Titan Quest is an action role-playing hack-and-slash game developed by Iron Lore Entertainment and released in 2006 for PC. Set against a backdrop drawn from ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Asian mythology, the game follows a mortal hero confronting the monstrous forces threatening the world after the gods have been weakened. Gameplay centers on combat against waves of mythological enemies, with progression built around a dual-mastery character system that allows players to combine two skill trees from a selection of distinct disciplines, creating flexible and varied builds. Loot collection and character customization drive the experience between battles. The game was published by THQ and later became available on Steam in 2007 alongside its expansion, Titan Quest: Immortal Throne. The intellectual property was subsequently acquired by Nordic Games in 2013 following THQ's collapse.
Titan Quest is based on the end of communication between the gods and humanity. The main character (whose name and sex can be chosen by the player) begins the quest on a dirt road near a small village named Helos. The world has been overrun by beasts and creatures (drawn largely from mythology) that are terrorizing the countryside wrecking harvests, burning temples, invading villages and cemeteries, besieging cities etc. After being sent on a mission to Delphi by the Spartan general Leonidas, the story revolves around the fictional order of Prometheus and their efforts to restore balance to the world. The hero finds centaurs, harpies, automatons, spiders and scorpions, yetis, undead soldiers and other such monsters derived from myth, relentlessly guarding the way and trying to prevent him from reaching the next village or town. The hero must occasionally face stronger 'miniboss' monsters, usually as part of a side quest. Bosses also appear at intervals generally guarding a main quest item, transportation device, quest NPC, etc. The player faces a boss enemy (called telkines) at the end of each 'act' (Greece, Egypt and The Orient) and faces a final boss enemy at Mount Olympus, the Titan Typhon.
