Titan Quest Multiplayer Preview

IGN PC has put together a hands-on preview of the multiplayer support in THQ and Iron Lore’s Titan Quest.

Once you enter the multiplayer session, you just press “P” to open up the invite window, and there are separate chat channels for the party and for the whole area. When you’re partied up, experience and gold are shared equally, but gear is not. For better or worse, loot is a free-for-all, so we recommend playing with people you know and get along with, to avoid the inevitable frustrations that arise when you see something you really could use but can’t get because someone else wants to vendor the item or give it to someone else. There are also shrines dotted throughout the game that enhance your combat abilities, healing, and one that boosts your experience per kill, but it appears that only the XP shrine affects all party members.

Aside from this, multiplayer plays pretty smoothly — your fellow members show up in a list on the left-hand side and on the compass map in the upper right. Trading is a simple act of right-clicking on the player’s name in that list and selecting “trade.” The trade UI should be familiar to anyone who’s played Diablo or World of Warcraft — just click-and-drag an item into the window, select the trade button, and wait for the other player to accept the transaction. As in WoW, mousing over an item will produce a pop-up window that compares that item to what you’re already wearing, so you don’t have to switch between windows to see if what you want is actually better than what you have.

You’ll also find four new gameplay videos showing off their latest adventures through the game.