Risen 2: Dark Waters Previews

We have two new previews for Piranha Bytes’ Risen 2: Dark Waters fresh from E3, which give good reasons to keep an eye on the title despite the fiery competition of the likes of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

GameSpot:

Oberlerchner also showed off the hero’s base of operations: his very own pirate ship. Here, players can either save or travel to different islands in a heartbeat by conversing with the ship’s helmswoman Patty. While there isn’t any sailing or ship-steering minigame, he said that Risen 2’s focus is all about the role playing instead of tacking on needless features with which the developers weren’t familiar.

Another good feature to point out in this build includes the ability to recruit companions for your ship. As the hero fought for his life, he was assisted by pirate Steelbeard who was an expert in close-quarters swordfighting. You can only bring one companion on foot at a time, but you can pick from about five different characters Some companions are only useful in certain situations; Steelbeard isn’t that useful in open fields and wide-open spaces, but new companion Venturo’s musket can pick enemies from afar in such an area.

Just Push Start:

Being a pirate, your hero isn’t going to rely on a sword and shield during hostile encounters. In the demo, the sword proved to be the most reliable primary weapon. There was a gun used as a secondary, but it worked more like a special move since it was accompanied by a cooldown time. It was even stated that dual pistols was an option later on. Other special moves came in the form of (dirty tricks) (upgradable to lessen cooldown time). Pirates rarely play by the rules and that’s where these tricks come in. The ones that were spoken of included throwing daggers, tossing sand into the enemy’s eyes, and sending out a trained parot to distract the enemy. These additions plus a revamped battle system have made combat much more engaging. The hero fought a huge leviathan, spider, and crab. All of them have weakspots that can be exploited. For example, the crab can be flipped over exposing its soft underbelly.