Preview Risen Preview on IGN

[Edward_R_Murrow]

Tags: Piranha Bytes; Risen

The floodgates have opened as far as news on the spiritual successor to the Gothic games is concerned. IGN has put up a <a href="http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/966/966062p1.html">preview of Risen</a>, saying a lot of good things about it.<blockquote>Two radically different factions have set up camp on the island and are fighting each other for control over territory and the spoils found upon the land. Even worse, monsters and other strange incidents are popping up all over the island, making this a very treacherous place to explore.
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[...]
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The game, which designers Wizardbox and Piranha Bytes have spent more than two and a half years working on in tandem, has been designed to create a true living world where everything reacts to your actions. For instance, I was told that a player could save a young woman close to the start of the game, and she'll become a companion and aid you with your moves. If you choose to leave her alone, or take her and abandon her later on, the character, and the reactions from other NPCs in the world, will respond to your personal decisions, denying you aid or even attacking you outright.
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[...]
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Players will need to individually choose at some point what side they'd like to eventually belong to and will find that the game will change based on that decision. In fact, the designers mentioned that they're aiming for at least sixty hours of play for each faction, meaning that there will be a large amount of replayability for players to check out within the game</blockquote>Sounds like the perfect Codex sandbox game...<blockquote>Although the game was being demonstrated on a PC, I was told that the lead platform for Risen is actually the 360, and that the developers have been spending a large amount of time working on the fight system and the other basic mechanics to ensure that the game works well on both platforms.</blockquote>Consider your buzz killed.
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://gamebanshee.com/">Gamebanshee</A>

 

[Stauff]

After all these efforts that community spent fixing G3 it might be a good gesture to publicly say 'thank you' to the G3 CP team.. Saying 'sorry we fucked up' is of course unexpected but more true to life..

In any case all these XBOX words indeed bring grave expectations. They mention Gothic games like all the time in the trailer, yet Gothic was a pure PC game - so no comparison please.

Wonder who will fix their shit now, eh - I bet there are no such hard-core fans on XBOX to fix things PB will break in the initial release..

 

[dragonfk]

Maybe Gothic was PC exclusive, but if I recall correctly it was meant as a console game.

 

[Claw]

Gothic's control system was actually optimized for a gamepad.

 

[Turok]

The concept and the promises look really nice. I will wait for the final product, PB got a history of release bugged games.

 

[bhlaab]

Yeah, Gothic was a pc game through and through, up to the inventory screen that couldnt be navigated with the mouse

 

[Claw]

There is a rather interesting thing that stands out because of the console focus, which is that there is almost a non-existent HUD to the gameplay. Apart from two bars that represent mana and health for your character, everything is completely removed until you enter battle, at which point the enemy health bar pops up at the center of the screen.

OMG, consolitis is killing Gothic! I mean it's killing Risen! :shock:

I've never even heard of Wizardbox. Neither has Wikipedia, apparently.

 

[Turok]

I think the make of the game on consoles will make then give more atention on the bugs, if they release something incomplete to the consolas, they will get sacrifice with a stick in the ass (impale?).

Sorry for the bad english, i know you understand me :D

 

[bhlaab]

I think the make of the game on consoles will make then give more atention on the bugs, if they release something incomplete to the consolas, they will get sacrifice with a stick in the ass (impale?).

Sorry for the bad english, i know you understand me :D

Download Fallout 3: The Pitt today!

 

[Andhaira]

Is combat still teitch based through?

 

[bat_boro]

I read on Pb's forum that something had lost in the translation of this article - actually the game is purely developed for the PC and another studio is porting it to the 360 so I guess there's nothing to fear on that front

 

[VonVentrue]

<blockquote>Although the game was being demonstrated on a PC, I was told that the lead platform for Risen is actually the 360, and that the developers have been spending a large amount of time working on the fight system and the other basic mechanics to ensure that the game works well on both platforms.</blockquote>Consider your buzz killed.

The lead platform is the PC, take everything game journalists say these days with a grain of salt. Straight from the horse's mouth:
"P.s. Oh yeah and the Xbox 360 is not exactly the lead platform of the project, but I think that is something you already know"

http://forum.worldofplayers.de/forum/sh ... ostcount=1

Poorly written article, it's obvious the person responsible has never played any Gothic game.

 

[Stauff]

Another video

Another video.. This one a bit more troubling. We're moving away from numbers. What the heck does this mean?

Link to video

 

[Claw]

It means that guy works for the PR department.

 

[doctor_kaz]

I'm a little worried about that too. The first two Gothic games weren't complicated when it came to character development. The talk about "accessible" is very toubling.

It's not like games with numbers don't sell. Fallout 3, Kotor, Mass Effect, and Oblviion prove this.

 

[Shannow]

It's not like games with numbers don't sell. Fallout 3, Kotor, Mass Effect, and Oblviion prove this.

You just sent a shiver down my spine and now I feel a little sick...*puke*

 

[MetalCraze]

And 3 out of 4 there are dumb shooters.
Games with numbers lol.

 

[doctor_kaz]

Well the point is, the skill systems in those games didn't turn people off. Fallout 3 has more numbers than lots of games that have sold poorly. Getting rid of numbers and turning games into Deus Ex: Invisible War isn't what sells games. Marketing is what sells games. If Pirhanna Bytes wants to sell games, they need to get a slick talking PR guy and advertise massively on sources like ign and G4 so that those sources will give them 9/10 5-star reviews. Instead, they are talking about "accessibility". I don't think I have never heard that PR buzzword used in connection with a game that was actually good.

 

[Shannow]

The point that I see, is that you can make aweful games even if you have numbers in them.

 

[MetalCraze]

No - you can randomly spend stat points in FO3 without any back-thought and will still have no trouble completing this game because numbers there mean nothing.
Just like in FO3's predecessor - Oblivion.

 

[Texas Red]

So they're remaking Gothic without a trace of ambition? Gothic 1/2 was plain as it is and I doubt these people can pull off something inspiring. Just the incredibly lame(possibly the most boring) character system of the games shows that there aren't any people there with a vision.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted by doberlec
The system is not not simpler than in the previous - its even more detailed. But we have removed the numbers from the interface where they didn't make any sense anyway and we're going back again to give the player more subtle hints on how he stand with factions and the progress in the game etc.

See here: http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6803

BTW: RPGWatch sounds more and more like the codex everytime I bother reading news comments there. Main concerns are accessibility, dumbing down (of stats) and colour palette^^

 

[Claw]

What strikes me most about Risen is how much it looks like G3, although the devs claim to use a new engine.

 

[Thrasher]

Originally Posted by doberlec
The system is not not simpler than in the previous - its even more detailed. But we have removed the numbers from the interface where they didn't make any sense anyway and we're going back again to give the player more subtle hints on how he stand with factions and the progress in the game etc.

See here: http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6803

BTW: RPGWatch sounds more and more like the codex everytime I bother reading news comments there. Main concerns are accessibility, dumbing down (of stats) and colour palette^^

The codex is a virus.