Risen 2 Dark Waters Impressions/Review

I haven’t played risen but I was sure excited about risen 2 for one primary reason….. It’s about being a “PIRATE”. That is like a dream come true for nearly ¾ the population of mankind. So I was real excited for this one and like life usually is this game also disappointed the hell out of me. So let’s get started……

I will answer the question straight away, it’s not fun being a pirate in risen 2. Lets start with most frustrating part of this game….COMBAT SYSTEM. I will tell you this, there is none. The combat is so bad it is just one button mashup. This is the most frustrating thing that I did not like about this game. The primary reason I say so is because you cannot block someone’s attack. If you have all the other buttons free why not keep a blocking system. Combat is what binds the action together for an rpg game like this one. It has to be good for the game to work as a whole. Don’t get me wrong there is magic in this game to and it’s lovely because its BLACK magic. This is where the game saves some face because this is where the game is lots of fun. You learn black magic from tribes and progress to more difficult and interesting spells. The way this was executed I wish the entire game was but unfortunately this is the only really good part of the game.

The game is tough right from the beginning. The game is an rpg but it feels real stiff for an rpg system. It is relentless to teach you things. It actually teaches you how to jump. Now that is the worst thing I have seen a game do to me. Teach me how to jump….. That’s pathetic. Now I have to give it to you there was a point in the game which got me really excited. A monkey. Sorry for my lack of intelligence or abundance in enthusiasm but a monkey as a companion is just great I thought. But that was a bit of a letdown and I won’t spoil it for you. Play the game to find out.

The rpg elements are nothing new and after playing skyrim I don’t think this game will impress you much. Ok now the main part of this review, being a pirate. You are a pirate in this game but I would say you’re a pirate only for namesake. The reason being you don’t do anything which really signifies that. You do loot and have treasure to unearth but it just does not feel right.

The npc’s are clearly modeled after 5 or 6 characters because you keep seeing the same faces again and again. This signifies something was wrong during development and really shows lack of vision or effort. I do have to give credit to the concept of the game but it just falls short on the execution of that concept. Play it if your fond of risen or else stay away.