Sacred 2: Fallen Angel Preview

The guys at GamingExcellence have whipped up an informative preview of Sacred 2 after spending some hands-on time with Ascaron's action RPG sequel.
One of the alluring aspects of the game that was likely the most apparent thing of the alpha build I viewed was the engine and its technical abilities. The world is massive, and takes up hundreds of square kilometres of space. Mario mentioned that if one was to start from the top-left corner of the map and walk in a straight line to the bottom-right corner, it would take about six hours. That's large. Often the issue with a map that big is that there's a lot of empty space, but considering all the maps segments have been crafted manually, it's hard to imagine that happening.

Down the roads I walked, there was always something catching my eye. Whether it's a babbling river, a run-down house, or a few monsters that wanted my blood, I was impressed at the variety of everything around me. The game's great ability to convey ambience and atmosphere (helped by the new engine) made this easier, and didn't feel like you were just running through cookie-cutter areas that were all the same. The stark contrast between the bright, howling desert and the foggy, muffled marshes really emphasized this.