Risen Preview

The Xbox 360 version of Piranha Bytes’ Risen is officially available today, but that hasn’t stopped a last-minute preview from reaching the web.  Take it away, enemy of pixels:

Combat in Risen is reminiscent of Bethesda’s modern Elder Scrolls releases and features lots of slash-slash-slash combos and circle strafing around foes to gain tactical advantage. Like many third person fighting mechanics, camera placement sometimes made it hard for us to land blows but with a little experience we were soon taking out Swamp Moths and Sea Vultures with ease. On-screen feedback when sword swipes connected wasn’t always clear which caused some confusion but it’s nothing European-style RPG fans would find game breaking.

There’s a very distinct, hand-crafted feel to the entire island as almost every nook and cranny can be explored and best of all, none of it feels (or is) randomly generated. The sense of immersion this intentional design creates is second to none. Trees are swaying, will-o-wisps are dancing, fog looms thick above the swamps and the isle’s volcanic peak periodically awakens.