Review: Sacred 2

Whilst we wait with bated breath for the release of Diablo 3 in the "not-so-distance-future", or 2011 at the earliest, says Blizzard, we can fill the void with other RPGs like Sacred 2 or Torchlight. I've played my fair share of RPGs from Neverwinter Night 2 to Titan Quest, and now Sacred 2. I can safely say, Germans are undoubtedly the kings of immersion.

Where to begin with this massive RPG? To introduce Sacred 2; it is the sequel to the highly acclaimed original which promises to build on the first's massive world ripe for exploration, deep action gameplay, and just plain mind-blowing graphics. Take note however that other than dabbling a toe into Sacred 1, I haven't really played it, so this review is entirely based on the game's own merits, rather than a comparison to what's come before.

***

As with any action-RPG, all you really want to do is hack and slash your way through places, grab all the loot you can, and have a final showdown with some mega boss. Who cares about a story? Sacred 2 continues that tradition with some flimsy tale of a world powered by a force called T-Energy, and it has come to be in the hands of bad people, who will harness it for their megalomaniac tendencies. You won't even need to worry about all the extra text that comes with the quests you pick up, just read the objective: go here, kill these number of people, pick up your reward. THE END. Rinse, wash, and repeat. But Sacred 2 has to be praised for trying to hide this mindlessness as best as it can with a story at all, because if it really was all about the next level, and the next best weapon, then the game wouldn't be able to sustain people's interests as well as it does. It also does the compulsive thing, with a tonne of quests to get lost in. You'll rack up a list of things to do, and it's just so satisfying to check each one off that you'll soon be afflicted with the "just-one-more" addiction.


And by gosh, the journey! There is an overwhelming awesome high-five sense of adventure, a great feeling of exploring new lands, stocking up in safe and welcoming towns, and then heading out into the wilderness again. There are plenty of distinct environments as is expected of an RPG of this scale, from coastlines to highlands, underground caves, strange other-worlds, and plenty a grassy knoll, raining down hell on monsters like giant scorpions, your standard wolves, orcs, ogres, dragons and even a mega-sized octopus (gross). So what's new you ask? Seeing as this sounds just like any other RPG that's come before.

The hook is in the level of immersion the game brings with its graphics and attention to detail. You'll have visited plenty a town in your lifetime as a role-player, but nothing will prepare you for the scale of the villages and cities in Sacred 2. All of them are positively bristling with life, people ambling about their daily business, kids playing in the streets. There's a day and night cycle too which bring about interesting variations in the enemies that come out to play at different times, as well the fact that all the people in town aren't out at night, which only means you have to barge into their homes for your selfish trading needs. It's just like those other massive dark fantasy games Witcher, or Drakensang, or Risen (is that Russian?); the Germans know how to make you feel like you're truly living in some fantasy world as opposed to visiting "faux towns" with anti-social stationary robot traders passing off for poor excuses of humans (yes, Borderlands, I mean you). There are also books ala Oblivion with much texty to read to get a feel of the world's darkly humorous lore.


The graphics are profoundly exquisite. The stones on the walls are individually textured, steel armor glistens in the sun, and water shimmers. The grass sway in the wind... OK that's enough. In fact, when you zoom down to ground level (as opposed to standard isometric perspective), the game could be played like a third-person RPG with no loss in detail. Everything looks so pretty and shiny, it's like Oblivion all over again. It's such a joy to watch, and all the visceral violence is tasty as the blows connect, blood spurt, spells go pew pew, and bodies flop over in rag-doll fashion. To put the sheer shininess of the graphics into perspective, there's an installation DVD alone for "Epic" graphics setting. Not installing that only gets you up to "High" (lol).

Sacred 2's game-play also stands apart from other RPGs. Whilst many others have to be called Diablo-clones in the way they familiarize the player with "D-styled" inventories/skill-trees/loot/etc. system, Sacred 2 truly goes in a different direction with very unconventional classes and skill-management. Firstly, the classes:

You can play a Seraphim, Shadow Warrior, High Elf, Dryad, Temple Guardian, and Inquisitor. "Whut?" you say. They are the most outlandish bunch of heroes I've ever seen, but nevertheless prove to be more interesting to play than your standard mage/warrior/ranger, and it isn't easy to simplify them into those archetypes either. As for the skills-levelling system, instead of letting you choose which skills to upgrade upon level-up, you have to first FIND each of the skills, from killing stuff and in chests. So that means what skills (or combat arts) you are outfitted with is random, and you hope to the heavens that the next one you pick up is really the one you want.


I generally didn't find it a major problem, a lot of the skills I needed were eventually found, but when playing in a multiplayer game with other party members, it kinda' sucks when some players will be luckier at getting their skills sooner than others. You can always purchase upgrades at some shop, but who the heck wants to do that when you're supposed to be getting them for free?! Odd.

Be warned, even the most experienced of RPG players will have trouble at first with Sacred 2's very different set-up. Even just arming your character with weapons is a different procedure then you're expecting with most RPGs. The map takes some getting used to, the way it marks quests, but once you've picked up everything including the levelling system, the game is smooth sailing all the way. And in fact, makes perfect sense too. Just very unconventionally.

Other than that minor niggle, playing around with the skills is a helluva lot of fun. There are some fancy spells, and as the game progresses, you do have a clear sense that you are becoming more and more powerful. Combat is fun, and never feels like a chore. Of course, the enemies are no walk in the park and they'll take some ingenuity beyond continually bashing your left and right mouse buttons to take down. Death is treated quite simply in this game, you'll return to a respawn checkpoint with nary a loss to your persons save experience. Sometimes I feel that RPGs should do as Diablo 2 did and make you lose some of your cash and loot, that way it's more punishing, and make you think twice about rushing into fights.


Customizations don't end there. Not only do these heroes look cosmetically unique but they each have a special item of their own which can be upgraded. The Seraphim has wings to wear, the Temple Guardian, a robotic Anubis-god lookalike, has to be powered by a battery, amongst other things. You can ride horses, but that's lame when each class can upgrade soon enough to their unique mounts! Treks through expansive lands can be quickened and you look kickass.

And the loot! There's no end to it in this game. There's a lot of shiny-grab stuff for the compulsive plunderer, lots of stats to adorn weapons and armor with. Although, it still can't beat the magnitude and worth as the loot found in Diablo 2; there's no OMG I GOT THIS as the other awesome RPG compels you to scream, but it's still pretty intense. More so than Titan Quest at least, that game was so underwhelming with the treasure.

Whilst the game in its entire design is robust, and have little in the way of flaws that break the game, there are two things that will annoy the hell out of gamers. First, there seems to be a follower-bug, in that when you pick up escort-quests, you'll have at your heels your own dude/duddette who will follow you to the ends of the earth till you get them wherever they need to be. Say however you choose not do to that quest, well then, they'll follow you forever. It's funny too that in the thick of battle, enemies ignore them completely. Little kids you are supposed to reunite with parents unwillingly become useless squires to your hero. The little shits don't even help carry items. Geeze.


Second issue was the voice-acting. Sound was fine when it was environmental or effects, but by gosh were the voice-acting horribly camp. They sounded like Germans trying to sound American. Also, whilst most RPGs see fit to keep your characters silent as they cut up their foes, Sacred 2's heroes seem to have verbal diarrhea. Every other little rat you kill, the Shadow Warrior would go "Thanks for blood!" or "Do you know how to die?!?" And that's just him! But with the tongue-in-cheek humor peppered over everything from grave stones that mark the names of the game's developers, to quests that are just absurdly funny, it all manages to put a smile on your face, and that's a whole more joy than something overly serious, hell-bent on killing you.

So all in all, should you play this game? If you want a time-consuming offline MMO-like experience, with a tonne of things to do and see, then this game is for you. The universe is well written. An other-worldy place, a strange juxtaposition of fantasy with a bit of sci-fi. It is also more Neverwinter Nights with the slower pacing than Diablo or Titan Quest, but still gets the hyper-excessive clicking of action-RPGs just right. If you like the adventure more than the grind, then this is it. The graphics is unlike any RPG before, and Diablo 3 better be a looker otherwise this may well be the best looking of them all.

PS. There is an expansion, "Ice & Blood" just released, which I haven't played yet.