Risen - Review Flood #8

[Dhruin]

Stepping into Gorath's shoes for a moment, here is our latest collection of Risen reviews from around the web. As we've seen before, the PC gets generally good results while the Xbox articles suffer.


German site allvatar (http://www.allvatar.com/rex/1431-0-Risen-Review-Seite-1.html) says Risen inherits all the strengths and weaknesses of the Gothic series and requires some intiative from the player. No score, but it's quite positive.
GameRadio.de (http://www.gameradio.de/test-review/pc/1461/risen.html) calls it "Gothic 2, Version 2" and awards an Atmosphere and Sound award.
Inside-360.de (http://www.inside-360.de/?p=16560) starts by saying Risen is a "visual disappointment" but goes on to say the game is fun - this seems to contradict the score of 6/12 for the category "Fun to play" but perhaps my German is missing the nuance. Add two points for Gothic fans, they say.
8/10 is the score at Eurogamer.ro (http://www.eurogamer.ro/articles/risen-review_3)
Risen returns to the roots of the forge, says eXp.de (http://www.exp.de/product_review.php?pid=4515&aid=pc). The score is 8.4/10.
An English review at TechArena (http://www.techarena.in/review/14449-risen-pc-game-review.htm), who note the atmosphere, challenge and deliberate character improvement.
InsideGamer.nl (http://www.insidegamer.nl/PC/risen/recensies/26998) scores an enthusiastic 9.2/10
Likewise, Gamer.no (http://www.gamer.no/article.php?articleId=22472) is impressed, with a score of 9/10
Peliplaneetta.fi (http://www.peliplaneetta.fi/arvostelut/1132/Risen/) is scores lower than most at 73% but I have no idea what it says.
A different experience depending on the choices of the player, says GamesNation.it (http://www.gamesnation.it/giochi/392/recensioni/risen.html), although recommended for experienced players. Score - 8.2/10
According to French blog Art of Gaming (http://antredefox.blogspot.com/2009/10/test-pc-risen.html), Risen isn't innovative but plays to its strengths. The score is 15 (out of 20?).
A South African link next, with xboxgaming.co.za (http://www.xboxgaming.co.za/reviews/risen/) finding it a "miserable" experience. Words like "pointless" and "dreary" preceed statements like "they still manage to get so many things wrong with Risen it becomes laughable". They are also alone in finding "a vast array of bugs". The score is 1/5, and the only pro is "It comes on a shiny disc". Worth a read for the laugh.
Allpcgame (http://www.allpcgame.net/2009/10/risen-review.html) has a short, broken English review with a score of 70%, although the article reads higher than that.
The rather pink site FemaleGamers.co.uk (http://femalegamers.co.uk/index.php?p=2_74) sees parallels with Fable but enough variation for Risen to stand on its own. The text is quite positive and the score is 8/10.
84% at PC GameSpecial.nl (http://www.pcgamespecial.nl/?itemid=8940)
It should have been named "Gothic 4" according to Games32 (http://www.games32.com/Risen-%28PC%29-Reviews/p2000_articleid/1188) in a screenshot-dominated article. The score is 78% and recommended only for patient players - others might prefer the "epic" Dragon Age.
A low 6/10 at xbox360.gamingmedia.de (http://xbox360.gamingmedia.de/reviews,id1397,0,risen.html?skipJIS=true), who say that Piranha Bytes can develop Gothic and nothing else.
Adventurespiele.net (http://www.adventurespiele.net/Reviews-index-req-showcontent-id-338.htm) score 5/5 and an award.




http://www.qtl.co.il/img/copy.pnghttp://www.google.com/favicon.ico (http://www.google.com/search?q=Gothic)http://www.babylon.com/favicon.ico
More information. (http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/newsbit?newsbit=13455)

[booboo]

ouch @ xboxgaming.co.za! As a S. African I'm embarrassed! :blush: Just finished the PC version and thought the game was excellent, on the whole. Is the Xbox experience really that broken? I don't get that sense from browsing other Xbox reviews - not as appealing, somewhat disappointing perhaps, but 1/5? I'm not convinced.

[Wulf]

From xboxGamingCoZa -->

"there is absolutely nothing I can recommend about Risen"
"The market for this game extends only to those who enjoy self-abuse, and I can only hope that its creators are soundly whipped for this atrocity"
:lol::lol::lol:

[Thaurin]

He actually has some good points, but then the lies begin again; vegetation in Risen are not 2D sprites that are always facing you to emulate 3D (like was done in early 3D games like Doom or Duke Nukem). He also reuses the "U" word again, unlikable. :P

The thing about bugs could be true; there are some pretty stupid quest bugs, but none game-breaking as far as I know. I've heard people complaining about other bugs, among which one that puts the game in a state where you can't interact with any objects. I don't know, the amount of bugs is bearable for me and nothing that breaks the immersion.

[Corwin]

There is one game breaking bug in the Monastery, but it's being patched.

[Gorath]

There is one game breaking bug in the Monastery, but it's being patched.

Source? I don't know anything about a planned patch. All I heard is that Pixel (DS CM) will filter the confirmed bugs in the public bugtracker today and forward what he deems worthy.

[Corwin]

I read it in a dev post on WoR in the English forum.

[ortucis]

"The score is 78% and recommended only for patient players - others might prefer the "epic" Dragon Age."


This is why kids shouldn't be reviewing games like RISEN (which are from grown-ups and those who aren't mentally challenged).

[xSamhainx]

ouch @ xboxgaming.co.za! As a S. African I'm embarrassed! :blush: Just finished the PC version and thought the game was excellent, on the whole. Is the Xbox experience really that broken? I don't get that sense from browsing other Xbox reviews - not as appealing, somewhat disappointing perhaps, but 1/5? I'm not convinced.

it's definitely a funny review tho, he thoroughly despises the game and it bleeds thru w/ every syllable typed!

[TheMadGamer]

There are way too many online review sources. Reminds me of the 70s... gas stations on all 4 corners of every single intersection... way too many.

[vanedor]

I don't think something such as "too many reviews" exists. Reviews give opinions that tend to cater to different publics (and nationalities). You got an array of reviews in german, italian, english... I don't see anything wrong about this.