Editor's Rating
You can get fun out of Sacred 3 but as game itself does not add much to your game library. It feels particularly cheap and that is not a good sign for a game of almost 50 euros.
Once there was a developer called Ascaron Entertainment that created the franchise Sacred. Unfortunately the studio had financial problems and so the series moved to publisher Deep Silver and developer Keen Games. The result is Sacred 3 that launched on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. A successful move or is this Sacred’s final destination?
Previous versions of the franchise are known for their role-playing gameplay. This kind of small elements are still in the game but you get your fun out of hack and slash. This gets each own gaming console its own hack and slash game in this period. Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition preferable played on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, Hyrule Warriors shines on the Wii U and Sacred 3 tries it on the old-gen consoles.
Obviously the hack and slash is implemented for commercial reasons. The slower RPG is already scarce fitted for a while with new titles. So what Scared 3 offers is quite entertaining but the problem is that it does not try to create it’s own identity. Everything you experience in the game you already did in another game and so we have to get entertained with being good in what is already done. So Keen Games, gave it a shot!
The story is placed 3,000 years after the last cutscene of Sacred 2. This means the events of the previous games are almost faded away. This leaves the way for a whole new story. Something fresh… Something real… Something brutal… Wait, don’t dream. Sacred 3 does not offer any interesting story. The strongest warriors of the world Ancaria has been assembled to stop a threatening guy that attempts to conquer their home. This is as poor presented as it sounds.
To start your adventure you choose a hero as a lancer, paladin or warrior. It is the intention to play with friends either through an internet connection or via local co-op. The greatest fun is to play with a maximum of four players while sitting on the sofa and enjoy the time together. The isometric perspective ensures that the view is good enough to all be on the same screen. Sacred 3 won’t be played in split-screen which feels good. Going in co-op mode let you forget you aren’t playing a well game.
But remember there are still some small RPG-elements in the game. You gain experience points to level up and gather gold to improve your character with stronger weapons, spells and moves. However this is held in the very bottom base of what you may expect of a game. This limitations also results in lack of big pools of loot. You get some, but it is not like the way hack and slash games as Diablo rewards you. Unfortunately Sacred 3 misses a charming factor as this.
Noticeable is the environment that has been pretty well designed but that is just a shell of what the game really is. You can get fun out of Sacred 3 but as game itself does not add much to your game library. It feels particularly cheap and that is not a good sign for a game of almost 50 euros.
