Sacred 2

squiddy Sat Jul 11, 2009 12:11 pm

God damn you, GTA. Ever since that game came out, game worlds just seem to be getting bigger and bigger. I grew up thinking that the mansion in Jet Set Willy (roughly 80 screens) was huge. These days I could actually live inside the likes of Fuel or Mercenaries 2 and the twenty or so extra hours I spent getting the 'Find All Locations' achievement on Two Worlds (and that's after I completed the entire game) indicated that things weren't going to get any more compact in the near future.

So, Sacred 2 is here (did any of you play Sacred 1? Me neither) and, as expected, it's a monster. On the plus side, it's a beautiful and interesting game world with tons of nice details and lots to do and see. On the less tasty side, the camera angle (a Diablo-esque top down view) means you'll only ever see a few metres of it at any one time. That's right, this is old school RPG action. A dungeon crawler in every sense except that for most of the game you're not actually in one.

Let's not worry too much about the plot except to say that your traditional fantasy elements are still there but with a nice futuristic edge that, in practical terms, means that you'll be mixing up your swords, bows and shields with laser weapons. For the most part though, RPG players will be treading very familiar ground here.

As ever, you can't just jump right in. Sacred 2 demands that you make choices right away regarding your character class (there are six to choose from) and your chosen deity (which will grant you a god-given super power that you can use in times of difficulty). After a little soul-searching you'll make your choices and will get into the main meat of the game.

There is, of course, a main quest to follow but there are also hundreds of side quests. Anyone looking to get a sweet 1000GS out of this game needs to know that you'll have to complete at least 40% of those quests. I've been playing (checks watch) for f'ing EVER and I'm just over 20% in. Argh! The quests are your usual mix of killing, escorting and searching and are punctuated with some decent storytelling and lots of genuinely funny humour. Indeed, it's worth reading all the gravestones in the game (and yes, there's an achievement in that too) as some of them are hilarious.

Combat seems at simple enough at first (you basically run around getting into fights every few seconds) but Sacred 2 soon reveals a staggering depth to inventory management. Aside from your main equipment (weapons and armour) there are also plenty of other things to consider. Your attributes (strength, dexterity etc), Combat Arts (spells), runes (for learning and powering up Combat Arts), potions, alchemy items and bonus adding rings/amulets all have a huge effect on the way your character plays. Every choice you'll make will have consequences and it'll all seem pretty overwhelming. In the end, I just looked for a spell that looked good and have ploughed all my resources into making it reasonably badass because I just can't be arsed worrying about it all anymore.

That's Sacred 2's problem. It's an enjoyable and addictive game but there's just too much of it. Too many things to consider, too much text to read, too many quests and the map is big enough to suffocate a horse with it. The achievement for revealing 50% of the game world is already looking like a chore. The thing is, I'm still playing it. Still enjoying it. After Oblivion and Two Worlds (shut up, it's good) I needed another good RPG on the 360 and this delivers. It's not perfect, not by a long shot, but Diablo/Dungeon Siege players will get a lot of value from it (especially as it's a shoe-in for a quick price drop) and once it gets its hooks in you, that's that.

Avoid the Limited Edition (it's gash and the figurine belongs in a f'ing Kinder Egg) but pick up the game if you fancy losing a lot of time to a loot-loaded adventure. It's a nice change of pace from all the shooting/fighting/driving games on the system and the slow-but-steady trickle of achievements should keep you interested. It'll be a very impressive 1000 on your Gamercard as well.

7/10