360: Sacred 2: Fallen Angel

Ratings

Graphics:8.00 [Bar of Width 80]
Sound:9.00 [Bar of Width 90]
Gameplay:8.50 [Bar of Width 85]
Replays:10.00 [Bar of Width 100]
Gamelength:10.00 [Bar of Width 100]

Our Take

After several delays, "Sacred 2: Fallen Angel" finally comes to consoles in one of the best hack 'n slash RPG ports ever released.

A long while back, we reviewed the original PC version of "Sacred 2: Fallen Angel". Eventually, the PhysX patch came, so the review was updated accordingly. Now, it's time to review the game all over from scratch, but this time in it's Xbox 360 form. I had high hopes, but low expectations for this port, given that these kinda' things almost never work out as planned. Much to my surprise, this game turned out to be the best console port of any game in the genre to date. Nearly nothing was lost and very few compromises were made. In fact, I'd venture to say that this port is better than the original PC release in a handful of ways. It's time for yet another trip into the magical world of "Sacred 2: Fallen Angel", only this time, it's for the Xbox 360.

The graphics of the PC version "Sacred 2: Fallen Angel" were the best we've ever seen for the genre, even if not all that impressive when compared to other games of other genres that have since been released. Much like it's older brother, the Xbox 360 version only seems to have lost one visual perk during it's transition, but otherwise runs with absolutely no slowdown and a rock solid framerate. The lost visual enhancement is water reflections for the most part, which is indeed quite a sad thing, but not the end of the world by far. Otherwise, lighting, shadows and even the fancy grass is all here in full glory. Even the textures, spell effects and character models seem to be high-end, which means there's no need for a beastly gaming computer to run the game smoothly on high settings anymore.

Just like the PC version, the sound quality is superb, with very fitting music, decent voice acting and cool sound effects. Nothing was changed in this area, which is a great thing, for the most part. From time to time, a character's voice may sound subpar, but otherwise it all checks out just fine. My personal favorite aspect of the sound quality is the perfect ambient noises, which are even better when using a high quality sound setup of some sort. This game is a treat for the ears.

Taking into account the fact that this is a console port of a highly advanced PC game with tons of controls and menus, this is actually easier to use in some ways. For starters, everything is done with a controller, without the aid of a keyboard or a mouse, so the buttons are far more limited. This generally poses a problem, as many things that would be easy to access take much more effort to get to. Or at least, that's the theory. This game has a very clever control scheme, though, which uses a total of 16 hot keys, a quick menu and a list format inventory to replace the grid-like setup of the PC version for ease of access. The left and right triggers, when held down, each activate their own set of 4 face button hot keys. There's also a default set of hot keys on both the face buttons and the d-pad. Every hotkey can be assigned to any set of weapons, a spell, skill, combo; basically anything you want. The hotkeys work perfectly and actually seem to give the controller an edge over the mouse and keyboard setup in that regard. All of the menus have been completely reworked and condensed into a circular quick access interface. To bring up the circle that contains the six submenus, the right bumper must be held down and from there, the left joystick has to be tilted in the proper direction of the desired submenu. After that, simply press the A button and the submenu is displayed. Within' the submenus, the tabs are navigated by simply pressing the left and right triggers, as is common in most games these days. Some menus do take a slight bit more time to get to in comparison to the PC version, but given how well everything works out, it actually isn't bad at all. The most important screens are the top submenus and are generally only half a second farther out of reach by comparison. Technically speaking, the PC version does have a better interface, but the movement and combat controls just seem to flow much better on the Xbox 360 with the chosen hot key design. As for aiming spells, it's much easier than you would ever imagine. Instead of some sort clunky aiming system, the spells simply target enemies in what appears to be a somewhat smart auto-aim fashion. It's definitely been dumbed down, but it does make most of the game much easier to control for character that generally require a lot of precision spell aiming. The only nuisance seems to be conversation, which is handled using the left bumper. The left bumper is also used for the "collect all" feature, which is the priority function of the button, so there's a second or two delay before the left bumper's function switches when necessary. That can be a mild nuisance sometimes, but it's not really a huge problem for the most part. With the controls out of the way, it's time to delve into the rest of the content. Creating a character works the same way and once you're done with that, you're thrown into the middle of the first area. After some dialogue and a slight bit of exploration, the first enemies make an appearance and from there until the very end of the game, enemies are plentiful. There's never any shortage of enemies for extremists who prefer grinding levels the long way, but the primary source of experience points is the various quests found throughout the game. There are literally over six hundred quests in the game, which is absolutely not a lie by any means. Should you choose to partake in them all, there's an absolutely massive amount of experience to be gained, plenty of small story lines, several overlaying major story arcs and a seemingly endless amount of gameplay. Completely every quest in the game on a single difficulty is likely to take several hundred hours for those who actually explore and delve into every piece of the game's content. Of the quests, there are none that actually stand out as benig unique and the story is actually pretty generic, although still fleshed out properly. There's enough substance to keep players entertained, but it's a chore to read the text sometimes. Most of it's far too small for anyone without a gigantic HDTV to actually read, so you have to get very close to the TV and squint your eyes to even get an idea of what's going on. Thankfully, though, most of it's legible and for those who don't mind skipping the story in some spots, most of it really is obvious. Not many of the story arcs actually require reading to be understood and the ones that actually have some degree of importance are generally voiced to some extent, so reading insanely small text isn't even a necessity. Throughout your journey, you'll be playing through one of two campaigns, both of which have different stories, but the same general journey. The classes are split between the two classes, some of which have the option of choosing a side. The classes are generally well-rounded and have their own unique skills and abilities, but there are also a lot of universal and shared abilities, such as the crafting and loot skills, as well as the various weapon traits. The unique abilities include things ranging from sword attacks to summoning an army of spirits and raining fire from above your targets. Earning skill points comes with levels and the same goes for pumping up attributes. The most important attribute seems to be vitality, but they all play a major role in how well any character functions. The final and probably most important factor of character development is equipment. Equipment drops with random stats of varying degrees, but there are also socketable items and unique items, which don't really change much. Much like "Diablo", item drops are completely random and even the items sold in shops changes randomly. Rare items are rare, common items are common and everything in between varies in frequency depending on what you're fighting and the difficulty setting. Class-specific equipment is plentiful and useful, but there's a lot of universal stuff that's just as powerful, too. All of those elements combine to make a very deep system filled with possibilities that allow your mind to go wild with creativity. If you want a battlemage, you can make one. If you want a pure crafting character, you can make one. If you want a character that can heal and fight, that's also possible. The possibilities are nearly endless, which is the major reason that "Sacred 2: Fallen Angel" is such an impressive game. The online play is also pretty damn good and seems much more popular than the PC version. There's a feature not unlike "Fable II", which allows people to drop in and out of your game at will. If you're looking for a game to join, you can do so through your friend list or via the online section of the interface in the main menu. It's all pretty well-made, but the game can be laggy if the host has a bad connection. I generally host my own games, so it works out fine for me!

Overall, this is as good as a port will ever be for this genre of gaming. I really hope to see all of the same content found in the PC version eventually as both patches and DLC.

Pros:
-Great graphics.
-Perfect ambient sounds.
-Above average voice acting
-Highly immersive world.
-Endless character customization.
-Very well-designed controls.
-By the time the game ends, characters feel very powerful.
-Very simple online integration.

Cons:
-Online play can be very laggy if the host has a flaky connection.
-Menu system, while good, still isn't as efficient as the PC version.

Bottom line:
This game is easily worth every penny, but the PC version is still probably the better investment if you plan on playing the game alone. For those with a craving for online play, the console version seems like a better choice. Either way, this is a great game and I recommend buying it on whatever platform tickles your fancy.

Overall Rating: 9.00

Steven Marsh
May 28, 2009