Risen 3 Review

When you think of Risen, instantly a picture comes to mind. Either its an underrated RPG with a terrible sequel or it’s a franchise that is as of yet to bring something wondrous to gaming. We are on the third in the series now with the story of a man who’s killed by a dark lord in the beginning and then resurrected some time later by a tribal man. For the most part the story sticks nicely, however the way it is portrayed and the way the game feels ultimately overshadows the story. The game visually is a cross between what’s currently achievable on the last generation of consoles to what the console is clearly not capable of doing. It just seems as though optimization is surely lacking and any ounce of credibility that the game could of had is ruined.

Risen 3 is plagued with bugs, screen tearing issues a terribly low frame rate, the game suddenly stops for a few seconds every time the auto save decides to kick in and the characters face movements look stiff and unnatural. Topping that the voice acting is terrible as are the game sounds, the voices sound way too loud and the sword play sounds like a mere breeze as the volume of sound effects seem to be toned down for some reason.

Textures are blurry  and although cut scenes are likely the best thing you will see in this game, they also look badly done. The game’s user interface follows suit with a really rough looking menu system that works ok but looks terrible.

Questing is the main thing you will be doing in this game and these quests are nicely thought out adding an upside to Risen 3, I loved the quests, some were lengthy, some were short but all of them told a story that could somewhat be sensed beneath the messy overcoat. The characters are sometimes interesting, but as the voices sound extremely disconnected from their respective owners, you can’t help but hate most of them as there is simply no easy way to feel connected to them.

The main character’s voice sounds rough and brash yet after expecting an old war torn bearded man who drinks a lot of whisky, you get a young well trimmed man who simply doesn’t fit the vocals. This sadly is the case with most of the characters in Risen 3.

The gameplay leaves a lot to be desired as it seems your character is much slower at using a sword than your enemies are at spotting you, running at you then jumping on your back until you die. The game is extremely unforgiving too, as it simply loads the previous auto save which you may or may not have had full health at the time of saving.

This prompts you to attack everything you meet in order to get supplies to keep yourself alive, RPGs often prompt you to use items in order to craft gear, but at least some of them offer items and loot at a reasonable rate.

Risen 3 as it stands is a mess and I am hoping a simple bug fix can sort out some of the more noticeable and problematic issues. A smoother experience would be much welcomed and a bug fix would certainly give me a reason to go back to Risen 3. Until then I will just wait in the hope that the game will one day… Work.