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Former Titan Quest devs announce Grim Dawn
Crate Entertainment is a company made up of the old Iron Lore team that worked on Titan Quest, arguably the most popular of the Diablo clones to come out in the past few years. Crate has finally announced its latest project, and it's Grim Dawn, another action RPG (it even namedrops Diablo in the description) set in the world of Cairn, where two forces have "decimated human civiliation" and are "warping the very fabric of reality." Sounds appropriately epic, though as long as there's plenty of loot, we're not too bothered. Five classes? Check. Skill trees? Check. A crafting system and co-op multiplayer? Check and check. Considering that even the same Titan Quest engine and toolset are being used, Grim Dawn doesn't sound too far off the hack-and-slash loot-hunting reservation. But that's not a bad thing -- we'll have to see if it plans to mix up the tried-and-true formula as it moves toward a planned digital release in 2011.
Defunct Titan Quest dev lives on as Crate Entertainment
Like a phoenix, a new studio has clawed its way out from beneath the corpse of Iron Lore. The dev behind Titan Quest and Warhammer 40K Dawn of War expansion Soulstorm folded last February, citing funding as the chief reason for the company's demise. Now, however, former Iron Lore designer Arthur Bruno and art director Eric Campanella are picking up the pieces, quietly founding a new company called Crate Entertainment and purchasing the rights to Iron Lore's unfinished games.Among those titles scooped up by the duo is Black Legion, an action RPG for the Xbox 360 that Bruno hopes will repackage Titan Quest's gameplay to "make it sort of grittier and more appealing to the mainstream audience." The Journal of New England Technology reports that the studio is currently shopping a demo for Black Legion to unspecified publishers, though we hope whoever bites won't simply shake their finger at stupid people if things don't work out exactly as planned.[Via Shacknews]
THQ's Fitch plays the Iron Lore blame game
The death of Iron Lore studios (the devs of Titan Quest and Warhammer 40K Dawn of War expansion Soulstorm) was, officially, the result of "several unrelated events." But THQ creative director Michael Fitch was able to narrow it down a little bit in a forum post he made soon after the announcement. Public enemy number one? Unsurprisingly, it's piracy, which he said affected not only game sales, but the game's perception by a public that's playing a buggy, unfinished version.Fitch also puts the blame on hardware vendors more concerned with bottom line than creating a quality product, and we're 100 percent with him. But he loses us a little when he starts blaming "stupid people" who aren't savvy enough to make their PC gaming-ready. We see his point, but it seems to indicate more of a problem with PC gaming as a whole than the people who pay $50 for a non-returnable product and expect it to work.
Iron Lore studios officially shuts down
Iron Lore studios, developers of Titan Quest and the upcoming Warhammer 40K Dawn of War expansion Soulstorm, officially announced it ceased operations on Feb. 19. Iron Lore's notice states that the closure was due to "several unrelated events" which caused the company to not secure funding for its next project. The notice goes on to give a contact email for any developers looking to hire the team and states Iron Lore is actively looking to license its "powerful and flexible engine and tool set." Soulstorm is set to release next week.[Via GI.biz]
Titan Quest: Immortal Throne update
The holiday issue of PC Gamer has some exclusive details on Titan Quest: Immortal Throne, the first official expansion pack for Iron Lore's epic action-RPG. Due early next year, this new campaign serves as a continuation of the original game's storyline, and moves the action to an underworld environment inhabited by 20 new monster types. A ninth skill mastery will also be available, as well as 250 unique weapons and pieces of armor. No pricing has been announced, but Immortal Throne is expected to provide 10-15 hours of additional gameplay.If you already have the core campaign, don't forget to check out the growing list of mods available over at the Titan Quest Vault.See also: Metareview: Titan Quest
Titan Quest expansion announced, modders interviewed
THQ has announced that a Titan Quest expansion pack will be released before the end of Q1, but there are other options for extending your mythical adventures beyond the game's core campaign. Aspiring developers have started showcasing their mods at the Titan Quest Vault, and have offered some insight into their creative process through a series of interviews. German modder Toh Klidan, for example, is the author of Andromeda's Sacrifice, a retelling of the classic tale of the Aethiopian princess and her savior Perseus (of Clash of the Titans fame). According to Klidan, the Titan Quest tools appear more confusing than they actually are, so we should be seeing more independent campaigns and maps in the near future. There are over 40 available now. Let us know if you've tried any of them.See also: Metareview - Titan Quest
Metareview - Titan Quest
When Blizzard introduced the seminal Diablo a decade ago, they single-handedly invented the hack and slash RPG (and, quite possibly, carpal tunnel syndrome). There have been many followers since -- Dungeon Siege on the PC, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and Champions of Norrath on consoles -- and while the graphics engines have evolved, the addictive gameplay has remained more or less the same. With Titan Quest, developer Iron Lore stuck to the principle formula, but in a setting that is more Age of Mythology than D&D. Yahoo! Games (90/100) appreciates the attention to detail in level design: "Although there are no random levels, the later game opens up with enough side quests that you don't feel like you're playing Dungeon Siege, being shunted from one canned encounter to the next. The flip side of not having Diablo's tile-based random-level generator is that every nook and cranny is built by hand. And it looks it: Titan Quest is a gorgeous game on many different levels." GameSpot (76/100) notes Titan Quest's potential longevity: "The gradual approach to character creation taken here is welcome, and the sheer scope of the single-player campaign, coupled with the cooperative play and tools to create your own campaign, means that players willing to commit to the experience will have a wealth of content to keep themselves busy with." GameSpy (70/100) recommends a hefty system configuration: "One wart in Titan Quest is its performance -- specifically, the game tends to chug when the lighting and particle effects are full-blast. It never became unplayable, but during the worst moments, it was definitely annoying enough for me to hope that some imminent patches will be released to address the problem."
Iron Lore reveals Asian map for Titan Quest
GameSpot recently visited Iron Lore to chat with company founder and Age of Empires co-creator Brian Sullivan. They also went a few rounds with the latest build of Titan Quest, the young company's Diablo-inspired action-RPG. The game will feature a six-player cooperative mode, user-friendly map and quest editors, and a newly revealed Asian-themed setting. The first two acts of Titan Quest take place in ancient Greece and Egypt, while the third and final setting will find your customized champion doing battle along the Silk Road and on the Great Wall. The epic quest begins June 1.Related links: Official site, Titan Quest Vault
