Risen is the latest title from German developer Piranha Bytes in which you find your character washed up on a mysterious island after being shipwrecked. The island itself is in the midst of some strange goings on, with earthquakes being a regular occurrence. Once you get your bearings you soon realize that there are only two survivors left from your ordeal, namely yourself and a lady called Sara.

 

 

After a brief introduction it is then time to arm yourself with whatever you find lying around and then wander to one of the islands three main areas, The Harbor Town, the Monastery or the Bandit Camp. Unlike in other RPG’s Risen doesn’t actually make you choose your class before the game begins, instead you evolve into your class depending on your actions, which is certainly a more realistic way of doing things, therefore the path you take at the beginning is quite important to the development of your character.

 

Once you have chosen your path you will soon find yourself with another major choice, you see the island has two warring factions, the bandits and the inquisition, who are both at each others throats over the islands riches, therefore you will find yourself having to choose which one to join, although you will need to win their favour first. It’s quite a decision to make at the start of a game, and like I say it does help to shape your character into his class, which does seem more realistic than choosing it at the start.

 

So far so good yeah? Well no actually, you see straight from the start you can tell that this game has problems, the camera is awkward, jerky and hard to control, which is especially frustrating during combat. The menus are also confusing, though luckily I’m a bit of an RPG veteran so I was able to figure out how to use and assign equipment, however I wouldn’t think newcomers to the genre would have as much luck. The map is similarly frustrating, you find these as you quest and once acquired you can use them to access various quests, although this is a task in itself due to the awkwardly design of the menus. There is also no fast travel, so make sure you choose a quest close by.

 

Should you wish to improve your characters skills you can use the learning points that you earn during your adventures, these are basically the equivalent of leveling up, though new skills and abilities can only be earn by being taught and also paying gold for the privilege, therefore unlike in games such as Oblivion you cannot simply enter the menu and increase your skills in a matter of seconds. While this is a more realistic way of improving your character it does feel like you are getting little reward for all of your efforts, especially at the beginning of the game.

 

The combat is controlled mainly by two buttons, with the A button used to hack at the enemy and B used for blocking. Combat does get frustrating because each creature you meet seems to be a lot more proficient at fighting than you, so much so that hiding behind your shield will become a regular occurrence.

 

Despite its problems there is a decent RPG game underneath, much like most games of this genre you will have to speak to the natives in order to earn and complete quests and you will progress and become a much stronger character for it. There are also plenty of hidden areas to explore, such as caves and buildings where you will find hidden treasures and weapons.

 

 

Graphically the game is an absolute mess, I have no doubt that the PC version will be a lot more polished that the Xbox 360 version, and I really hope it is because this has got to be one of the most visually uninspiring games that I have seen yet. The NPC’s, the lighting effects and just about everything else is really unimpressive and honestly feels half finished.

 

Risen is a big disappointment, it feels half finished and therefore quite broken, if you can persevere then there is a decent RPG underneath, however I get the feeling that only the hardcore may find this out.