Mines of Titan is an old school adventure game with a futuristic setting. It is a PC remake by Infocom of the Mars Saga, which was originally developed by Westwood Associates for Electronic Arts and was intended for the Commodore 64, although it saw action on other ports. The Mars Saga is almost identical to Mines of Titan, except the Mines of Titan has a slightly more in depth story line, and the locale has obviously been changed to the moon Titan from Mars.
Mines of Titan is an old school adventure game with a futuristic setting. It is a PC remake by Infocom of the Mars Saga, which was originally developed by Westwood Associates for Electronic Arts and was intended for the Commodore 64, although it saw action on other ports. The Mars Saga is almost identical to Mines of Titan, except the Mines of Titan has a slightly more in depth story line, and the locale has obviously been changed to the moon Titan from Mars.
Mines of Titan is a role playing adventure game where the user begins play as Tom Jetland, but more characters can be hired as the game progresses. The game is set somewhere in the twenty-second century. The cities and maps are all very
similar, if not identical, to the original Mars Saga. The adventurers are exploring the moon base, Primus, and wander around the map, looking for clues will lead them to answer one question. Why has contact with the city Proscenium been cut off? Jetland and his friends believe that the answer can be found by investigating the strange happenings in the mines. The user will guide his party around the map, in and out of bars and clubs. He will visit shops that will provide much needed items that will help in his success in future endeavors.
To earn money to spend in such shops, Tom and his gang will undertake special missions for a variety of non-playing character employers. The money can be used to buy some very powerful weapons, as well as other items in the shops. The user’s party will gain experience by completing combat sequences, which are a little bit trickier than a lot of games of this nature due to an unfriendly combat interface. The characters have twenty-one attributes to build up, which makes for a very unique character by the time the game is over. This also adds nicely to the replay value of the game.
The graphics of Mines of Titan are dated, but okay. However there is almost no sound, which tends to make for somewhat monotonous play. Fortunately, the wide array of level ups and attributes will keep the user interested when whistles and bells fail to shine.
In total, Mines of Titan had a lot of potential. It has a good story based on a proven game, and features a great futuristic theme. The characters are good, and the potential depth of each character is very, very intriguing because of his massive number of skills. Still, Mines of Titan was only an average game, mostly due to the mundane sounds and the clumsy battle sequences. It is still worth a look, especially for fans of the science fiction genre.
