One of the few genres that is lacking on the Xbox 360 is that of action-RPG games and developer Ascaron is ready to unleash Sacred 2: Fallen Angel to fans salivating for their fix. Not many publishers are risking their money to budget titles in the genre, so gamers don’t have many options to choose from when it comes to a selection of action-RPGs. After putting in hours of gameplay with the latest preview build of Sacred 2, we thought it was time to detail all you gamers out there waiting at the edge of your seat for Sacred 2’s release. Selecting from six classes, players will have the chance to pick from: Seraphims (women priestesses), Temple Guardians (think of Egyptian statues and hieroglyphics), High Elfs, Dryads (forest dwellers), Inquisitors (fantasy embodiment of the siths from Star Wars), and Shadow Warriors (your typical warrior class).
Of these six classes, the Temple Guardians stood out the most due to not many games featuring similar designed characters. Jumping right into the game, my Temple Guardian was plucked right into the world to wander without a clue in sight, which wasn’t a bad thing since there are beautiful environments to explore and behold on your journey. Wandering about and stumbling into a nearby tavern, I unexpectedly killed off two NPCs not fully understanding the controls. The controls haven’t fully been implemented in this build, so it was a lot of trial and error when trying to figure out attacks that were mapped to my face buttons. After killing this poor soul, it was time to move into the forest where players will encounter countless raiders and creatures ready to tear you limb for limb.
The only problem is, if you’re expecting a rousing time right off the bat, you might want to think twice as the first enemies you’ll encounter are on par with the first enemies you’ll encounter in World of Warcraft that offer little difficulty. But that’s to be expected in an action-RPG as such that wants to boost your understanding of the combat and learn the full controls of how to accomplish simple maneuvers. As you explore the land of Ancaria, you’ll begin to appreciate how large of a world Ascaron has created for players to dive into. The map is 22 square miles large; and with no load times, it’s an easy bet that you’ll be hooked in no time as you discover all the secrets around the world. Even better is the ability to adventure with up to three of your friends (for a total of four players); you’ll be amazed how fun Sacred 2 can potentially become if all you have were a few friends to play with.
If you were disappointed with Fable 2’s cooperative mode, then it’s best to give Sacred 2’s multiplayer a try as it may be what you have wanted all along. Your friends can effortlessly jump in and out of cooperative multiplayer without any hiccups via Xbox Live or offline. The last bit of details I’d like to discuss are the mounts incorporated for players to ride. While they weren’t fully functional in this preview build, players will be able to jump on the back of horses, tigers and several exotic beasts to traverse the countryside pillaging or saving villages. With the release date nearing and the game close to completion, I can only hope that Sacred 2: Fallen Angel turns out to be a fully polished action-RPG. I say this because the title will have an insane amount of replay value with close to 200 levels to reach for your character and hundreds of quests to complete.
