Sacred 2: Fallen Angel

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is the prequel to Sacred from German developer Ascaron. It is an isometric action RPG set in the fantasy setting of Ancaria. "T-Energy", the basic component of all life, magic and thought is being fought over by the Seraphim and the High Elf races. While these factions are locked in battle with one another, the "T-Energy" itself is out of control destroying cities and creating a general chaos. You choose between 6 classes which can further take on a "Light" or "Dark" campaign which either heals the world, or further lead it to destruction.

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel Review from a famousblueraincoat
Played 20+ hours on Xbox 360
Available for Xbox360, PS3 and PC (ESRB:M)
"This Corn is Surprisingly Delicious!"



It's hard to take Sacred seriously when you first boot it up. The story and character 'customization' at first seems silly and thrown together with little more than choosing between six races with two different hairstyles each. However, after giving it some time and realizing how dense the content is, I can't help but be in awe of this surprisingly compelling and addictive RPG.

This game has it all, and scratches the same itch that Diablo or Balder's does. The map is literally massive. I played around 25 hours of it and only was able to visit about a fifth of the locations (and I've only finished about a fifth of the quests within that fifth of the map!). The quests themselves range from simple "Kill X many X's" to "Defend (or Attack) this town from an Onslaught!" to "Travel through this expansive dungeon to kill this massive Demon". It's all here, and it's all quality.

Playing from a top-down perspective, your character moves throughout the world interacting with NPC's with left-bumper and attacking with skills attributed to the four lettered buttons, by holding right-trigger, an additional four skills can be attributed. The controls here are slick and they really work well with this style of gameplay.

The "character customization" initially scoffed at goes incredibly deep. As expected, you adjust the standard Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, etc. but the options to develop new skills and further to customize those specific skills makes for a truly customizable experience.

Sacred 2's best aspect is its multiplayer. It's a bit like WoW or Diablo in your living room, except better because it's much more socially acceptable to drink when someone else is physically in the room with you. The option to play co-operatively through the story mode with a friend on the same Television in the same room makes for unbelievable depth of play and a real sense of co-operative adventure and questing. Additionally, two other players can join the same co-operative storyline by linking with a second Xbox by XboxLIVE.

Although overall fun, playing this game multiplayer can have its ups and downs. At times you're racing through complex dungeons tanking or healing one another. The pace here is fast and keeps your attention. However, when one of you needs to attribute some skill points or bind a new ability to your controls, the game literally stops in its tracks and all focus is put on the one player scouring menus, shopping or comparing loot. This wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't so much of this game that is actual menu work, particularly in the beginning of the game where you're just learning the menu navigation.

The menu system is one gripe, but I should also mention how limited interaction is in Sacred. Compared to games like Fable or Fallout the quests aren't exactly substantive, they're just adequate. Graphically, it's the same situation. It works in terms of utility, but is nothing to to get excited about as it can't compete with triple-A titles.

Although there have been reports of many instances of bugs, deleted characters, items and mounts, in my time playing this game there were none. This may have been due to the console being released this May delayed by its Nov 2007 PC counterpart.

Regardless of its awkwardness and general shortcomings I had an absolute blast with this game. I think back to when I was a kid and would rent random games over the weekend, this is the kind of surprise game that I would not have stopped playing for weeks. If I knew more people that were playing it, or I had someone who was interested in questing with me, I'd play it further.

Sacred 2 is really interesting as it feels like a fresh take on an old idea. It's dense and compelling, and if this was the only game you had all summer, you'd be happy with it (once you've turned the character's voices off). I would not recommend that everyone go out and purchase this game, I'd instead invite every second person to purchase this game, and then for everyone to partner up, have a few drinks, and kick back with a solid and fun co-operative RPG experience.