Sacred 2 - Preview @ 1Up

1Up is next along with a Sacred 2 preview from GDC.  Having a choice of PC or X360 versions to look at, 1Up chose the X360 and the previewer then proceeds to talk it up:

Developer Ascaron feels Xbox 360 is lacking something. No, not hardware stability -- although that was a good guess. The German company means action-RPGs.

"Where are they?" asks Sebastian Walter, a member of Ascaron's 360 development team. I look over both shoulders futilely, then say with a shrug reply, "Shouldn't I be asking you that question?"

The developer nods and guides me over to two demo kiosks, one PC and one 360. Both are running a copy of Sacred 2: Fallen Angels. Although the two versions look to offer similar experiences, with a conjoined release date, the 360 build shown at Game Developers Conference contained some of the more exciting elements.

A major, if not obvious, change from the original Sacred titles is in the controls. Players now directly maneuver the character via the left thumbstick, ditching the droning monotony of point-and-confirm mouse clicking. Basic potions and attacks are mapped to the face buttons, with special abilities mapped to the D-pad. The right thumbstick zooms and swings the camera around the character, revealing that Ascaron is ditching the pseudo-isometric art style of the original Sacred games for a full 3D environment.