits to kill. We were facing level 16s at level 10.

- Unsecure multiplayer. The multiplayer is filled with hacked characters. Unless you're playing with a friend, the multiplayer might as well not exist.

I disagree. It's not underrated in the least. I'd say the game got the score it deserved.

- The game lacks randomly generated areas. If you've played through the game, it's really hard to give it a second playthrough because you know exactly what to expect and when to expect it.

- Crap story. The story is nearly inexistent. Diablo 1 and 2 atleast had pretty decent backstories.

- Broken skill system. Certain skill classes are overpowered and others are underpowered. Certain hybrids just fail outright. An insane amount of useless skills too. Pets pull too much agro as well.

- Very little character customization. You get to pick a tunic color. Woopty. My friend and I looked identical for the first 20 levels. I was a mage-type, he was a warrior-type.

- They skimped out on the loot. If they were going to make a Diablo clone, they could have atleast gotten this right. As far as I remember, Titan Quest only had basic loot, magic loot, set loot, and unique loot. Diablo 2 had basic loot, magic loot, rare loot, unique loot, and set loot. Since Titan Quest lacked unique loot - it made the game less fun because it was that much more rare when you got a good item.

- Unrealistic locations. Take your starting area. Am I the only one who noticed Sparta was a boot camp? Darnassus wasn't even a boot camp. It was a single merchant (and he wasn't even human!). These towns are really small and silly.

- INSANE starting difficulty. I was playing the game with a friend and the game was extremely hard for the first few hours. Health potions were rare. The Centaur boss took an upward of 500 hits to kill. We were facing level 16s at level 10.

- Unsecure multiplayer. The multiplayer is filled with hacked characters. Unless you're playing with a friend, the multiplayer might as well not exist.

GodLovesDead

- Crap story. The story is nearly inexistent. Diablo 1 and 2 atleast had pretty decent backstories.

I find TQ's more interesting. Mythology pwnz random demons. The storytellers in each city rock.

- Broken skill system. Certain skill clases are overpowered and others are underpowered. Certain hybrids just fail outright. An insane amount of useless skills too. Pets pull too much agro as well.

Isn't it better to have where too choose from? Diablo 2 has useless skills too, it's all about the choice. Investing skill points makes the difference.

- They skimped out on the loot. If they were going to make a Diablo clone, they could have atleast gotten this right. As far as I remember, Titan Quest only had basic loot, magic loot, set loot, and unique loot. Diablo 2 had basic loot, magic loot, rare loot, unique loot, and set loot. Since Titan Quest lacked unique loot - it made the game less fun because it was that much more rare when you got a good item.

The fact that the items are far more interesting makes up for it. It feels better to kick ass with Patrocle's Shortblade or the Eye Of Osiris than with Random Sword Of Fiery Asskicking #32. It's not all about the numbers, or for the hardcores.

- Unrealistic locations. Take your starting area. Am I the only one who noticed Sparta was a boot camp? Darnassus wasn't even a boot camp. It was a single merchant (and he wasn't even human!). These towns are really small and silly.

It was a Spartan war camp, not the city. You don't visit any entire city, you can see more houses beyond the walls. Also, crying for realism when satyrs destroy the crops is unrealistic.

- INSANE starting difficulty. I was playing the game with a friend and the game was extremely hard for the first few hours. Health potions were rare. The Centaur boss took an upward of 500 hits to kill. We were facing level 16s at level 10.

Buy potions, because gold is everywhere in this game. I never found the game hard. It's just that you have to think before you invest the points, buying a billion low-level skills is not good. It's a good thing you can reinvest skill points in some cities.

I disagree. It's not underrated in the least. I'd say the game got the score it deserved.

- The game lacks randomly generated areas. If you've played through the game, it's really hard to give it a second playthrough because you know exactly what to expect and when to expect it.

- Crap story. The story is nearly inexistent. Diablo 1 and 2 atleast had pretty decent backstories.

- Broken skill system. Certain skill classes are overpowered and others are underpowered. Certain hybrids just fail outright. An insane amount of useless skills too. Pets pull too much agro as well.

- Very little character customization. You get to pick a tunic color. Woopty. My friend and I looked identical for the first 20 levels. I was a mage-type, he was a warrior-type.

- They skimped out on the loot. If they were going to make a Diablo clone, they could have atleast gotten this right. As far as I remember, Titan Quest only had basic loot, magic loot, set loot, and unique loot. Diablo 2 had basic loot, magic loot, rare loot, unique loot, and set loot. Since Titan Quest lacked unique loot - it made the game less fun because it was that much more rare when you got a good item.

- Unrealistic locations. Take your starting area. Am I the only one who noticed Sparta was a boot camp? Darnassus wasn't even a boot camp. It was a single merchant (and he wasn't even human!). These towns are really small and silly.

- INSANE starting difficulty. I was playing the game with a friend and the game was extremely hard for the first few hours. Health potions were rare. The Centaur boss took an upward of 500 hits to kill. We were facing level 16s at level 10.

- Unsecure multiplayer. The multiplayer is filled with hacked characters. Unless you're playing with a friend, the multiplayer might as well not exist.

GodLovesDead

- what to expect and when to expect it? umm... i don't see how the 'surprise element' of diablo factors into the gameplay; i mean, i never once thought 'woah, i didn't expect those set of monsters to be in that particular place' while playing diablo 1 or 2. and you must have a really good memory, because i can't for the life of me remember all the different places all the different monsters were in; i just can't.

- crap story? i really don't see it having a crap story, at least compared to others in its genre; diablo's story is hardly any better.

- diablo 2 is notorious for having useless branches in the skill trees (who uses find item or find potion?)! and there are plenty of overpowered skills in diablo 2 as well - basically, if you're a barbarian without whirlwind attack, you're a chump.

- character customization, eh? ok, diablo has 5 different looks; titan quest has 2. is this really such a huge difference? really? if you're both playing the same class in diablo, you're bound to look the same as well. and more importantly, is this that important?

- hmm... i don't know if it's because i got titan quest: gold, but there seemed to be more different types of items than there were in diablo 2. there were whole sets of armor that you could collect (like in diablo 2); there were unique relics to power your wearable items that you could create (some of them requiring LOTS of pieces to assemble, which made it really rewarding when you finally do collect all the pieces and you're able to create the relic). anyway, my point is, i didn't see this to be lacking at all in titan quest.

- unrealistic locaions? ok, i don't know much about greek history, but who cares? there are plenty of unrealistic locations in MANY games. and one merchant in one town argument is just plain silly. how do you play games like gta (only like 4 or 5 restaurants and stores in a huge city? all the hookers looking alike??? what's up with that? so frigging unrealistic!!!)? or ANY game for that matter? there's unrealistic things about ALL games!

- i haven't encountered any difficulties in playing the game (i finished the game dying only 8 times). but i can't speak for your experience.

- i wouldn't know. i only played it with a friend. but ok, i'll give you this point (and only this point).

i quite enjoyed it also..still have to finish it mind. its a big game.

my only complaint really is the lack of opportunities for better stuff. even when starting out...u can use the same equipment for a very long time i find. part of the action RPG fun is constantly upgrading ure stuff imho and TQ doesent really offer much in that area. maybe itll get better at higher difficulty settings.

but for 20 dollars on steam (and that includes the expansion pack) its well worth a play imho. plays great, looks great and runs well.

- Crap story. The story is nearly inexistent. Diablo 1 and 2 atleast had pretty decent backstories.

I find TQ's more interesting. Mythology pwnz random demons. The storytellers in each city rock.

Titan Quest barely has an original story. You might find Mythology interesting, but that doesn't mean the game has a good story.

- Broken skill system. Certain skill clases are overpowered and others are underpowered. Certain hybrids just fail outright. An insane amount of useless skills too. Pets pull too much agro as well.

Isn't it better to have where too choose from? Diablo 2 has useless skills too, it's all about the choice. Investing skill points makes the difference.

Not the way they set it. Diablo 2 does have useless skills - but they are now a part of synergies eliminating a LOT of useless skills. Investing skill points doesn't mean anything in Titan Quest. For example, I maxed Stormcaller's Lightning + Chain Lightning attack at a very early level, and it became useless by the higher levels. The skill system is borked in too many ways to count.

- They skimped out on the loot. If they were going to make a Diablo clone, they could have atleast gotten this right. As far as I remember, Titan Quest only had basic loot, magic loot, set loot, and unique loot. Diablo 2 had basic loot, magic loot, rare loot, unique loot, and set loot. Since Titan Quest lacked unique loot - it made the game less fun because it was that much more rare when you got a good item.

The fact that the items are far more interesting makes up for it. It feels better to kick ass with Patrocle's Shortblade or the Eye Of Osiris than with Random Sword Of Fiery Asskicking #32. It's not all about the numbers, or for the hardcores.

It doesn't make up for anything. They aren't that interesting at all. It's even sadder that I've had both the weapons you described meaning that there's a very small pool of unique loot. Diablo 2 not only has probably 20x the amount of Unique Items, it has rare items which are necessary to have. I'm not sure if you get my point though because you compare Patrocle's Shortblade to "Sword of Fiery Asskicking #32" when it would be Patrocle's Shortblade to Breath of the Dying. Just because Titan Quest has less items doesn't make them any more memorable.

- Unrealistic locations. Take your starting area. Am I the only one who noticed Sparta was a boot camp? Darnassus wasn't even a boot camp. It was a single merchant (and he wasn't even human!). These towns are really small and silly.

It was a Spartan war camp, not the city. You don't visit any entire city, you can see more houses beyond the walls. Also, crying for realism when satyrs destroy the crops is unrealistic.

- INSANE starting difficulty. I was playing the game with a friend and the game was extremely hard for the first few hours. Health potions were rare. The Centaur boss took an upward of 500 hits to kill. We were facing level 16s at level 10.

Buy potions, because gold is everywhere in this game. I never found the game hard. It's just that you have to think before you invest the points, buying a billion low-level skills is not good. It's a good thing you can reinvest skill points in some cities.

I've honestly never had a hard time with the game until recently. I was giving the game another playthrough with a friend. We both bought potions. Perhaps the skill trees we had were just impossible to use at a low level. Who knows.

Baranga

Really, the skill system and loot is enough to labe the game "average". I could throw in many more cons (terrible boss battles) that the game has but my biggest beefs are with the skill system and loot.

EDIT: Fireandcloud, I'd love to make a rebuttle but honestly I don't think you know enough about Diablo 2 for me to make any points that would make sense to you. The "Barbarian's without whirlwind are chumps" is a give-away. You also mention that in Diablo 2 you have 5 looks and Titan Quest you have 2. I don't really know what you mean (at all). In Titan Quest, your looks are completely dependent on what level you are (aside from set items). If you're level 1-15, you're going to look exactly like every other character level 1-15. It only starts to branch out at level 40. That also brings me to another point: Casters look lame for the first 40 levels. If you choose to be a caster, you might as well accept you're going to look like a pansy for nearly the entire lenght of the game. Diablo 2 has 7 cl-sses. Each with their own armor sets and st-les..

The only thing I can see that was wrong with the game apart of the bugs was the some times unforgiving difficulty. The game quickly turns into a potion drinkathon.zeus_gb

And Diablo 2 wasn't a potion drinkathon? LOL.

diablo clone this, diablo clone that. the damn game had an awesome story------no wait the story sucked donkey ass. Kill diablo and the other damn demons, how original. the game was great when it came out but titan's quest is better. to otherwise is just fanboyism to the extreme.

diablo clone this, diablo clone that. the damn game had an awesome story------no wait the story sucked donkey ass. Kill diablo and the other damn demons, how original. the game was great when it came out but titan's quest is better. to otherwise is just fanboyism to the extreme.

omenodebander

The real question is whether D3 will surpass Titan Quest.Gooeykat

I doubt that, with only 5 classes...

i wouldnt' say that TQ is underrated. it is an average to good game. it basically took D2's concepts and refined them slightly and put it all in a 3D environment.

on the plus side you have the potential for deeper character development with a combination of 2 classes, the ability to redistribute skill points, and some nice looking landscapes and enemies.

on the other hand, the story doesn't really compare; the cutscenes in D2 helped drive the story and reinforced the object of your missions. in TQ you just go from one general/villager/shade to the next picking up quests in what feels like a string of hodgepodge minor missions. the overall storyline is there, but it never had the feeling of D2's story. the number of minor missions and how many don't relate to the overall goal actually seemed to take away from the main story in a way.

TQ is what it is, a clone of D2 with a few nice enhancements and a somewhat stale story. D2 set the stage several years ago and brought some new ideas to action RPGs; i guess that's why many people feel it contributed more to the genre.

z

[QUOTE="zeus_gb"]The only thing I can see that was wrong with the game apart of the bugs was the some times unforgiving difficulty. The game quickly turns into a potion drinkathon.pwilletts

And Diablo 2 wasn't a potion drinkathon? LOL.

I bought Titan Quest Gold and regret my purchase, the game is VERY mediocre. D2 was much much much more enjoyable.

Reasons? Just read Godlovesdead's post, he listed them and I agree 100%.

To be honest, if TQ had the community Diablo 2 had, it would by far be a better game.

Its a load of fun.

To be honest, if TQ had the community Diablo 2 had, it would by far be a better game.

Its a load of fun.

mrbojangles25

- INSANE starting difficulty. I was playing the game with a friend and the game was extremely hard for the first few hours. Health potions were rare. The Centaur boss took an upward of 500 hits to kill. We were facing level 16s at level 10.

GodLovesDead

Insane starting difficulty? Really? Even if you were playing on the hardest difficulty setting, it would be no harder than playing Diablo II at the highest difficulty setting.

EDIT: Fireandcloud, I'd love to make a rebuttle but honestly I don't think you know enough about Diablo 2 for me to make any points that would make sense to you. The "Barbarian's without whirlwind are chumps" is a give-away. You also mention that in Diablo 2 you have 5 looks and Titan Quest you have 2. I don't really know what you mean (at all). In Titan Quest, your looks are completely dependent on what level you are (aside from set items). If you're level 1-15, you're going to look exactly like every other character level 1-15. It only starts to branch out at level 40. That also brings me to another point: Casters look lame for the first 40 levels. If you choose to be a caster, you might as well accept you're going to look like a pansy for nearly the entire lenght of the game. Diablo 2 has 7 cl-sses. Each with their own armor sets and st-les..

GodLovesDead

oh ho! an insult! and then you go ahead and argue your stupid points anyway; classic~!

well, to be honest, i haven't played diablo 2 in over 4 years (but i have religiously played it up till that point since the release of the game), so i have forgotten quite a bit, but i know enough to know that there were skills that were useful in diablo 2 and skills that were totally useless. i mean, whether or not i remember the specifics is not the issue; the issue is whether or not there were varying degree of usefulness of each and every skill, and there were, just as there are in titan quest. so don't give me that **** about being some kind of diablo 2 expert just cuz you can't argue a point properly.

and yeah, diablo 2 with the expansion has 7 cIasses, but i thought we were talking about diablo 2. cuz titan quest with immortal throne has tons of added unique items and runes, which, of course, you totally neglect to mention. but why does this bother you all that much anyhow? i mean, yeah it'd be nice if looks could be more and more customizable, but it's really not the point of the game now, is it? cuz if it is to you, then i really feel sorry for you in more ways than one.

i mean, if you're actually able to defend stupid complaints like 'titan quest has a bad story' (and this despite diablo series having basically no story whatsoever!) or the unrealistic one shop per town, i'd love to hear it, cuz i really don't need to be an expert in diablo 2 to understand your points. i'd just have to be stupid.

It doesn't work on my PC!!! Well... it does... but at 1 fps. And from 1 hour of that experience, it sucked. not the game. just the experience.

but from a few reviews, their biggest concern was bugs and glitches, which patches fixed. I'm sure that would have bumped it to an 'A' game rather if patches were released earlier.

still... looking at the screenshots and gameplay videos make me want to play it.

time to get a new rig *sigh*

[QUOTE="Gooeykat"] The real question is whether D3 will surpass Titan Quest.regnumekal

I doubt that, with only 5 classes...

Does it really matter if there is only 5 classes? Let's take a look at the skill trees before we pass judgment. While Titan Quest was a good game, Diablo 3 will trump it hands down. If for no other reason than Titan Quest failed in multiplayer.

It is actually over-rated. I don't hear anyone else liking it. it's just right.x_t0rqc-1xd

thats the exact opposite. Not everyone has played it, but everyone Ive "spoken" to about it that has played seems to love it.

[QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]

EDIT: Fireandcloud, I'd love to make a rebuttle but honestly I don't think you know enough about Diablo 2 for me to make any points that would make sense to you. The "Barbarian's without whirlwind are chumps" is a give-away. You also mention that in Diablo 2 you have 5 looks and Titan Quest you have 2. I don't really know what you mean (at all). In Titan Quest, your looks are completely dependent on what level you are (aside from set items). If you're level 1-15, you're going to look exactly like every other character level 1-15. It only starts to branch out at level 40. That also brings me to another point: Casters look lame for the first 40 levels. If you choose to be a caster, you might as well accept you're going to look like a pansy for nearly the entire lenght of the game. Diablo 2 has 7 cl-sses. Each with their own armor sets and st-les..

fireandcloud

oh ho! an insult! and then you go ahead and argue your stupid points anyway; classic~!

well, to be honest, i haven't played diablo 2 in over 4 years (but i have religiously played it up till that point since the release of the game), so i have forgotten quite a bit, but i know enough to know that there were skills that were useful in diablo 2 and skills that were totally useless. i mean, whether or not i remember the specifics is not the issue; the issue is whether or not there were varying degree of usefulness of each and every skill, and there were, just as there are in titan quest. so don't give me that **** about being some kind of diablo 2 expert just cuz you can't argue a point properly.

and yeah, diablo 2 with the expansion has 7 cIasses, but i thought we were talking about diablo 2. cuz titan quest with immortal throne has tons of added unique items and runes, which, of course, you totally neglect to mention. but why does this bother you all that much anyhow? i mean, yeah it'd be nice if looks could be more and more customizable, but it's really not the point of the game now, is it? cuz if it is to you, then i really feel sorry for you in more ways than one.

i mean, if you're actually able to defend stupid complaints like 'titan quest has a bad story' (and this despite diablo series having basically no story whatsoever!) or the unrealistic one shop per town, i'd love to hear it, cuz i really don't need to be an expert in diablo 2 to understand your points. i'd just have to be stupid.

The game has been updated heavily since you last played. Systems have been introduced (such as synergies) which removed a lot of useless skills and turn the game around completely. I'm obviously including Lord of Destruction and I never neglected Immortal Throne because honestly Immortal Throne didn't add too much to the game. Claiming Diablo 2 has no story is rather foolish because it does indeed have a story. It's not an amazing story, but it's a decent one with excellent cinematics to back it up. Titan Quest's 'story' has no direction and there's really nothing to it. The game just feels generic in so many ways due to this. If the game was any better, maybe it would stand out to be something more than a Titan Quest clone. But it just has too many issues (and many of them I find rooted in its core gameplay). I don't really feel like I have to write an essay on this because the reviews agree that this is an average game.

[QUOTE="regnumekal"]

[QUOTE="Gooeykat"] The real question is whether D3 will surpass Titan Quest.zomglolcats

I doubt that, with only 5 classes...

Does it really matter if there is only 5 classes? Let's take a look at the skill trees before we pass judgment. While Titan Quest was a good game, Diablo 3 will trump it hands down. If for no other reason than Titan Quest failed in multiplayer.

I was talking about the SP, everyone knows TQ MP isn't great and mainly that has to do with the lack of a community plus cheating.

If you get it try playing through without the expansion....with immortal Throne installed you get a graphic glitch called rubber banding where your character can be walking and then all the sudden shoots across the view really fast..Can be annoying.ttomm1946

Thas was actually in the original too.

I've put in my share of TQ (100+ easily), so obviously I think it was a good game. Definatley a great refinement of the hack n' slash genre to date.

I'm surprised to hear people complaining about useless skills as I found that just about every skill could be used effectively. I'm also REALLY surprised people say the looks don't vary as much as D2, considering that every single unique item in TQ has a unique model and that every regular item has a unique model as well, compared to D2 where each item was just a different combination of the same sprites for each of the classes.

Regarding the story, yes, it was weak and wasn't really backed up. The entire last third of the game's 'story' is "chase the big guy with a scythe".

Under-rated? Maybe. Under-played? Surprisingly, yes.

I also just got Titan Quest from Steam..( Includes IT )

I've played far worse games and for 20 bucks it seems like it'll be fun for one play through.( I rarely play games more then once or twice....unless it's named Fallout 1 or 2 or the BG series etc)

Having fun is all I care about...

I paid full price for AC and ME and I can't even get halfway....ughhh...

I also just got Titan Quest from Steam..( Includes IT )

I've played far worse games and for 20 bucks it seems like it'll be fun for one play through.( I rarely play games more then once or twice....unless it's named Fallout 1 or 2 or the BG series etc)

Having fun is all I care about...

I paid full price for AC and ME and I can't even get halfway....ughhh...

OgreB