Developer: Pieces Interactive, THQ Nordic
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Titan Quest: Ragnarök – Review
Titan Quest: Ragnarök is the second expansion for the nostalgic classic Titan Quest which was released back in 2006. The original was created by Iron Lore and published by THQ, the latter of which went out of business thus compromising the future of the games under their umbrella. However, THQ Nordic was able to get the rights which ensured the future of Titan Quest and gave birth to Ragnarök with the help of Pieces Interactive.
Story
After braving the Olympian Gods in Titan Quest and their Egyptian counterparts in Immortal Thrine, you, the brave adventurer, are sent on another journey. This time you will be travelling to the cold Northern Europe where you will fight alongside or against the Celts, Northmen and their (un)holy deities. The story however is just an excuse to give you new enemies to kill, new places to discover and new people to help – do not expect any major surprises while progressing through the story.
Graphics
As Ragnarök does not change the graphics of the original in any way, we can be brief about this part. Titan Quest: Ragnarök would have looked amazing back in 2006 but it does not live up to today’s standard. If you have never played the original or are a diehard RPG fan, you will not be impressed by the graphics in any way. Everything feels two-dimensional, the characters are quite rough around the edges while the ragdoll physics are very optimistic (you will have fallen enemies flying every direction as if you are a powerful god who controls physics itself). The graphics themselves are very 2006-ish, the whole game does not feel very polished nor is there any wow-factor. Spell animations are basic, the environments look lush but lack any depth and the enemies all look quite rough around the edges.
Sound
The soundtrack varies depending on the zone you are in while the battle tunes are never annoying or distracting. You’re able to just put on your headphones, listen to the soundtrack while standing in a city and dream away. There are no ambient sounds while exploring the world (apart from birds singing their songs) nor any sounds of footsteps. The voice acting for the merchants, quest givers or random people you will encounter through the world is well done. All of them have the right accent for the zone they are in and that pulls you deeper into the game itself. They aren’t just droning out their text but they will have fear, anger or whichever emotion audible in their voice depending on the situation they are in.
Gameplay
Titan Quest: Ragnarök is a top-down RPG which focuses heavily on Hack’n’Slashing your way through everything. The game is a splendid tribute to great titles such as Diablo 2 and Baldur’s Gate but unfortunately that also means it belongs in that era. The gameplay is basic and your wrist will be suffering during your journey, especially when you are fighting intensive fights. Movement and attacking are all done through left clicking where you want to go and what you want to kill – using special skills however is done through 1 – 8 and right clicking. This is how most RPGs have been running the show for the last decade and Ragnarök isn’t trying to break the mold in any way.
Auto-attack is nonexistent so you will get frustrated when you want to attack a creature and you end up clicking next to it again which leads to you walking up to the snarling beast in hugging range instead of smashing its face. The inventory system is basic (you have a 13×5 grid inventory which you can fill up in any way you like) while trading with the vendors around the world can become somewhat frustrating thanks to their high prices and quickly outdated stock. The specialization system is quite in depth, so you will have to spend serious thought into which primary and secondary path you will want to take to ensure you are able to finish the story without having to grind for eternity. You are able to undo any changes you make at any time so you are able to adapt your playstyle depending on what the game is throwing your way. Navigating the interface can be tricky while having to open the world map to orient yourself becomes tedious and somewhat irritating.
Apart from some scripted events or summoned allies, you spend the majority of the game alone against hordes of enemies which is disappointing. Never will you be able to bond with NPCs, rush to save them as they heroically sacrifice themselves for you (or walk off a cliff when you aren’t paying attention) or curse when they aggro yet another pack of high level elites. You control the action and you alone – want to kite twenty monsters while picking them off one by one with a bow? Go ahead. Jump into a pack of elites, bash their head in and then kite them to regain your health or energy? We got you fam. Prefer raining down fire, lightning and pure agony on a wild boar? Sounds like overkill but who are we to judge?
Conclusion
Titan Quest: Ragnarök is a great expansion for a great game. The commitment of THQ Nordic in releasing an expansion 11 years later while giving the Anniversary Edition for free for everyone who purchased Titan Quest and/or Immortal Throne shows respect for their playerbase. That being said, Ragnarök is only interesting to those players that played the previously mentioned titles as it has no selling points for the younger generation of gamers. Definately worth a playthrough if you played the original or similar titles such as Diablo 2 or Baldur’s Gate – if you are more a fan of The Witcher or Diablo 3, you most likely will not enjoy playing Titan Quest: Ragnarök.
Titan Quest: Ragnarök - Review,
No Comments