Risen 2: Dark Waters Previews

A couple of new previews have surfaced for Piranha Bytes’ open-world action-RPG Risen 2: Dark Waters, courtesy of this month’s E3.

First, Atomic Gamer seems to be very impressed with the title:

Combat includes traditional swordfighting the way you remember it in Piranha Bytes’ previous games, but you can also weild both a pistol and a sword simultaneously to mix up attacks, distract enemies with a parrot, fight dirty by throwing sand in people’s eyes, kick, and perform parries and counter-attacks. The lack of diversity and rhythm in combat has always been one of my least-favorite things about this studio’s games, but I think they’re finally adding enough variety this time to get me excited for it.

In Risen 2, you’ll also have your own pirate ship with crew. (Like Mass Effect’s Normandy, but with sails and a mast.) Over the course of the game, you’ll pick up new members of your crew, an interesting cast of characters that you can also recruit as sidekicks when going inland. I asked whether this is a full sailing sim or whether it has any elements of Sid Meier’s Pirates!, but was told that no, it diluted the focus of Piranha Bytes’ own brand of action-RPG, and didn’t feel like it fit in the world. So the answer is that while you do have your own ship to explore and play around in, you’ll likely just be clicking areas on a map to go to them. It’s unfortunate, because I feel like maybe the team could have done some really fun ship-to-ship battles along with melee and ranged person-to-person combat as one ship boards another.

Then GameFocus:

Pirates are known to be dirty fighters and Risen 2’s mantra is to (Live Like A Pirate, Fight Like A Pirate). Moves like parrying and countering are unlockable, but the lack of a shield provides more options. Having a free hand means players can throw sand or a bomb to gain an edge in combat. Pistols and muskets with bayonets are attainable and enemies can be hit with the butt of the weapon. The hero can even summon his parrot during a battle.

A combat sequence was demoed for us as the hero worked his way through a bright, grassy area surround by trees. He easily slayed sea creatures like giant crabs after kicking them and slashing their soft underbellies. Companions will also aid in battle, but only one can accompany the hero at any time. Each has their own scenarios where they are most useful such as long or short range combat.

The gameplay demo ended with a visit to a beautiful waterfall. Piranha Bytes stated they want to create a living, breathing world with a variety of creatures. Areas are hand-drawn and each island only has to be loaded once upon arrival to create a seamless adventure. The graphical leap between games was apparent and the shift to a greener setting definitely helped.