Doesn't provide much innovation however amazing character customisation and mod tools just made it unique enough.
Graphics: 9 (detailed landscapes / environs / creatures)
Sounds: 7 (musically impressive / ambience sounds also top notch yet hopeless voice acting)
Value: 10 (long campaign yet diverse landscapes doesn't feel too repetitive / excellent modding tools / great loot to collect)
Tilt: 7 (only because of the excellent modding tools and the amazing character customisation)
Battling mythical creatures are stuff that heroes are made of. Theseus battling the Minotaur, Perseus beheads the gorgon Medusa or even Gilgamesh with Enkidu vanquishing Humbaba are stories that many ancient people aspires to. Now add traversing locales like the Hanging Garden of Babylon, the Pyramids of Giza or confronting the terracotta warriors you certainly got the stuff legends are made of. This is what Titan Quest is all about – myths and legends comes to life in an epic quest to stop the rampaging Telkines releasing the 'Father of all Monsters' Typhon.
Titan Quest game play can be regarded as an action RPG; very similar in the vain of Diablo, Sacred and Divine Divinity. So in the beginning you can create your hero with eight main classes to choose from and once reach level eight you can tack on another class; bringing the grand total of twenty eight classes to choose from. This is one mean feat as the vast majority of action RPGs only have three. So to see if all twenty eight classes are feasible enough I completed the game twice using two characters that both classes have very little synergy. Other words the two classes don't really compliment each other.
That said I choose the Druid (storm / nature crossover – very little synergy here) and the Juggernaut (earth / defence – as weird as it sounds also very little synergy). Yet the observant ones may notice my little pattern here – if I crossover those two characters then I have heroes that are synergised: that is nature / defence (Guardian – which equates to massive healing / hit points) and earth / storm (Elementalist – one heck of a DPS with plenty of buffs). And yes I actually completed the campaign using both the Druid and Juggernaut (albeit to say that the Juggernaut had troubles defeating end chapter bosses thus drowning in many healing potions and the Druid had issues defeating multiple mobs due to the lack of real armour and very little stun resistance). So kudos to the developers having a vast list of characters yet players beware that the less synergised ones can be quite difficult to play.
The game play doesn't come easier as the vast majority of your time requires a simple left click to practically do everything; ranging from attacking your foes to buying equipment to moving your character about. You can also hot key your 'belt' with commonly used spells / potions by pressing the num pad. Yet once getting deeper into the game, ironically it does get unnecessary harder.
For example: my Druid can summon animals and controlling the wolf is one mean feat. It involves clicking on the wolf and then clicking on the area to where he goes. If the wolf doesn't find anyone he runs back to you. This is a pain as 1) you cannot effectively hotkey the right mouse button / mouse wheel (as it would be nice to control your pet/s this way) and 2) considering it's a fast paced game, performing this action whilst mobs screaming at you is not the most efficient way (save for dying or guzzling potions). This goes with other spells that requires targeting / aiming so as you can imagine my choice of spells are quite limited. Yet there are ways to improve on this (as I won't go into details) however in a nutshell there's room for improvement when it comes to controlling your character effectively.
Among the click fest of beating up mythical monsters from ancient Greece, Egypt and Asia you come to expect some kind of epic story to match. And considering part of the development team is Age of Empires co-creator Brian Sullivan and Braveheart writer Randall Wallace something went amiss here. The storyline has your character practically no history other than 'hey you over there…can you help me out with…' doesn't gel with me. Granted that in every major city you have a storyteller spilling a yarn or two about mythical events however the game made little integration with these tales to either your character and / or game. There are periods where you get to see the Oracle at Delphi or witnessing the terracotta warriors comes to life however the vast majority of your time the game feels like an empty shell other than collecting loot.
Speaking of loot, Titan Quest boasts over one thousand unique and legendry items. Some items even mirrors from mythical heroes however I won't mention any of them as it's kind of a spoiler otherwise. Yet the more powerful ones cannot be imbedded with relics / charms that you eventually collect throughout your adventure. These items, once get a full set can increase your 'normal' or magical items many folds. Beware though that once the item is imbued you cannot remove them. However at the start of the game your inventory slot is quite minimal for loot hunting. But thankfully though you have an unlimited teleporting spell (to sell those items) and the inventory bag will increase over time.
Yet the strongest point of the game is the graphics. The backdrops, monsters and characters are all in glorious 3D. Smooth animations, detailed skins and splendid drawn landscapes certainly enhance the playing experience. To top things off, the locales also brings in a sense of 'wow-ness' as you'll get to witness the vast and winding Great Wall of China, the towering Pyramids of Giza and my personal favourite the loneliness of the Silk Road among many, many others. And let's not forget to add the great (and at times outlandish) physics where killing your foes can bring a smile to your face as they can crumble into a heap or go flinging off a cliff.
The sound quality though is a mixed bag. Musically is pleasant to hear and stays true to the era and the entire ambience sounds like growling monsters, chirping crickets, splashing through the waters etc are top notch. However the voice acting is a downer as I cringed many times when hearing an American impersonating an Asian fellow. It's like a young child trying to impersonate a foreigner who has no idea about their language structure other than what Hollywood told them.
Considering there are three massive lands to discover plus a few side quests the game can take quite long to finish. A 'typical' run can easily invest fifty plus hours (and that's includes exploring every nook and cranny). Yet the game is quite linear that you really cannot go off the beaten path however witnessing the diverse landscape is a plus. Also the monsters don't respawn over time unless you restart the game and to those who likes to 'quest grind' will be a little disappointed as the second run and so forth will only results in 'lessor' drops. Once completed the game though unlocks the next level of difficulty being epic and then legendary. I thought the epic run was actually the main game as 'normal' feels like a training run.
And if that's not all you can complete the campaign in multiplayer. Up to five other players can join and even (if you allow) PvP. I feel completing multiplayer is beneficial if you want to go through legendary mode as it's extremely brutal during single player (unless you are totally decked out – and if so then why go through legendary then…). And last but not least there's a toolset where you and others can create further adventures or even customise the game. I used the 360 pan view mod as I thought isometric view can be limited at times (as mobs can attack off screen; especially on the bottom left corner) and to the modders credit it worked pretty well…well not perfect though as the frame rate can drop below ten however the point is that the game's weaknesses can be easily modded.
Titan Quest as a game doesn't really provide much innovation – it's like it's reinventing the wheel all over again. On top of that the lacklustre storyline and poor controls can easily bring monotony and unnecessary frustrations. That in itself can be unpleasant as you want a game to be able to stand on its own two feet. Yet what break this barrier are the easy-to-use mod tools, the great loot (yet it drastically improves on the epic and legendary mode) and the amazing character choices will bring excitement to the game. I'll say play a character that very few action RPGs can offer and go search on the net for some great mods then you'll have a ball of a game.