If you are a fan of Sword n Sorcery and wish for a change of pace, I would suggest you check out Sacred 2 – Fallen Angel. Taking place in the land of Ancaria, you are given the role of Seraphim, High Elf, Shadow Warrior, Dryad, Inquisitor or Temple Guardian. What makes this game good is it’s expansive land and the people within. It has everything for both the lore crazy roleplayers and the hardcore, gear chasing PvPers.

What I Love
Customization: The first thing that stuck out to me about Sacred 2 was the ability to make a character your own. The fact that I was able to take the High Elf (who is by nature a Magician), give her a sword and shield, then concentrate skills into Magic Coup (A powerful kinetic attack) and defenses, just kicks ass. I made an uber mage knight this way, and even though I may get owned when the mobs start crowding me, the fact that I had this option is just beautiful. The Seraphim I’ve found to be the most versatile in this respect, make her what you will, she will probably be great at it.

Huge Map: This isn’t one of those games where you and your buddy can clear the map in a matter of hours, the world is HUGE! Not only that but it is also beautiful, wind gently blows through the trees as you battle kobolds and imps then the ambience of dusk settles the mood as you clean your ax from the bone and sinew embedded within it. While in towns you will hear the strumming of a guitar as a bard sings. Sometimes you can overhear the chatter of people gossiping or exchanging pleasantries. I am guilty of knowing the songs by heart now… more on that later.

Enemy Leveling: The enemies grow with you, so you can either fly through the game or take your time, it matters not. This is something I love being that I dislike when I become so godly on other games that I walk through the land swiping everything with one blow including bosses. You unlock different difficulty levels ranging from bronze to platinum based on the amount of times you have beaten the game.

Co-op Mayhem: The replay value of Sacred 2 is endless, very much like the Diablo games of Blizzard fame. Bored of taking on the creatures solo? Well if you are within 10 levels of your buddy, you can be invited into a game with him and play online. Up to 4 players can do this and it makes the game even better when played this way.

What I disliked
Bugs, bugs, bugs: The game locks up at the wrong time, sometimes you will have suspended animation or just running in place until you do a hard reset on your system. All problems seem to stem from the 2 player co-op mode where you both play on the same console. Imagine earning a level of 32 with a friend only to have it freeze and lose 6 of those hard earned levels… yes we experienced that and much more.

Graphics and FPS: Doesn’t feel like a next gen game… With a beast like the Playstation 3, I fully expected this game to move like silk. How wrong was I as we stuttered through large towns, lagged when it wasn’t even online and moved in slow motion during an intense spell. So it seems to me that none of the PS3′s perks were used when making this port, it was basically ripped from the PC and made worse on the consoles.

No Trading in 2-player mode: I won’t pipe too hard on this since it is about to be patched.

Voice Acting: Oh my god I wish I could shut my characters up. The battle cries are laughable, for example “YIPPEEE!!!” and they always have something to say. I guess I could turn it off but they say pretty interesting things when you are doing the main quest, the problem is the worthless banter during battles.

In Summation
This is a good distraction for me being a fan of Sword n Sorcery. Sometimes you want a game where thinking isn’t necessary, you just build a character, log it in and kill thousands of dumb enemies. Sacred 2 answers this cry and with the ability to make multiple characters, you will not get bored of it anytime soon. It has a sense of humor that is enlightening, the realm is Sci-Fi/Tech Fantasy so there are laser guns along with Halberds and Pikes. It is just plain ‘ol fun despite its many shortcomings and I will be playing it for a long time.

GOD KING GRADE: (C)   ★★★★★