A Divine Time: Sacred 2 Review

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel for the Xbox 360 and PS3. Developer: Ascaron Entertainment Publisher: CDV Software

Scientists have yet to map the Diablo gene. Although the human genome project has uncovered many genetic predispositions, the DNA sequence that compels us to gather loot, slay monsters, and rummage through caverns hasn’t been isolated yet. I assume when that discovery is made, scientists will uncover a number of correlated traits- a penchant for statistics, a passion for mythical creatures, and an unhealthy aversion to sunlight.

Console gamers who have any of those traits, will likely find pleasure in Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, a title that has been pleasing PC owners since last November. The Xbox 360 and PS3 port allows players to take the role of one of six character classes, and explore a enormous land mass full of obligatory and optional quests.  Four of the characters have two quests to compete, with a ‘light’ and ‘dark’ side available to players. Seraphins and Inquisitors have one quest apiece, as they exist on the edges of the moral spectrum. 

Gamers habituated to serious RPG narrative’s may find Sacred 2’s dialogue a welcome reprieve or strangely disjoined. Although the main story seems serious, conversation and voice work is incongruously comedic. While the title offers players a wealth of missions- from assassinations, fetch quests, and escorting, these endeavors often feel unfulfilling due to the minimal amount of textual set-up.  However, Sacred 2’s liberal distribution of weapons, runes, and armor is compelling enough so that item collection overcomes any deficiencies in the storytelling.  With each item having a myriad of numerical ratings, there’s enough complexity in the game to satisfy stat-geeks.

Players accustomed to the real-time combat used in the Diablo and Baldur’s Gate series’ may need time to adjust to Sacred 2’s statistic-based warfare. When the player first starts the game, their character may swing right through an attacking foe, their underpowered strikes too weak to register a hit. As gamer’s familiarize themselves with the title’s arithmetical method of settling melees; new attacks will open, from drain spells to ranged areas of effect damage.

True to its PC roots, Sacred 2 has its share of bugs and glitches, although most are relatively minor.  Our protagonist would occasionally drift along in caves, when the control stick was untouched, as if some intoxicating spell had been cast on him. Sporadically, when changing weapons midfight, I found myself attacking with just bare knuckles; my desired armament appearing several seconds later.  I just assumed my ‘equipped’ weapon was inadvertently placed at the bottom on my loot bag.

Sacred 2 offers high resolution worlds that present a world of grassy plains, dank caverns, and fish filled streams. The game’s world is vast- encompassing a simulated 22 square mile realm, and shows player progress by adding color to a sepia-toned map. Equipped armor and weapons are shown in substantial detail, feeding the gamer’s desire to search for more powerful and exotic accessories. Unfortunately, character animation is constrained; players and foes will hack away unconvincingly. Graphical purists will notice v-sync issues, when the on-screen geometry gets too complex for the game to render.

Like a plate of Kobold stew accompanied with a mug of lukewarm nightshade ale, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is an acquired taste. Those predisposed to dungeon-hacks will find the title scratches an itch left untouched by the simplicity of Arkadian Warriors or the clumsiness of Too Human. However, those that long for a statistically- driven, quest laden, loot-heavy diversion, will likely find themselves captivated by Sacred 2’s charms.

About Robert Allen

Since being a toddler, Robert Allen has been immersed in video games, anime, and tokusatsu. Currently, his days are spent teaching at two southern California colleges. But his evenings and weekends are filled with STGs, RPGs, and action titles and well at writing for Tech-Gaming since 2007.

94 comments

  1. Thanks for the review. I will have to at least try this game. After reading the IGN review, the game sounded like rubbish, but this has me interested.

  2. SamuraiSquirrel

    ‘m getting mixed reports on the combat, the fact that its stat based explains those site that say it’s ‘sluggish’ and ‘unresponsive’.

  3. Good review. I never played the PC game, but I heard good things about it.

  4. You can’t eat Kobolds- they are spirits. Otherwise a decent review.

  5. 22 square miles? That’s not bad.

  6. Sounds good. I’ll be getting it when the price drops. Hopefully the patches will be live by then to fix any bugs.

  7. I am definitely interested, just not “Day-One Brave”.

  8. Cool, looks like a cool game.

  9. Seems like it could be good. Might wait for it to come down in price, though.

  10. this looks like my kinda game, hope im not wrong tho

  11. Graphics seem kinda blah, still it sounds fun.

  12. i’ve been iffy on this game,but i’ll give it a rent after your review(I mean after too human how bad could this game be :P).

  13. As long as it’s better than Too Human, I might like it.

  14. Excellent review, and before the release date! I might have to get the game, as I used to play the hell out of Diablo.

  15. Great review! I’ve been waiting for this game for some time now. It looks amazing and finally another rpg diablo experience for me. Hope I win it 🙂

  16. I was kinda iffy on this game, but your review convinced me to at least give the game a rent.

  17. Charlie Browneye

    Great review, DE!!! I got all fired up reading it, despite the flaws.

  18. I really havnt played an RPG like this since my Diablo days LOL . . . might give it a try!!

  19. How’s the multiplayer part? Or is is not working yet?

  20. That’s the size of my city! haha, I could play for real if I go outside.

  21. How it be Sacred, if there’s a fallen angel involved?

  22. How could the game be patched if the developer is going out of business?

  23. It’s gotta be better than Too Human. I need more hack ‘n slash, looting games!

  24. as long as the looting is done well, this has my interest. Even a bad Diablo close is better than nothing.

    Oh, and I completely forgot about Arkadian Warriors!!!

  25. Portland Gamer

    How the game’s camera?

  26. I’ve been waiting for a game like this.

  27. I have yet to play a compelling loot game on my 360. Hopefully this game fills that empty spot.

  28. Great review, definitely my type of game.

  29. I want to know why everyone seemed to like the PC version, and they are hating on the console release! They sound pretty similar!

  30. CONTEST POST =P!

  31. As the game hasn’t hit retail release, I only saw one other person playing online.

    Once the game hits retail, I will post a followup discussing multiplayer elements.

  32. I really only had problems when climbing towers, which are infrequent in the landscape.

  33. I always felt like gamers shared some similarities among their genotypes!

  34. Yep, we’re smarter than athletes, and dumber than chess players 😉

  35. Looks pretty cool.

  36. I want to know if there PvP in multi. That’s all.

  37. commandersqeek

    Maybe I’ll get this for my Mom today 😉

  38. Yeah, they look a bit dated to me.

  39. Good review, this might get my money list week.

  40. I’m glad you didn’t wait to review this. I’m sure the multiplayer wont be a gamebreaker.

  41. I hope there’s a Sacred 3. Sounds like the game hasn’t enough positives to make a sequel.

  42. Haha, nice try. It’s out on Wednesday. She’ll have to wait.

  43. Thanks for the review. I’ve been looking forward to Sacred 2. Sounds like I’ll enjoy it. 4 player co-op makes up for some of the other issues with it, at least for me.

  44. Would love to try this one out on 360.

  45. good review, at least better than ign’s review. I am still getting it day one since the small bugs you mention are not enough to get me to look the other way.

  46. While I had never even heard of the original Sacred, I’ve been itching for a loot-grabbin’ game on the 360. Will have to pick this one up!

  47. Great review! I’d love to be playing this game with a friend right now.

  48. I’m glad somebody game this a fairly good score, here’s hoping for a diablo-esque game on 360 that could actually be worth the buy.

  49. Thanks for the review. The game looks interesting, since I liked Dungeon Siege.

  50. Good review, been waiting a long time for this game. B is good enough for me, I would have settled for C lol.

  51. While I only played a little of the first Sacred, I’ve been looking forward to this game. Might have to check it out.

  52. According to the AD&D Monster Manual, Kobolds are not spirits (assuming the developers are inspired by the myths and lore of AD&D). German folklore, however, describes Kobolds as invisible Sprites.

  53. Yep, I got a feeling the reviewer at IGN didn’t even like these type of games.

  54. I like these Diablo-style games. I would probably end up checking this one out. Good review.

  55. This game looks good. I love hack and slash types of rpgs. I may have to rent this

  56. 360 needs a new rpg..hope this one rocks

  57. I’d like a good D2-style game to tide me over until D3, maybe this will be it.

  58. It should be a good time waster.

  59. This game will be an epic time killer.

  60. Raiden Fighters Aces. TG and Deagle know what’s up.

  61. This game looks quest-tastic. I hope I have people on my friends list to play it with.

  62. Hey i can’t wait to play this game. I am a little worried and can’t seem to find any good info. If you are playing xbox live in Co-op mode do you have to stay on the same screen?? I know you do in offline mode. Please help….

  63. Hey i can’t wait to play this game. I am a little worried and can’t seem to find any good info. If you are playing xbox live in Co-op mode do you have to stay on the same screen?? I know you do in offline mode. Please help….( sorry if i sent this twice…computer hiccupped on me)

  64. I would totally give that a run, it looks pretty fun.

  65. great review, really hope its good. PS3 and xbox needs a good hack and slash. I’ll be buying both really soon. Love Coop hack slash games, to many FPS, FFS.

    I remember when ps2 had nice games like baldurs gate 1+2,champions of norrath and return so awesome. And now NO ONE WANTS TO MAKE ANY~!. Instead they gimp us with FABLE 2.

    Xbox had the same except for norrath since it was sony.

  66. great review, still undecided about this game.

  67. Looks interesting… It seems like the combat system will be a lot more involved than Diablo.

  68. Hmm a B sounds fair, you made it sound decent. I never could play it because my PC can barely run Minesweeper, let alone an actual game. I am excited for this one.

  69. Nice review, looks pretty decent. I wouldn’t mind checking it out.

  70. looks pretty nice.

  71. I’ve been hearing around work that this game was very similar to Diablo, but I had nothing to base any of the rumors off of. Always been a fan of dungeon crawlers so I’m definitely gonna pick this one up!

  72. Not enough dungeon crawlers for the new systems this is a welcome addition to my collection. I am glad it isn’t being delayed again. Nice review btw, some other sites seemed to point out all the flaws and none of the good stuff.

  73. Looks great. cant wait to play

  74. Thank you for the review. I was going to purchase the game regardless of negative reviews, but that hasn’t been the case. Over the last few months there have been some preview reports that the graphics are ntoicably sharper on the PS3 version. I’m assuming your review was on the 360 version? Regardless It will be nice to play a nice hack-n-slash on the console. Both of the Balders gate games on PS2 were lack-luster yet entertaining. There was a bare bones hack-n-slash on PS3 when it was released “untold legends” or something similar. It was a little to repetative, and I don’t remember finishing it. Anyway… thank you for the review, looking forward to sitting down in front of the 46″ screen with a six pack of IPA, as I smeer kobolds from corner to corner. Woo… Hoo… … … I mean Bwaa Ha ha ha ha.

  75. Nice review

  76. I don’t think he had a problem with the sharpness of the graphics, but the limited amount of animation. I played the PC version, and it was a bit spartan.

  77. The graphics look REALLY poor… and is she wearing granny-panties? cause i swear thats what they look like.

  78. Game looks pretty good.

  79. The PC version was alot of fun, But i do wonder if this one has 2 player ?

  80. Thanks for the review. I am one of those people with the Diablo gene.
    I’m partially obsessed with slaying monsters and collecting loot, and hopefully this can satisfy me for a while.

  81. Looks like a really fun Diablo style hack ‘n slash. Definitely wanna check it out.

  82. After hearing many not so positive things about this game it is good to hear a different take on it. As a huge Diablo fan I may have to try this one out.

  83. Played a little of the first on PC and thought it was decent. Going to have to keep my eyes peeled for a deal on this one.

  84. I’ve been on the fence about this and after reading your review I’m going to give it a try. Thanks!

  85. This game looks interesting. I’ll probably wait until it is $39.99 or under, unless I win it of course.

  86. mmmmm Kobold Stew. Now I’m hungry.

  87. I enjoyed the 1st one although i never beat it.
    I am curious to see how it translates to a 360 game so ill give it a shot.

  88. Mmm, I love me some Sacred. =P

    The first Sacred, to me anyway, is the best hack and slash game ever created. Sure Diablo is pretty sweet, but Sacred just has so much more and is a lot more fun, especially with a friend.

    I am really looking forward to trying Sacred 2, it looks like it could be just as good as the first. The first one sucked me in and had me playing for 200 hours at the least.

    I can’t wait to play this one with some friends. Sadly I’m not able to run it on my PC, so unless I spend a lot of money to upgrade my ancient computer I’m gonna have to go with it on a console. It still should be tons of fun though. =)

  89. i remember the first one i hope it is as good. i will have something till diablo 3 if it is worth the price

  90. Hmmm… seems interesting. I haven’t played the first Sacred, though, so I wouldn’t know how it compared.

  91. I want please, great review!!

  92. I’ve been hearing some good and bad things about this game, but was still looking into getting it. You have pretty much confirmed what friends have said. It does sound like it will keep me occupied for a while. I guess I’ll have to start putting together funds.
    Very good review.

  93. Awesome game. Temple guardians FTW

  94. do you have to play online all the time to play this game or can you play offline?