I will honestly admit, Sacred 2 was definitely not on the list as one of my favorite games, or my list of good games for that matter. With a ton of bugs, strange weapon system, and overall lack of polish, I chose to not spend my time in Ancaria for very long. However that looks like that will change with the upcoming release of Sacred 3.
It looks like the team behind Sacred scrapped everything that was Sacred 2, and decided to build Sacred 3 from the ground up. While the game will definitely be playable solo, there is a heavy emphasis on co-op play. A lot of it has to do with the various skills. We were only introduced to two character classes, the Berzerker and the Ancarian Lancer, but we were shown just how the two complemented each other. For example, the Berzerker was able to charge through enemies with a fiery attack after the Lancer stunned them.
Good co-op play is also heavily rewarded, with various in game achievements popping up as you unleash successful co-op attacks. This will also help your character progress much quicker after each scenario. Speaking of scenarios, we didn't get the full scoop on how the overarching world will work, but apparently the open world of Sacred 2 is gone. It turns out many players got too sidetracked with sidequests and ended up never finishing the game, so this time around, the team wanted to make focused missions that are all action packed, and minimize on trying to get from point A to point B.
The strange weapon system from Sacred 2 has also been scrapped, this time focusing on a single equipped weapon, instead of a weapon bound to a face button. This is what will allow more emphasis on each characters' particular skill sets. The skill sets are also highly customizable as they can be mixed and matched before each scenario, letting you pick which skills you think will make for the best attack strategy.
I must note that the game looks absolutely stunning. While it's primarily an isometric game, it does shift views in certain locations (pictured above) to truly showcase the beauty of the surrounding environment.
Sacred 3 is definitely looking to be a great co-op dungeon crawling experience, and it also proves that the Action RPG genre is in now way ready to give up just yet. You can look out for Sacred 3 in 2013 on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
