10-19-2006, 01:03 AM
Quote:And yet you compare Diablo II to Hellgate: London? If my understanding there is correct, that's going to be more of a tactical first-person shooter with MMO elements...not seeing the comparison.
Well then, you seem to know as little about Hellgate:London as you do about Titan Quest.
Flagship Studios did initially bill HG:L as some sort of cross between an FPS and an RPG, but in reality it is basically an action RPG. It allows both first and third person views, but it's not an FPS type 'twitch' game. Attack skills, to hit calculations etc. are all based on character stats and development in standard RPG style. Tons of items, randomized dungeons, robust multiplayer support, at least three character classes (templar = paladin/melee type, cabalist=sorcerer/necromancer type, and one to be announced in Nov, widely assumed to be some sort of ranged attacker-type) Sound familiar?;)
HG:L won't be a MMORPG-type game either, any more than Diablo (or Guild Wars, for that matter). There will be common towns (underground stations) to provide chat, gathering points etc., but all the actual fighting will take place in instances. (They still seem to figuring out the maximum amount of players allowed in an instance, so I don't know how many they'll eventually allow.)
Interestingly, the dedicated hosting services for HG:L in the US will be provided by another outfit (San Jose-based Online Game Services). Although they've made no official announements, it seems that Flagship, unlike ArenaNet in Guild Wars, is considering some sort of fee for part (though not all) of the multiplayer component --- perhaps the part that involves playing on their dedicated servers. If true, it's not so clear how they will do it and how well it will work out for this kind of game, or whether they will drive away a lot of potential players.
Anyway, I think many people who have actually been following HG:L (as opposed to arguing over comparisons with things they know little about) see it as a possible successor to Diablo. Whether the game can live up to this billing, supposing that it's even possible to do so any more, remains to be seen.