Towns and cities in Titan Quest are immensely detailed.
We spent half an hour tooling around the game world at the recent Leipzig Games Convention, where it was obvious that Iron Lore spent a great deal of effort on bringing ancient cities and villages to life. The ancient Greek city we started in was teaming with activity. Not just villagers in authentic period clothes strolling the streets, but vines crawling up aged stone walls, swaying in the breeze. Or birds fluttering from statue to statue. Bearded men hocked wares in bustling markets, a juggler entertained a small crowd, and a shady character leaned against the wall nearby.
This attention to detail extended out into the countryside, where the flexibility of the game engine was more apparent. Rather than feeling flat or boxy, the countryside was a living maze of hills and ravines, dotted by natural clumps of trees or the occasional abandoned low stone wall. Waist-high grass swayed in the breeze, or flew outwards from you in a big arc when you cast a magic spell. Just outside of town we crossed a small wooden bridge (you could see some villagers trucking by in carts below) before descending a gradual hill and disappearing into winding paths through tall grasses and underbrush. When satyrs crept out of the shadows to rush us, the grass parted aside and rustled as they trundled along.
Satyrs? Lots of them. Despite the beauty and realism of the environment, you're not there to check out the scenery: This is an action-RPG along the same vein as Diablo II. Although the interface isn't final yet, it was a simple matter to click on the monsters and cut a swath through them like you were mowing the grass. Armor, weapons, and goodies flew in all directions, littering the ground with loot.
One great thing about Titan Quest is that what you see is what you get: if a monster comes at you wearing scale mail armor and a handaxe, when you kill him, his armor and axe will crash to the ground. You're never stuck in the situation where you're killing a bunch of guys in heavy plate armor but for some reason you're not allowed to pick any of it up. The graphics in Titan Quest are detailed enough that you can see what monsters are equipped with, although often you're too furiously trying to kill them to notice.
