Risen 2: Dark Waters Reviews

We have rounded up a few more reviews for Piranha Bytes’ kind-of-open-world action-RPG Risen 2: Dark Waters, the pirate charm of which doesn’t seem to be enough to save it from some rather mixed and overall unimpressive reviews coming from the press at large.

GameSpy, 3/5.

If it sounds like I have a love/hate relationship with Risen 2, then guilty as charged. This is one of those games that’s brimming with quirks, ranging from the minor (killed turkeys give you chicken meat) to momentously glitchy (complete a couple missions in the “wrong” order late in the game and an overarching quest breaks). And for all the artifact-gathering and hand-wringing over Risen 2’s “big bad,” the final fight is anti-climactic and relatively easy. But… for all its problems, I still recommend this game to RPG fans who are forgiving angels in real life, but unforgiving scurvy dogs in-game.

PC Advisor, 2.5/5.

Risen 2 just about avoids becoming a disaster, but it’s a game very badly in need of editing – if it were somehow possible to release a director’s cut that lost some of the bloat, rebalanced the combat and made the stealth and conversation skills more useful it would really be onto something. Instead, it’s a game with a strong sense of where the right place to go was, but couldn’t quite make it there.

Tech Gadgets Web, scoreless.

Recommending Risen 2 Dark Waters is hard due to the clumsy combat and a few issues it suffers from. But if you can look pass that, Risen 2 is still packed with fun and is a good role-playing experience for fans of the genre.

Gamer Euphoria, 6.5/10.

Risen 2: Dark Waters is a flawed game in a lot of areas, yet it still packs a strange charm to it. The combat is indeed frustrating and fiddly, the story and quests are indeed nothing special but the charm of the game still shines through. The concept of being a pirate is quite interesting and Risen 2 captures elements of playing as a pirate but doesn’t make full use of the idea. It’s a real shame that developer Piranha Bytes didn’t make full use of the concept and instead partially touched upon it.

Looking past the flaws and harsh nature of the game, Risen 2 is enjoyable at times but average in parts. Exploring the games environments is undeniably fun for all audiences. Hardcore role playing games fans will find a decent amount of fun to be had in Risen 2’²s 40 odd hour experience. Fans of more modern day role playing games may find Risen 2’²s hard ways to be too harsh and not rewarding enough. Enjoyable but flawed and frustrating, Risen 2: Dark Waters has a decent amount to offer, as long as you’re dedicated and patient enough.