Sacred 3 Review - Fairly Mundane

If you’re a fan of the Action RPG genre, chances are you’ll be well aware of the Sacred franchise. The first game, developed by Ascaron Entertainment and released in 2004 for PC, was somewhat of a diamond in the rough and therefore gained a respectable following, with over 1.8 million copies sold worldwide.

Obviously, this pressed the developer into creating a sequel, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, which was eventually released in 2008 for PC and 2009 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Unfortunately the reception wasn’t as good as the first entry and in April 2009 Ascaron was unable to pay its debts and forced to go into administration, mentioning the extended development time of Sacred 2 as the main reason.

It’s been six years, but Deep Silver is betting once again in the franchise with Sacred 3, this time developed by German studio Keen Games. The first objective declared by the devs was their strive to deliver a bug-free game, which makes sense since this was one of the biggest issues of Sacred 2; they clearly succeeded, as I didn’t think a single bug in my whole playthrough, but it seems like this mostly happened thanks to a reduced ambition.

For example, perhaps the biggest difference is that most RPG elements have been lost in Sacred 3: character customization is non-existent, with four heroes (Claire, Vajra, Marak, Alithea - there’s also a fifth one, Kython, but it’s only available to those who have preordered) representing four different classes; arguably the single most important element in this genre, loot, has been completely removed as well, much to the detriment of replayability. You’ll only gather a resource with which to unlock a different weapon, armor or skill, but there’s very little choice in all of those.

Exploration is pretty much absent as well, even when compared to the already low standard of the genre. Sacred 3 uses an overworld map, which means that you’ll launch every mission on its own; there are a few secondary missions, but these really feel more like separate challenges instead of proper sidequests, such as those you may find stumbling in some place while exploring. All of the maps are very funneled, with just one path to follow - there is virtually no chance of getting lost in Sacred 3, that is for sure.

That said, it’s not all bad. Combat, for instance, is very satisfying and more involved than usual for the genre; you have to aim your attacks (unlike, for example, Diablo 3) and some care is in order, as enemies can be quite lethal. A dodge button is also available and you’ll have to properly choose the direction of your roll as well, unless you wish to go straight into the very attack you were trying to escape.

Even here, though, Sacred 3 disappoints a bit. There are few enemy types, which means that you’ll quickly learn their attack patterns and be able to counter them successfully for the rest of the game. As with all hack&slash titles, Sacred 3 is way more fun when played in coop (up to four players); it’s clear that the game was designed with this in mind, as every hero has some skills that can only be activated during a coop session.

It also looks like originally the other heroes were supposed to aid the player while playing solo, but even this feature was cut. Moreover, while it is undoubtedly fun to squash enemies with your friends, cooperative gameplay is slightly hampered by the limited diversity between character roles, which leads to a diminished sense of teamwork.

 

In terms of graphics, Sacred 3 fares well, although it won’t win any award in this category. Everything is as detailed as can be expected for an isometric hack&slash game and animations are quite smooth.

The plot revolves around the resistance against the tyrant Zane Ashen, ruler of the evil Ashen Empire, who seeks to open the gates of the underworld; it’s not deep or original, but that is par for the course within the genre. Still, everything is presented with a snarky tone; this fits well with the portfolio of the publisher (just think of Saints Row), and it’s a nice change from the overwhelming seriousness of Diablo.