I Am One of the Seraphim
It may not be perfect, but Sacred 2: Fallen Angel fulfills most of your random item hunting needs.
Published: May 28, 2009
Attributes, as generic as they might be, are poorly described. You might assume dexterity increases ranged weapon damage, which it does, but the attribute’s description doesn’t mention this. The only attribute that claims to alter weapon damage is strength, which does nothing for a bow. Daggers and short swords base their damage on dexterity as well, which you wouldn’t know without looking it up online. In some ways it’s good that this is a port of a PC game, as there’s already a wealth of player-written information available to compensate for the poorly organized manual.
I haven’t spent much time talking about graphics or sound, mostly because if you enjoy the gameplay you’re going to overlook the overly boring nature of how everything looks. When designing a character you get to choose between one of two hairstyles and a smattering of hair colors, which makes you wonder why there’s any customization at all. If you played Champions of Norrath, you’ve seen better. In fact, Champions of Norrath might just be a better looking game overall. Since you’ll be playing from a top down, pulled back perspective, any little details are lost in the distance, meaning animations and landscape design make or break the game’s appearance. Sacred 2 doesn’t break any new ground, but it isn’t ugly. Armor designs are questionable, but again, you won’t be spending much time inspecting every loop and buckle on your vest.
Backed by German metal band Blind Guardian, the game’s soundtrack is surprisingly lacking. If you’ve ever listened to them, you know there’s a lot of double bass drum action and a constant flow of energy. That’s not what Sacred 2 is about, and the few times the metal kicks in feel awkward. It seems more like Blind Guardian is used because they were willing to work on the project not because their music fit the atmosphere and tone of the game. Sound effects are pretty standard fare, which is to say you won’t be bothered by them nor will you feel like you’re experiencing something special.
There are plenty of other problems, such as floating quest markers, suspect enemy scaling, unresponsive combat arts, long travel times due to strange portal placement and so much more, but the fact is you’re going to keep playing anyway. If you like dungeon crawling and slaying hoards of wild boars in hopes of obtaining that Blowgun of Treasure Destroying, you’re going to overlook all the negatives I’ve laid out here. In truth, I’m ignoring them as well. This game is fun. If it weren’t for the limited local multiplayer and general lack of polish, it would be a lot more fun. A few meaty patches and this would be a must buy, but I don’t see this game selling enough copies to warrant that kind of support. As it stands it really is hard to recommend at 60 bones. You owe it to yourself to at least give it a rental. There are better games to spend your money on this summer, but none that will scratch that random loot itch quite like this.
