there s a german review from pcgames:
http://www.pcgames.de/aid,696003/Ri...ic-3-Schmach-vergessen-machen/PC/Test/?page=2
rough translation by me - missing the last two parts though (those are about graphics, sound & hardware requirements so not that interesting anyhow):
"After the Gothic 3 bugfest from 2006 Essen-based developer Piranha Bytes return with Risen to try calming the annoyed fanbase.
Even though this new game is named differently, Risen cannot hide its Gothic roots.
As usual Piranha Bytes developed a raw, believable but significantly smaller world packed full of “real men” - not 08/15 NPCs. As nameless hero you start the game stranded on an island with your memory lost of how you got there and where you are. Just like in the previous games.
When exploring the island you ll soon notice that there are 2 bigger factions: the white order and the bandits, which both fight over mysterious temples and against monsters.
While the white order is exploiting the local population the bandits are working against them.
During the story you can decide which faction to join but after the 2nd of 4 acts there s almost no difference apart from which talents you can learn.
The problem: in the first act you re exploring the island, constantly get new quests , get to know many NPCs and build up your character … just what makes a good RPG….
but after a few hours you get to the point where you have to decide for one of the two factions or you cannot advance further. This way you decide whether you want to learn fighting with staves and magic (white order) or fighting with swords and axes (bandits). Other than that your decision doesn’t really matter as from that point on the story of risen develops exactly the same and gets weaker and weaker.
While you re running over the whole island in act 2 and doing all kinds of sidequests …. the last two acts merely lead you through boring, dark temple ruins and catacombs where you are fighting hours upon hours against always the same enemies – a small (my notes: LOL, small ?) annoyance.
After 38 hours we finished all four acts of the story and could watch the ending cinematic.
If you are only doing the main-story you should be finished even faster – if you are trying to do every sidequest it could be a few hours more.
Also the choice between factions and what kind of character you want to play (melee, ranged, mage etc.) heavily influences how quick you will be done. Mages for example surely need more time than fighters, as they have quite some troubles with combat early on.
We d say Risen offers between 30 – 45 hours of gameplay.
Controlling your hero is business as usual: WASD movement and mouse is used for rotating camera and hero. In combat you hit with left mouse button and block with right. If you keep pushing right you character will rotate with the targeted enemy in case that one is trying to get in your back.
In ranged combat or when casting the camera moves closer to the nameless hero – its sitting on his shoulder basically. Then risen plays like a 3rd person shooter since in the middle of the screen there s a reticule which shows you where your missile will hit. That way arrows, crossbow and spells can be used effectively against the monster.
Not as comfortable are the menus for inventory and trading – they are lacking the function to compare different gear so you have to memorize equipment stats yourself.
But Piranha Bytes learned something regarding user interface. If you accept a quest the game marks the location of the questgiver on the map and where you have to go - other than for hidden things of course. And if you forgot what to do, the questlog will lists you the entire dialogue with the NPCs and a short summary. Can t be much easier.
There s also signs on crossings leading the way to importation locations.
The boars in Gothic 3 just needed a few days to become a popular example of fucked up balancing – your hero could be as strong as possible and they would still kill you.
In Risen Piranha Bytes proves they have learnt from that.
Of course your inexperienced hero should be very cautious when travelling over the island during the beginning of the game because at that point boars and hungry wolves are dangerous. As you gain more and more experience, you can easily slaughter those animals.
However you will always meet enemies that challenge you. The balance between easy and challenging encounters is pretty good. Just towards the end of the game you will have too much experience and good equipment so nothing is really dangerous anymore.
But until then there will be quite a few hard fights.
The monsters vary between typical wild animals like boars, wolves, sea-vultures and human or human-like enemies. Many of those enemies have different tactics: wolves for example attack in packs and try to surround you. Since they are very agile and dodge quite a few blows this makes them pretty uncomfortable enemies.
Fighting against humans is similar – those also try if possible to attack in groups, surround you and block or counter your attacks. The right tactics are essential else you ll constantly see the loading screen. Since the world of risen is full with monsters that could surprise you any time , you should save very often. But since you see them from far away unless they disappear outside of your limited visibility range – this shouldn’t be a problem.
A bit annoying is that Piranha Bytes didn’t balance the character levels well enough. Early on you could use more points to develop your character but at the end you ll have more than you need. Faster levelups early on and slower ones lategame would have been better.
But that’s nitpicking. Another weak point is that variety between items and weapons is very small. Armor is very rare – you basically mainly use the armor of your faction.
In terms of weapons Piranha Bytes also appears to be greedy: of course there s one-handed and two-handed swords, bastardswords, sabres, axes, etc. – but as soon as you finish the first 2 acts you have seen everything there is.
...... as said rest is mostly about graphics etc. etc. final verdict is 86% with short summary:
+atmospheric but not too big gameworld with lots to explore
+technically solid (few bugs etc.)
+believable character progression through skilltrainers
-story weak towards the end and too similar for both factions
-combat system is not that interesting
-last 2 acts are not good compared to the beginning of the game
....
to me the review has lots of (reasonable sounding) criticism but they play it down as "nitpicking" themselves and end with 86% for something that is apparently a boring dungeon crawl with a shitty combat system for half the game. either the beginning half is really damn awesome to make up for that or we again have a bunch of hitler-loving nazi pricks closing one or two eyes just cause its a fatherland product.
i m willing to give the game a chance though. because i m one of those hitler loving nazi pricks that will close one or two eyes for a fatherland product.
