Risen 2

TRAILER

Risen 2: Dark Waters is a single-player fantasy-themed action role-playing game and the sequel to Risen by Piranha Bytes. It is published and distributed by Deep Silver. Risen 2 is a pirate themed game, but it transfers the classic Caribbean pirate themes to a fantasy world where monsters, ancient gods, and voodoo magic exist.

The game was officially announced by Deep Silver on August 18, 2010, during a press conference a the GamesCom exhibition of Cologne. The official site was opened on February 19, 2011. The game was released for Microsoft Windows in the UK and USA at the end of April 2012, and is scheduled to be available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms in the late summer of 2012. The PC version is directly developed by Piranha Bytes. The French firm Wizarbox is in charge of the console versions for both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. Risen 2 will be the first Risen game to be made for the PS3.

Plot

The story begins in the Fortress of Crystal at the port of Caldera, last fortress of the Inquisition (a military/religious group last seen in Risen) and of the Old Empire. The mountains surrounding Caldera are aflame, as ancient gods called Titans (also last seen in Risen) assail the land to the north. Two of the Titans, Ursegor and Ismael, have fallen to fighting each other. This has relieved the pressure on Caldera, although parts of the city are on fire and have been abandoned. But one of the two Titans must soon fall, and the winner will then try to find a way to crush Caldera. Only the power of the mysterious crystal cave, located under the Fortress, gives the small depleted garrison some hope that they might keep the victorious Titan at bay. A more immediately pressing problem is a sea monster called the Kraken, which attack ships at sea and is under the command of the Titan goddess Mara. The Kraken attacks thus prevent Inquisition equipment, soldiers and supplies from reaching the last remaining haven of Caldera. The monster also prevents the Inquisition from fleeing from the Titans and the Old World, over the ocean to the New World. To add to the garrison's troubles, what little supplies Caldera has left are threatened by pirates who try to rob the storehouses.

One stormy night, Commandante Carlos (head of the Harbour Town garrison in the first Risen) spies an Inquisition ship on a course into Caldera harbor. Before it can reach safety, it is sunk by the Kraken. Carlos asks the hero to help any survivors. Among the survivors who are found washed up on the beach, there is a key character from Risen, the pirate's daughter Patty. Patty is always in search of her father, the famous pirate Gregorius Emanuel Steelbeard, and his treasure. Rumor says Steelbeard has found a way to sail the seas safely, using what may be a possible weapon that could kill the Kraken. Commandante Carlos decides that the Hero should infiltrate Steelbeard's pirates and try to learn any secrets they have. Patty and the Hero decide to team up, for the journey to the pirate's island of Takarigua. The Hero is officially stripped of his position in the Inquisition, and sent on his mission.

Main character

In the tradition of games developed by Piranha Bytes, the main character has no name. He is simply called the Nameless Hero. The main character of Risen 2 is the same hero of the first Risen. After the event of Risen he fled with the soldiers of the Inquisition, and joined with them - since they were then the last real remnants of organised humanity. But he is now older and wiser, and in the face of catastrophe he has become a frequent heavy alcohol user. He wears a patch over one eye that hides the Inquisitor monocle, obtained at the end of Risen.

Gameplay

The player doesn't choose his character or his class. One gains glory points (XP) as rewards for fighting monsters and solving quests. When enough points have been accumulated, the hero levels up and ranks up several attributes which together with equiped items govern the actual skills of the character (lockpicking, blademastery etc). The player can also invest gold with Trainers - special NPCs that are scattered around the game world - to refine his character with new skills.

The player can use a wide range of weapons, including, for the first time, guns. (Note the major revamp of the world also removes crossbows/bows from the game, in favour to guns/pistols, and that any type of shields and or two-handed weapons are not available in the vanilla game.)

Risen 2 offers the player a semi-open world: each island is a separate area that requires loading; but once the area is loaded, one can move freely without hindrance or pause for loading new items. At the beginning of the game, not all islands are initially reachable, but they become so as the story unfolds. Even though the game takes place in a faux-Caribbean pirate world, it doesn't include ship combat.

The magic system also recived a significant change with voodoo being focused on mind control and curses instead of the traditional flame/ice/magic bullet system.

One major difference form the prequel is the less important impact of factions in the actual plot, instead of game defining as previously (with certain armours/skills/weapons and quest lines being available only to cerain paths) Risen 2 features a much more focused main questline with factions being only secondary and not exclusive as before.

Development

In late May 2007, JoWooD Productions Software AG, Austria, and Pluto 13 GmbH, Germany (owner of the trademark "Piranha Bytes") announced the end of their cooperation. Following contractual agreements binding the two companies, JoWood temporarily holds the right to publish games in the Gothic series as well as the copyright for the "Gothic" trademark. As Piranha Bytes temporarily cannot further develop any game for the Gothic series, the company announced June 17, 2007 that they were working on drafting a new RPG. The next day, Deep Silver announced they would be the publisher and on August 6, 2008, the official name of the game was revealed: Risen. While Piranha Bytes developed the PC version of the game, the French company Wizarbox was responsible for bringing the game to the PS3 and Xbox 360. Following numerous criticisms of the poor quality of the original game's console port, the publisher decided that the sequel would be jointly developed on the three platforms from the project's inception, with experts from Piranha Bytes preparing elements for Wizarbox and with test controls every 30 or 60 days. The official name of the sequel: Risen 2: Dark Waters, was announced on February 19, 2011.

In late July 2011, the company Deep Silver announced that they had selected Steamworks as the form of DRM for the PC version of the game. This will allow users to add their retail keys to a Steam account and play the game via the service. This will also include unlimited installs on any PC, and no requirement to have the DVD in the drive to play.

Risen 2: Dark Waters was released on April 27, 2012 for PC in both Europe and North America. It was scheduled to be released the same day on consoles, but was delayed twice. The first anouncement was that the release had been delayed by a month. The current statement is that it will be released with extra content not present in the Windows-release on July 31, 2012 in North America and August 3, 2012 in Europe for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Marketing

In 2012, gaming licenser ESRB announced that the original cover art of Risen 2 was not suitable for release in North America, and Deep Silver was told to change it. Instead of a spray of red blood in the backdrop, behind the skull, it has since been changed to the color blue. The cover art remaining unchanged in other territories.

Reception

As of May 1, 2012, Risen 2 for Windows has gotten mixed to favorable reviews from critics, holding a 71% rating on Metacritic (6 percent lower than the previous title in the series). Critics praised the new setting, but criticize it for being over-reliant on stereotypes and being underdeveloped in general. IGN calls it "a role-playing experience that uses convention as a crutch and marginalizes or strips away a lot of elements that made the studio's past games stand out." Destructoid calls it what "...could have been a thoroughly supreme game, one that could have gone toe to toe with the heavyweights of action role-playing. Due to a number of highly questionable design decisions, however, a lot of that potential has withered away."

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	68.11% (PC)
Metacritic	71/100 (PC)
Review scores
Publication	Score
1UP.com	n/a[
GameTrailers	6.7/10
IGN	6.5/10

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Minimum Requirements

CPU: Pentium Dual Core e2180 2.0 Ghz
Athlon 64 X2, Dual Core 4200+
GPU: GeForce GT530, Radeon HD 3850
RAM: 2GB
OS: Win XP 32
DISK: 5.5 GB


Adjusted Requirements

CPU: Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4Ghz
     Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5600+
GPU: GeForce GTS240
     Radeon HD 6670 2GB DDR3
RAM: 4GB
OS: Win XP 32
DISK: 5.5 GB

Recommended requirements

CPU: Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0Ghz
     Athlon II X2 270
GPU: GeForce GTX260
     Radeon HD 489
RAM: 4GB
DISK: 5.5 GB
DX 9 All


MARK: 7.7 (personal)

- Repetitive gameplay and fight scenes.
 - Ungainly control.
+  Story
+  Theme

As Far As I Can Say:

I prefer Risen 1 for storyline, gameplay, no linearity, challenges and the level of difficulty. Share your point of view and let me know what you think about this game!