I’ve played both and i really like both but they are both better at different things. Titan Quest was lacking in replayability because it didn’t have random levels, having to play the exact same thing over and over killed it for me, but it had a much much nicer skill system. Hellgate: London has the randomized levels and a much much nicer loot system (i totally hated the fact that in Titan Quest green items ended up being better than rares or epics because you couldn’t add mods to them, in hellgate: london all items can be modded and in fact the amount of mod “slots” is another of the random things on items). So i’d say its a tie, they both got a lot of things right and some wrong.
Thanks DigitalC, very helpful :). The skill system is more important to me than randomized levels, unless the randomization is really well done. I found TQ ( with the expansion, before that it was a bit too short ) sufficiently engaging, story-wise. The kind of randomization present in Diablo and Diablo II never impressed me much.
Athena - As I recall, TQ does have multiplayer, but I’ve never tried it, being an exclusively single-player sort of guy. Imagine - interacting on the net with a bunch of strangers! The horror! 
Is nightmare available for non-subscribers? For single-player and/or multiplayer?
I do have to agree with this. I was amazed to see levels change as much as they can do. I did one run-through of an early sewer level and it was basically a tower - a small room and a ramp down, over and over - and I redid the level and it was almost entirely on a single flat level, with lots of long narrow passages. I was startled to see how different they were.
The minigame guide has been updated, it now says deal or take that type of damage.
I know this is funny, but I had a huge problem with Titan Quest because of… the walk speed.
Seriously. I loved the skill system, had fun with the equipment and all. But I kept walking around soooooo sloooooooooowllllllllllyyyyyyy. Eventually, I just got bored. Oh well.
I looooooooooved the defence mastery shield charge for that very reason. Spot mob and zoooooooom you are on it smacking it in the face with your shield. Very satisfying.
I’ve got really mixed feelings about the game. It’s such a mixed bag that I don’t think it’s destined to be anything remarkable beyond the upcoming holiday season, though I’m sure the developers would be happy enough to have a best seller for a while.
I must have been living under a rock. I didn’t realize it was so closely related to Diablo and the “action RPG” genre. If I had known, I might have passed on it. I bought it because I saw it advertised as a cRPG with solo and online play.
I liked that it ran at high resolution right out of the box! I’ve got a very capable system (capable of running Oblivion with graphics maxed out), but I spent hours tweaking Gothic 3 in order to keep it from crashing or running without annoying artifacts. That developer should commit seppuku with a legendary broadsword. I liked that you can toss the manual in the trash after copying down the serial number. The interface is intuitive enough with the short tutorial to get you started.
After just a couple hours of play, I can already sense, though, that the story and character development are going to be a little flat for someone expecting a RPG. I don’t understand why games in this genre can’t live up to the RPG billing and include a bit more on character development, story, voice acting, and the like. All and all, those elements would make for a longer more immersive game, yet they seem to be intentionally lacking. If I wanted action only, I’d have gone for Unreal 3. I still might.
It’s billed to have replay value, but it’s looking like a ‘play it once through and uninstall it’ game for me unless add-ons or online play increase the excitement factor soon.
Yeah, but having the weapon is a lot faster and easier than seeking out a monster that does a particular damage type.
Apparenlty having the right weapon doesn’t always work. My Engineer found a Spectral sniper rifle last night but didn’t get credit for killing things with it.
I have one of those on my Marksman…but I almost never use it. It’s a powerful gun (especially with the mods I have on it), but my electric gun (forget the name) though it does less damage is actually more useful as it’s rate of fire is so much higher. As they say in the 1630 series, it’s all about rate of fire. 
-XT
Same here, particularly after noticing the Spectral damage count not decreasing. A heavily modified rocket launcher that gives +1 to Rapid Fire is much more useful.
I loved Titan Quest too. Despite it having no random maps it did have occasional random monsters and the always-lovely random loot. Plus the three difficulty levels and the ability to do item runs. The expansion introducing a way to transfer items to other characters in-game was also a welcome addition.
I’d like the second this question please.
Nightmare is available to anyone who completes Normal.
Weird. I’ve had pretty good luck so far - basically setting myself up with dualwield pistols and using mods to add different damage types.
This is also handy for busting up crates and things, my main rifle is s-l-o-w but does a lot of damage.
Looks like the first content update is coming. Lead desinger Bill Roper has given word of a 300Meg patch next month.
Nevermind. The original guide’s icons were a bit ambiguous; the new one says I was looking at the wrong icon. I have a Spectral Monster goal, not Spectral Damage.
For anyone wondering which bits are available to non-subscribers / subscribers there’s this list
Subscriber Chart anything that has a non-bolded X next to it, is a planned feature, bolded = in game already.
I am torn, but in a different way. Looking at the comparison chart for free v pay, that is a lot of additional content. Particularly the potential new character classes and the (non urban) level updates. I did preorder the game, so barring 100,000 other people doing so first ( if I recall the number correctly), I could pay a hefty $150 for the founders lifetime membership. Or I could just pay $10/mo when I want to play the additional content, under the assumption that I’d not do so for more than 15 months.
The first content push is meant to be December, which will include a level based around Stonehenge.
I paid the $150 based on the fact that this means that I can come and go as I please when the expansions* hit, without having to worry about signing up again or forgetting to cancel the account.
You are correct though, it’s only 100,000 subscribers that will be able to get the founders membership and it’s only available till the end of November.
*According to FSS they’ve planned for at least 2 expansions, in addition to the subscriber only content pushes.