Risen Preview

The editors at NZGamer managed to get their hands on an early copy of Risen and have whipped up a quick hands-on preview of the RPG.

Combat is entirely real time, with damage (etc) based on roll of the dice vs. comparative stats. You have action-based combos and block mechanics which ensure a good part of the result is based on skill but you also have to be wary of your level vs. their level, the type of equipment you’re packing, etc. Unfortunately there’s no way to tell the level / challenge an adversary will present until you engage in combat as there is no obvious mechanic by which to determine if a mob is higher level than you or overtly tough. The mobs are also mixed up in the environment, with seriously hard / high level mobs readily placed around the place with other creatures that are more your level.

Visually it’s an interesting game – there’s no obvious attempt to go for super realism (like Oblivion, for example), which helps it get away with fairly mundane-looking textures / animation / graphical detail. The lighting system is superb, with fire giving the environment around it a warm, soft glow like you might expect if you were really in a dungeon someplace holding a dripping, flaming torch aloft. Environments are densely packed with vegetation and detail, with spectacular weather effects really selling the concept that you’re somewhere and someone else, doing something interesting and magical.