Keeping you busy, once again, until the next Diablo.

I have always been a fan of the action RPG genre. Maximizing my stats with ability points and loot has always been a fun endeavor for me. Diablo II was one of my most played games back in the time when I had time to actually do everything in a game. For a good five years after Diablo II, I couldn’t find a game that scratched that RPG itch that I wanted up until 2006 when Titan Quest released. Sure, I wasn’t taking on hoards of the Prime Evil in Hell, but I was able to fight some mythological creatures from not only Greek mythology, but Egyptian and Chinese mythology as well. I enjoyed my time with the game for a few months until a little obsession of mine called Torchlight came out and rejuvenated the action RPG genre for me. Well, cut to 2018 and funny enough, Titan Quest, much like Diablo, has made its way to the Xbox One and PS4.

As far as a story goes, Titan Quest has players taking on the role of an unnamed warrior who embarks on a mission to stop three lesser Titans from unleashing the great Titans unto Earth after communications to the Olympian gods has been broken. They will travel through Greece, Egypt, and China to stop this from happening, and have to take on all the monsters that are associated with these ancient civilizations. It’s not as ground breaking as one might think, but its story serves it decently enough.

MSRP: $29.99
Price I’d pay: $29.99
Platforms: XB1, PS4, PC, Switch (later in 2018)

Titan Quest is much like a spiritual successor to Diablo II. Players will attack, use abilities, and level up all within an isometric view of the world. The game was originally only on PC which meant players were clicking on different areas of the map to move and attack. Because of this, the game was based entirely on a grid with squares. This has not changed in the current console versions so using an analog stick to move, players will notice that their character will be moving into a square even after they have stopped moving the analog stick. It was awkward to begin with, but I eventually got used to it. Still, it is very noticeable and some may not like it especially when trying to interact with things on the ground. Luckily, looting can be simplified by holding down the loot button to bring up a menu to pick and choose what to pick up.

One thing I always enjoyed about Titan Quest was the dynamic class system. Most games have player choosing a class from the very beginning of the game and picking and choosing which abilities to use via their class. In Titan Quest, player characters begin with no class at all and when leveling up for the first time, they are allowed to put points into a number of skill trees called Masteries. This allows them to pick and choose which skills they want to learn and adhere to a class depending on the skills they take. Dual classing is available and doing so will change the class name and the synergy with the skills of both classes. So, if I were to choose skills in the Warfare mastery at the start and then take on some skills from the Earth mastery, my class would then combine to become the Battlemage class. It’s a really interesting concept and it works really well, although I do suggest not spreading skills too thin. Powering up passive and active skills already unlocked can be just as useful as obtaining multiple skills with only one or two points dropped into them.

What usually makes an action RPG the most fun? Multiplayer, of course. Titan Quest allows up to six player co-op via Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. The biggest draw back? There is no local co-op, one thing Blizzard was able to do with Diablo III. This is a major misstep that would have benefitted the overall package significantly.

Visually, it’s decently smooth. I had no frame rate issues while playing, but it needs to be stressed, this is still a game from 2006. It’s not the greatest looking game in the world, but for the style of game, it works and never really bothered me.

This package comes with the first DLC, Immortal Throne, that adds a few extra goodies to the game as well as the new act at the end of the original game. It’s all integrated in from the beginning, so new players won’t notice much of a change. One thing I didn’t know was the just last year, Titan Quest received another new expansion called Ragnarok. Yes, a 12 year old game just got a new expansion. Unfortunately, Ragnarok is not in this console package. I don’t know if THQ Nordic is planning to release it for the consoles at a later date, but it would be nice to see since I have never experienced it.

At the end of the day, it’s Titan Quest. For those that have never played it, they may either love it or hate it depending on how well they adapt to the grid-based movement. Fans of the original 2006 release who are looking to try the game out again will have a fun time here. While it’s not the best port of a PC action RPG, it has the makings of a fun time with up to five buddies online. Granted, local co-op should have been in there, but this is still a very competent RPG that I think any fans of Diablo will enjoy at a great price.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.