Titan Quest "spiritual successor" Kickstarter announced

Key members of the team responsible for no-nonsense 2006 RPG Titan Quest are looking for Kickstarter cash to help fund their new game, titled Grim Dawn.

Former Iron Lore Entertainment lead designer Arthur Bruno and his start-up studio Crate Entertainment want $280,000 to finish the project.

Built on the Titan Quest engine, it's a gritty fantasy action RPG with an open-world feel and a focus on player freedom.

"At its core, Grim Dawn strives to perfect the magical formula of fast-paced, satisfying combat, strategic character development and frenzied loot collection that defines the genre," explained Bruno on the game's Kickstarter page.

"However, we don't know of too many (or any?) ARPGs that let you make meaningful quest decisions and allow you to earn favor or go to war with different NPC factions. Have you ever been able to repair bridges to unlock new areas in whatever order you choose?

"With so many stylised ARPGs coming out now, we think our gritty art style and realistic world also help to define us."

You can see an early version of the game in action below.

The game has been in development for two years, but progress has been slow as Crate only has two full-time employees. As it currently has no income to pay wages, team members work on the game during their spare time.

"We're at a point now where we have solid core gameplay and some robust features but not enough content to release anything and we really need to accelerate that process," said Bruno.

"While we could still finish a fine little game on our own, that would be rough around the edges but very fun, we believe there is a much greater potential that could be realised if we were more adequately funded and staffed."

At the time of writing, Crate had raised $96,094 from 2139 backers, with 30 days left to run.

Titan Quest won a sturdy 7/10 when it launched on PC back in 2006, but clearly didn't sell enough to secure a future for developer Iron Lore - it shut its doors in 2008.