Score
Gameplay:	9
Graphics:	8
Sound:	8
FunFactor:	8
PlasmaFactor:	9
Overall:	8.4

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel Review
November 30, 2008 by Ewan Aiton

Most RPG fans will be bracing themselves for the latest outing in the Diablo series. Diablo III is possibly one of the most eagerly awaited games of next year. In the meantime though, Diablo fans will have an itch.

Given that the Diablo series has gained such a fanatical following, it has been extremely difficult to replicate such success but there have been those that have tried. Buried deep beneath the scores of AAA releases is a title that makes a very strong claim to Diablo’s crown. That game is Sacred 2: Fallen Angel.

Gameplay

Sacred 2 is absolutely huge. It has a continuous, explorable landmass larger than Oblivion. There are so many quests available to play that it is easy to forget what you were supposed to be doing at any one time. This isn’t a bad thing though as there is plenty of fun to be had just getting lost in the mystical land that Ascaron has created.

The plot revolves around the land being polluted by an explosion of magical energy due to its misuse by the High Elves. The High Elves had been entrusted with the caring for this mystical energy by its original guardians, the Seraphim, who had grown weary of guarding the energy themselves.

There are two story paths you can take - the light or the dark path - which leads to either saving the world or destroying it. There are six characters to choose from four of which can follow both the light or dark paths. Of the final two, one is limited to the light path (the Seraphim) and the other to the dark path (the Inquisitor).

The sheer breadth of the single player game is quite bewildering. It is implemented so simply and cleanly that it does not overwhelm in the slightest. This is where Sacred 2 really steps away from the Diablo template. It still has a beautifully simple and highly addictive action combat system but the scale of the game is more in line with Baldur’s Gate 2. It is a blend of two great styles that Ascaron has balanced exceedingly well.

The combat system is a joy to use. Left-click and you perform the standard attack, right-click and you employ your chosen special attack. You begin with only one slot for weapons and one slot for special attacks, but as you level up you gain more slots to allow you to switch quickly between weapons and special attacks. You also can combine special attacks into combos of up to five separate attacks. It almost feels like a sin that Sacred 2 can be played so well just using your mouse hand.

Such customizability is an amazing luxury and despite the appearance of each character not being particularly flexible, the options for items, personal skills and special attacks are wide and very easily modified. Every facet is accessible through a button neatly placed on the periphery of the HUD. These range from inventory, to the map and to the special skills and abilities. The HUD is where most of the important functions of the game are placed in intuitive places - the weapon and special attack shortcuts are placed along the center-bottom of the screen, mapping, quests and inventory in the bottom-right corner and stats and leveling-up in the top-left hand corner. It all works very smoothly and there are even pop-out tabs on the left-hand edge of the screen that access the online functions such as text-chat with fellow players.

Graphics

The graphics are superb. Thankfully, Ascaron have avoided the trend of bleak chic that seems to be prevalent in video game art these days. Sacred 2 is a bright and colorful experience that makes every day a gorgeous sunny day.

Even with all the detail turned down and the screen resolution at 800x600, the grass sways gently in the breeze and the day turns into night and back into day almost seamlessly. I say almost because for some inexplicable reason Sacred 2 insists on becoming jerky where it really shouldn’t. The graphics engine, whilst being extremely good-looking suffers for being more draining on a system than Crysis. It is mystifying too as it does not use nearly as many cutting-edge effects and even simple 2x anti-aliasing can cause some irritating slowdown on lower-spec machines.

Despite the overly demanding nature of the graphics engine, the game does play well and the odd frame-skip is an acceptable sacrifice to make to get access to such an addictive game.

Sound

The sound is everything you’d expect from a current generation PC title. The voice-acting is especially good and injects a wry sense of humor to the whole game. It also contrasts nicely with the grandiose orchestral numbers that accompany the gameplay.

PlasmaFactor

The single player is extremely competent and despite the oddly demanding nature of the game engine Sacred 2 is an excellent title to add to any RPG fan’s collection. Where it really comes into its own though is the multiplayer.

Multiplayer in Sacred 2 is co-op and due to the popularity of the franchise there is no shortage of companions to play with. When you band together with other players cutting a swathe through the numerous monsters and bandits, the game becomes ever more compelling. The companionship helps to boost the games playability exponentially.

The old saying: “an experience shared is an experience enriched” has never been more apparent than it is in Sacred 2. We can only hope that this will transfer over to the console versions when they appear in Q1 of next year.

Conclusion

At the very least Sacred 2 is a worthy distraction for those gamers desperate to get their hands on Diablo III. Yes, there are some issues surrounding the demands on system resources but this game has combined the soul of Baldur’s Gate with the addictive action of Blizzard’s cult classic in an extremely effective manner.

If you are looking for a good action RPG this Christmas then Sacred 2: Fallen Angel should be at the top of your list.