Une preview d´ign(en anglais donc)
January 13, 2004 - It´s difficult for a follower to embrace the qualities that made a blockbuster a hit without looking derivative, and often the experimentation required in order to make it feel new makes for some decidedly mixed results, with Blade and Sword as a recent example. Yet it is apparent from the get-go that Sacred, slated to be released in late March, has overcome many of the action-RPG obstacles through plain hard work and an appreciation for the genre that´s communicated strongly to the gamer.
First of all, it just looks miles better. All the characters are fully 3D and hand-animated with beautiful fluidity. The level of detail is maintained even at the closest of three zoom levels, with different armor and weapons each modeled with readily noticeable distinctions, from a leather vest to enchanted breast plate, and from simple daggers to flaming broadswords. Each character class has been given unique movement and combat animation proper to their general attributes. The environments are two-dimensional, but there´s a lot of variety, from volcanic, desert, forest and grassland, with a full day/night cycle that´s actually incorporated into gameplay, rather than just being there for eye candy. You won´t find a generic tiling style here. Colorful and dramatic spell effects round out the package.
Audio plays an immersive role with environmental nature sounds according to habitat, animal noises, and crunchy combat.
What´s also intriguingly better is the availability of the world, three-fourths of which is accessible right from the beginning. And it´s not a small place, either. Besides traveling on foot, you can obtain a horse, and there are numerous portals to uncover dotted throughout the land. The world is also full of hidden locations, so Sacred thankfully rewards idle exploration as well as following the main quest. In fact, there are 200 quests not connected to the main storyline, which consists of 30 quests, in addition to things like hidden caves containing cool loot and scary beasties. You can wander around the area and also ask around with the local townspeople who will sometimes be able to provide some clues. It´s a wonderfully open-ended game structure.
Combat is also actually fun, instead of he usual torrent of frantic mouse-clicking. This is mostly because of the streamlined interface and the innovative attack combo system, in addition to just watching those nicely animated characters and shiny spells. Left clicking opens up a physical attack and right-clicking opens up a magical attack. The bottom-left of the screen lists the weapons at your disposal, and the bottom-right lists some spells. The buttons are large enough that you can concentrate on fighting instead of clicking on the right button. No one likes to waste mana on a heal spell when they have full health, or waste a powerful spell on a creature that´s already at death´s door. These buttons are also mapped to the keyboard. If you do have to hunt for something, you can pause the game and still move through the interface.
For the combo system, you´ll need to talk to a Master of Combat in town. This opens up a menu of individual moves and spells you´ve learned while progressing through the game, either through training or by finding a scroll, and you simply click and drag these moves into a queue at the top of the screen to create your combo. During combat, click on the combo button for that particular combo, and your character will automatically go through the entire chain.
While in town, you can also talk to the smith, who can upgrade your weapons as well as sell you new ones. Thankfully, weapons don´t degrade. This may be a matter of personal taste, but I still remember wincing in Diablo II every time I had to bring in a powerful unique item for repair. Different items will be available depending on your level, instead of depending on where you are geographically, so you won´t find yourself far afield somewhere and staring at a screen of stuff you can´t equip.
Also different from the usual action-RPG is the sheer breadth of character selection and the depth of character customization. You have a gladiator ( barbarian-type character), a wood elf ranger, dark elf assassin/kung-fu fighter, seraphim ( female paladin), and the Vampiress. By day, the Vampiress,is a weapon-oriented fighter character. By night, however, she transforms into a magic-oriented creature summoner who can dish some serious damage. She can summon swarms of bats and other animals that will remain until killed, and she can also turn enemies into vampires and make them fight on her side. Thematically, she operates as the opposite of the seraphim.
Even better, though, is the character customization, which includes of a range of stats from combat abilities, agility, and constitution to horse riding and ambidextrousness. It falls somewhere between Morrowind and Baldur´s Gate in feel. Also, just as you could customize your weapons and armor in Diablo for a particular play-style ( high damage and low speed, low damage but high speed, more defensive, more offensive, blunt weapons versus swords, etc), so can you here.
Multiplayer plans currently consist of 4-player co-op playable over a LAN or the Internet and player versus player deathmatch. Encore expects Sacred will get an M rating from the ESRB, though you will be able to turn gore down if blood makes you queasy.
-- Tom McNamara
