Risen 2: Dark Waters

 PC
User Score
5.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 847 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 338 out of 847
  2. Mixed: 219 out of 847
  3. Negative: 290 out of 847
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  1. schiller
    May 6, 2012
    5
    This is a game that I really wanted to love because there aren't many pirate RPGs out there and I love RPGs, I love pirates, and I love most of PB's previous work. All the premises were there, damn it!
    PROS: The story blends nicely into the theme , so does the humour and insulting part of the dialogue lines. The exploration/wealth/reward balance is very good, I'm always looking forward to    This is a game that I really wanted to love because there aren't many pirate RPGs out there and I love RPGs, I love pirates, and I love most of PB's previous work. All the premises were there, damn it!
    PROS: The story blends nicely into the theme , so does the humour and insulting part of the dialogue lines. The exploration/wealth/reward balance is very good, I'm always looking forward to the next cave to see what great challenge may guard an epic item. The music is not very piratey at its core but it does sound quite PB'ish, so the new composer has done well. The character development is a free model and you have to work hard for those points and money, so you will feel well the progression and the reward later. Not all the important characters are memorable like in the old Gothics, but I like a select few and did care about them. Last but not least the collector's edition package and content is a good bang for the buck.
    CONS: While I am aware that bigger doesn't necessarily mean better, in this case I think the islands should have been larger. The sense of exploration and being lost in a huge lush jungle is very limited by the corridor topography. The distances between the points of interest are way too small. Compared to Gothic 3 this is quite frustrating, when you come from the world of Skyrim it's really annoying. The sword combat is quite a disappointment. The animations take your control away and make things harder in an unnatural way. The creatures stun you again (like Gothic3) which makes guns a must and I don't like that. I can't believe they still can't make a proper combat mechanic after all these years and so many games that share a lot of mechanics, one would think they have found a balance. Gothic 2 felt much better in this regard. Magic can't be fun with so small variation. The character models and animations are so bad that they sometimes prevent me from taking the game seriously in the most inappropriate moments. The insular and pirate theme is not developed enough. The atmosphere is there if youâ    … Expand
  2. Allions
    May 4, 2012
    7
    Average game. No more, no less! Nice graphics when looking in distance and in some situations... but absolutely no "polish" work by the devlopers (when the character "climbs" something, half the time it "disappear" in the texture). Bad voice acting and an average story (not very original plot). Really, really annoying fighting system! In the game beginning at normal difficulty it was veryAverage game. No more, no less! Nice graphics when looking in distance and in some situations... but absolutely no "polish" work by the devlopers (when the character "climbs" something, half the time it "disappear" in the texture). Bad voice acting and an average story (not very original plot). Really, really annoying fighting system! In the game beginning at normal difficulty it was very difficult to kill an opponent... to the end, everyone, also the bosses are too easy (due to the skill learned by the character)! Nice places and islands... but without things to do (just search treasures in 90% of the cases).
    The game could be a great game if the developers just spent 6 months more on it.... they released a average game for 25 hours of average game play (with launch "DLC"). Buy it when it drops down to 15-20â    … Expand
  3. TheBeagle
    Apr 24, 2012
    5
    This is how a once great developer should NOT make games: this is a shadow of what Gothic 1 and 2 offered in exploration, compelling stories, freedom of movement and open world rewards. This game feels CRAMPED and linear! I expected a really big piratey open world with many viable playstyles and a lot of things to do. It's more of an action-adventure with poor roleplaying diversity,This is how a once great developer should NOT make games: this is a shadow of what Gothic 1 and 2 offered in exploration, compelling stories, freedom of movement and open world rewards. This game feels CRAMPED and linear! I expected a really big piratey open world with many viable playstyles and a lot of things to do. It's more of an action-adventure with poor roleplaying diversity, watered down stats, ugly interface, simplified factions and faction interaction... and the combat is horrible. This is not an open world RPG, this is an adventure (and not the best one at that) that ruined once more the illusion that we could have a big, living world of pirates RPG.… Expand
  4. Arkaynne
    Apr 28, 2012
    5
    Linear, terrible combat, poor attention to detail. This feels more like a hastily assembled mass market clone than the deep detailed games that the Gothic series was. My recommendation would be to wait for this game to go on sale at a deep discount before risking your dollars on a fairly "meh" game.
  5. Fortysixter_UK
    Apr 27, 2012
    6
    SO, Risen 2 first impressions, having downloaded it from STEAM overnight.

    The engine, in my opinion, has some major issues ( Faults ). Objects "pop in" at very close range. Trees and bushes change shape dramatically as you approach them, and textures flicker constantly in the middle distance. This is very distracting. Character animation is very stiff, and when they speak, they seem    SO, Risen 2 first impressions, having downloaded it from STEAM overnight.

    The engine, in my opinion, has some major issues ( Faults ). Objects "pop in" at very close range.
    Trees and bushes change shape dramatically as you approach them, and textures flicker constantly in the middle distance.
    This is very distracting.
    Character animation is very stiff, and when they speak, they seem to flail their arms around to get what they are saying over to you, which is probably because there is virtually no lip syncing or indeed, lip movement. All the characters seem a little short and squat.
    I'm running the game at 2560 x 1440, I haven't tried any other resolutions. Maybe a lower res would stretch the characters out.

    The shadows cast by buildings and trees seem "twitchy", moving back and forth in an unrealistic manner on the floor.
    The running animation is very odd. When you run, your characters torso becomes a fixed point in 3d space and does not move
    and the arms and legs flap up and down in a very limited animation style. Overall, the engine is not great. The engine would not have been great 10 years ago. I assume the company made their own instead of buying a licence for the Unreal engine or some such.
    It shows.

    The animation style is very cartoon like on the game NPCs which clashed a little bit with what is otherwise, a very nice engine visually.
    Textures are clear and sharp, buildings well defined & designed.

    The voice acting steps things up considerably. The game has been localised , very well as far as I'm concerned, by an entirely UK English speaking cast.
    All accents are either London or Cornwall based. UK slang words have been worked into the game well and used in the correct contect.
    Most of the time.
    Swearing is present and prevalent and is quite funny to hear.

    The music is simply excellent, atmospheric and fitting to the environment, helping to set the mood well. It reminds me a little of the excellent music from Age of Conan, mainly the
    Tortage city themes.

    The mission structire so far appears to be the usual "fetch & bring back" type, or the "chicken & egg" conundrum, in that you have a final objective but simply can't get to it without meeting certain criteria in the first place, and those criteria, also have criteria to meet.
    Standard RPG fare there then, and this will likely make the game a solid single player RPG experience.

    Combat starts out with a basic parry / slash combo , and as you level up, your earn skill points and gold to spend with trainers to improve your skills or increase your arsenal of moves.
    Exactly the same as both Risen and Gothic 3.

    So for now, is it worth 40 quid of STEAM? ...well for a start don't buy it off STEAM unless you really have to, prior to purchase I looked to find a retail copy and could find none.
    SO I bought it on STEAM.
    The next day, a retail version is on AMAZON for £15.00 less !!!!

    ....Not to the casual RPG-er, but to anyone who has enjoyed the Gothic series, Two Worlds 1 or 2, Venetica, the original Risen, Dinity or Might & Magic 6 thru 9 this will be more of the same
    involving and fun gameplay.

    If you think western RPGs stop with Oblivion and Skyrim, don't bother. This game will require a fair about of forgiveness ( the engine is seriously lacking), but in the long run I think it will offer a lot of rewarding gameplay to the patient player. If you can , that is ,tolerate the heavy, HEAVY graphical issues, which I hope will not plague the console versions as it has the PC version .

    The game plays with mouse and keyboard OR the Xbox controller without issue.

    I'll be playing Risen 2 to the end.

    I think a score of 6/10 is fair.

    Now give us a patch to fix the graphics.    … Expand
  6. Nichtswisser
    Apr 24, 2012
    5
    "How to destroy a promising series by dumbing it down, an easy guide to boredom". Chapter 1: Make it simple! Gone is the dynamic skill based combat system from Risen 1 which required the player to use different tactics dependent on the enemy he was fighting. Risen 2 offers a Fable style one button based no-skill no-system-combat. It's simple, and it won't be to challenging for some people"How to destroy a promising series by dumbing it down, an easy guide to boredom". Chapter 1: Make it simple! Gone is the dynamic skill based combat system from Risen 1 which required the player to use different tactics dependent on the enemy he was fighting. Risen 2 offers a Fable style one button based no-skill no-system-combat. It's simple, and it won't be to challenging for some people like the combat in Risen 1 was. It's also boring and repetitive beyond believe. Chapter 2: Freedom is bad and overtaxing for small brains! Gone is the medium sized realistic open world which offered the player the freedom to explore. Risen 2 offers console RAM friendly mini islands which are so small that even navigation challenged people who experience regular difficulties with getting around in their one room apartments won't get lost anymore. Exploration, always a strong point in Piranha Bytes Games, just doesn't feel right when the areas are so small. Chapter 3: Repeating things over and over again makes them more easy to comprehend! Yes, don't expect rich quest design, Risen 2 offers the same boring fetch quests over and over again. Boring repetitive combat and castrated exploration wasn't enough, for true boredom the quest design apparently had to mirror the no-skill combat when it comes to repetition. Get used to the idea of feeling more like a Fed Ex courier than a pirate. Conclusion: By fallowing our easy guide to boredom you'll create a truly boring game. And how they accomplished that!… Expand
  7. Novacius
    May 2, 2012
    7
    I used round about 31 hours to play this game and I can recommend it. It's neither a RPG-monster like Skyrim nor does it have all of the qualities the first Gothic games have, but it's still an unique and special experience. First it plays in a very well done pirate setting and secondly is has the same, special piranha bytes-atmosphere like their other games have got. Of course this gameI used round about 31 hours to play this game and I can recommend it. It's neither a RPG-monster like Skyrim nor does it have all of the qualities the first Gothic games have, but it's still an unique and special experience. First it plays in a very well done pirate setting and secondly is has the same, special piranha bytes-atmosphere like their other games have got. Of course this game isn't perfect. The graphics are good (environments, weather, vegetation, art design!), while characters, animations and so on are just solid, mimics and gestics rudimentary. Also there are some small graphic bugs, but nothing serious. Overall it looks very organic, stylish and atmospheric. The sounds are good, the music ist very good, although it was made by a new composer. The interface is very comfortable and game balance is good. The character system is good, but not as deep as in other games, the quest structures are very classic, but there aren't many special quests. The main plot has got some interesting twists and once it surprised me. Compared with Risen 1, the main plot is much better. The combat system against monsters isn't so good at all, because you're not able to block or dodge. Against humans you got the option to parry. But overall you're able to use some funny and useful dirty tricks. The items are well-distributed throughout the game and often very useful. Well, until now this review doesn't look so good, also by my bad english (sorry!) but I've to admit that Risen 2 has most of the good things of Piranha Bytes games like an handcrafted and living environment, the well structures game with quests, fighting and exploration, the unique atmosphere. If you liked Gothic 1-3 and/or Risen, then you'll also like Risen 2. It has weaknesses, but above all the known strengths and is definitely worth a try. So I think, the games doesn't deserves these low votes. Overall it's neither an uber-game, nor it's bad. It's a solid pirate-rpg, a wort-a-try for a cheaper price, but for fans of the piranha-bytes-games it's a must-buy.… Expand
  8. moloh
    Apr 29, 2012
    7
    Very nice RPG. I did enjoy Risen and its second installment is also very good in my opinion. Pirate theme is very nice so far, and it is refreshing touch to the combat style. I do suffer from targeting issues, doing many pistol shots into nowhere, but this is not a major issue. I can definitely say that majority of Risen players should buy it and play. I must say that i am very surprisedVery nice RPG. I did enjoy Risen and its second installment is also very good in my opinion. Pirate theme is very nice so far, and it is refreshing touch to the combat style. I do suffer from targeting issues, doing many pistol shots into nowhere, but this is not a major issue. I can definitely say that majority of Risen players should buy it and play. I must say that i am very surprised about the amount of negative feedback from the player base.… Expand
  9. SonicEra
    Apr 30, 2012
    6
    Promising, is what has to be said about Risen 2.....but i should be saying that about Risen one in retrospect.
    The game started well, having my own "base" is always nice and a little group of people to watch over always makes me feel involved. And the combat seemed like it was going to improve too, kicking over crabs to get to there bellies. And i was about to leave the starting island.    Promising, is what has to be said about Risen 2.....but i should be saying that about Risen one in retrospect.
    The game started well, having my own "base" is always nice and a little group of people to watch over always makes me feel involved. And the combat seemed like it was going to improve too, kicking over crabs to get to there bellies. And i was about to leave the starting island.
    Then there was another island...and another, shortly i realised that the crabs were the only enemies which succumbed to this tactic....i tried it on alligators and bats and birds to no avail.
    The combat quickly got repetitive and even though i was going down the thieving route, a good enough sword made fighting trivial. the final boss was literally a push over.
    I won't get started on the animation, i resorted to not watching the screen while the charcters were talking. the lip synching was just far FAR too atrocious.
    It felt like the game wanted to break at any second, from one moment where my character was on a pogo stick during a boss fight. and another where a quest had a break which resorted to some annoying work around tactics. It all together felt a bit rushed and just not Gothic 3, which is what we all want. but with this kind of story line (which was absolutely fine.)
    Overall enjoyable. But last final criticism. is it was far too short, i expect a game like this to contain hours of skinning monsters and mining veins (of which there is just gold.) and searching for sword parts. In the end the side quests were quick. Fast travel was not neccesary on such small islands. and in 30 hours when the credits rolled i was dissapointed. not in awe.    … Expand
  10. CityBuilder
    Apr 29, 2012
    6
    Not great, but not horrible either. However many technical issues stand in the way of fully immersing yourself into the game.

    For example... 1. Standing talking to an NPC character and your view is from the inside of your characters head and you see your characters lips, nose, eyes from the inside of your head. 2. Character cut scenes are absolutely horrible, character and NPC are stiff    Not great, but not horrible either. However many technical issues stand in the way of fully immersing yourself into the game.

    For example...
    1. Standing talking to an NPC character and your view is from the inside of your characters head and you see your characters lips, nose, eyes from the inside of your head.
    2. Character cut scenes are absolutely horrible, character and NPC are stiff as can be and talk about ugly! The character and NPC graphics didn't just get hit with the ugly stick, it took a walk through the entire Ugly Forest, and was beat on by every single Ugly tree.
    3. Clunky fight mechanics and extremely outdated. Might have barely passed for okay 10 or more years back but by today's standards, it's just awful.
    4. Quests are extremely boring and lack any real challenge.
    5. Graphic problems such as walking up to a tree or bush and the entire thing blows up to 5 times it's original size as when you first were able to see it. And it does it right before your very eyes.
    6. RPG-Lite? No! It's not even a lite RPG, there is no RP value in Risen 2 what-so-ever!
    7. Replay value: Absolutely none to speak of. Heck, you'll be lucky to simply make it through the game one time.
    8. Value: I really suggest avoiding it while it's at a ridiculous $50.00. If you can pick it up for under $20.00 then go for it, however you may still be disappointed by the many issues that plague the game.

    Now, on to the plus side...
    1. Barney! Which ever developer came up with the NPC gunsmith Barney should be commended, I haven't laughed that hard at NPC dialogue in years. It's only unfortunate that there wasn't more like it in the game.

    2. Environmentally pretty even though you are in an "island corridor" or on rails most of the time. Sure you can wander off but ultimately you are on a linear path, but other than graphic clipping, and trees that blow up 5x their size right in front of you, the environmental graphics are very pretty. Some NPC' visuals are also very good looking, although almost all cut scenes are just atrocious to look at.

    3. Combat and general game mechanics were easy to pick up and easy to master. However you were not mastering much to begin with.

    Overall... I have to suggest avoiding Risen 2 unless you can get it for under $20.00 or PB has put out a BIG HUGE UPDATE to not only fix the problems in the game, but add more content as it does feel a bit lite on content. However, this being PB I won't hold my breath for that update. Really short of a rewrite of the entire game I can't imagine PB being able to do anything to make this a better game at this time, it's just that poor.

    It's nothing more than a middle of the road game that desperately wants to be a "AAA" game but can't, but is still willing to charge it's customers the full "AAA" game price. I think this could quite honestly do in PB, two stinker games in a row I believe shows that they are not only behind the times, but don't have what it takes anymore to compete with real AAA titles anymore.    … Expand
  11. YelowDragon4
    May 2, 2012
    7
    PH probably interest at working on that new intro of her more than a game.Giving this game7 only because i like the RPG style of Piranha Bites
  12. Vatolicious
    May 28, 2012
    5
    Its a cool game and I wish it was more playable. I love the aesthetic and the story and dialogue are pretty cool. But the game play is just way to bad to be enjoyable.
  13. direktors
    May 26, 2012
    5
    enjoyable game, but ending is a big letdown. somehow feels unfinished. a bit sloppy graphics, very little choices, no ship fights, but nice voice acting.
  14. ArminW
    May 22, 2012
    6
    A pretty OK game that could have been great, with a little more attention to detail, a LOT more polish and a less appaling business model.

    The pirate setting was the thing that sold it to me, and some of it is actually executed pretty well. The Piranha-typical gritty and sarcastic dialogue fits really well here. But like a lot about the game, it's a ton of wasted potential. I have a    A pretty OK game that could have been great, with a little more attention to detail, a LOT more polish and a less appaling business model.

    The pirate setting was the thing that sold it to me, and some of it is actually executed pretty well. The Piranha-typical gritty and sarcastic dialogue fits really well here. But like a lot about the game, it's a ton of wasted potential. I have a measly 4 crewmen on my ship? Not a single ship-to-ship battle? *shrug* The combat system, out of the box, is AGAIN a major failure with no way to dodge the attacks of animals and simple, stupid left-clicking till they drop the way to go. How they could botch this up in their 5th attempt yet another time really beats the hell out of me.

    Many quests have a very unfinished feel and a completely unsatisfying and underdeveloped way to resolve them. Immersion suffers a lot from the hilariously silly way conflict, crime and combat is handled with villagers. Get caught stealing, simply beat the stuffing out of them (you can't actually kill them, even if you try) and 5 minutes later all is forgotten and back to normal. Folks, people who are shot in the face with a flintlock pistol in a dark and gritty setting should have the good manners to stay down.

    Replay value is VERY low, you only make one significant choice in the game and the results are, apart from the choice between using muskets or voodoo from that moment on, mostly cosmetic.

    Graphics, usually a thing I hardly care about, are actually so much below standards that is DOES disturb me, and the fact that after playing it through ONCE I fond more than 600 unwanted save games on my HD is just such a double facepalm... really, don't know what to say...

    Well, and trying to sell me DLC that is in fact - apart from the voiceovers - *completely* on the disc should actually bring down the rating another notch or two...

    Ii has it's fun moments, and with the first patch, can certainly be played and enjoyed once, but it could have been so much more.    … Expand
  15. dylanland234
    Jun 26, 2012
    6
    At times i wanted to love this. At times i wanted to quit and never come back. But i did finish. The story was decent, but it was the beauty of the environments that kept me coming. It was sort of like a poor pirate version of Witcher 2. It tried in so many ways to be unique, but overall was just a time waster waiting for other titles.
  16. frast
    Jun 3, 2012
    7
    It's fun that we can return to the game, similar to the old "Gothics" for which many people have already forgotten. It's fun to play a pirate, an interesting atmosphere, nice graphics and interesting game generally done in style. It is a pity that after a while begins to play old-style upset "Gothic", boring and a struggle (depending on weapon), poor optimization, and other factors. TheIt's fun that we can return to the game, similar to the old "Gothics" for which many people have already forgotten. It's fun to play a pirate, an interesting atmosphere, nice graphics and interesting game generally done in style. It is a pity that after a while begins to play old-style upset "Gothic", boring and a struggle (depending on weapon), poor optimization, and other factors. The game, however, for fans of Gothic / older RPGs might be nice. My rating -7/10… Expand
  17. poupy1979
    May 15, 2012
    6
    I am not a fan of the Risen or Gothic franchise; but this game sounded good so i decided to give it a go. After nearly 45-60 min playing; i said Screw this, i am better off playing something else.

    Too much frustration to adjust camera and gampad. Fighting mechanics is weird. I wanted to give a new franchise a try but this failed to attract any fun for me. I hope the company reads our    I am not a fan of the Risen or Gothic franchise; but this game sounded good so i decided to give it a go. After nearly 45-60 min playing; i said Screw this, i am better off playing something else.

    Too much frustration to adjust camera and gampad. Fighting mechanics is weird. I wanted to give a new franchise a try but this failed to attract any fun for me.

    I hope the company reads our reviews coz there are amazing user reviews whom actually love the game and want it to be better. (i feel sorry for them as they deserve better)    … Expand
  18. mrkartofel1
    Dec 10, 2012
    6
    I don't play many RPG games, but this game is not bad. I know Witcher 2 is better, but Risen come from Germany - country with many worst games. Risen have good graphic and effects, but movement of shadows are weird. I have played some hours and I haven't seen any bigger bugs (game don't make 'automatic' off). Animations of characters are very funny - You must see how playable characterI don't play many RPG games, but this game is not bad. I know Witcher 2 is better, but Risen come from Germany - country with many worst games. Risen have good graphic and effects, but movement of shadows are weird. I have played some hours and I haven't seen any bigger bugs (game don't make 'automatic' off). Animations of characters are very funny - You must see how playable character jump! If you haven't played yet, I recommend you to buy this game in a sale on Steam or elsewhere.… Expand
  19. Magnus
    Sep 1, 2012
    6
    It could have been so much more. What prompted PB to replace the very successful formula of Risen 1 with this , is beyond my understanding. Was it the users, the complaints of the console users about the port of the previous game, publisher pressure, blind following of trends? They aren't big enough to dumb something down and be successful with it, instead of staying with a loyal fan baseIt could have been so much more. What prompted PB to replace the very successful formula of Risen 1 with this , is beyond my understanding. Was it the users, the complaints of the console users about the port of the previous game, publisher pressure, blind following of trends? They aren't big enough to dumb something down and be successful with it, instead of staying with a loyal fan base that followed them ,they tried a very, well mainstream approach.

    What they accomplished is killing the sandbox, that's it. The most important part of a Pb game -exploration suffers in this game , a strange amount of corridor like interiors, and a setting that is very predictable and poorly executed . Compared to the previous game, the game is streamlined in every possible way , and it wasn't a removal of problems from the previews game but a addition of new ones.
    The combat at least sword is horrible, dialogues are reduced what instantly reduced choice and consequences, decisions the player gets to make are minor and irrelevant on the bigger picture, the skill system is simply ridicules , the addition of firearms doesn't work at all, the game is trying to be edgy and fails even at that, particularly in the VA department. I gave it a higher score because despite it's s problems maybe there is something that I'm, missing and maybe they will learn from this mistake. Since they are getting their Gothic license back, I hope they forget this approach and learn from this, and yes the design document would be named something like:"How not to make a exploration driven RPG".    … Expand
  20. specialguest
    Jul 26, 2012
    7
    Average or less in all aspects but one: It is a Piranha Bytes game, and it does have the Gothic feel. What Piranha Bytes is great at is environment design, crafting a unique setting, and setting a great mood for an RPG. All of that is here. So is the lack of polish, bugs, poor AI, and everything else that has been wrong with RPG's in the last decade. Nothing really feels totallyAverage or less in all aspects but one: It is a Piranha Bytes game, and it does have the Gothic feel. What Piranha Bytes is great at is environment design, crafting a unique setting, and setting a great mood for an RPG. All of that is here. So is the lack of polish, bugs, poor AI, and everything else that has been wrong with RPG's in the last decade. Nothing really feels totally completed, from the menus to the combat, to the animations. The environments are however pretty good despite the common graphical shortcomings of a less than AAA game.

    If you are a big PB or Gothic fan, this will be a fun, familiar, and recommended experience. The story and pirate twist is actually well done. It is possible to have a fantasy RPG without cliche grey bearded wizards and dragons. Risen 2 accomplishes this well.

    If you are not a Gothic or PB fan, you should probably overlook this one in favor of something better.    … Expand
  21. MustisTheCat
    Jul 12, 2014
    6
    56 hours of painfully mediocre gameplay. DLCs completely worthless. If you enjoyed Gothic 3, you could like this game. But if not, stay away. Risen 2 is what is left of The Great Gothic series.
    Feels like this game was being made for graphics first, and there was not enough time to rework the gameplay. It feels incomplete at best. You explore a beautiful jungle and then suddenly you get    56 hours of painfully mediocre gameplay. DLCs completely worthless. If you enjoyed Gothic 3, you could like this game. But if not, stay away. Risen 2 is what is left of The Great Gothic series.
    Feels like this game was being made for graphics first, and there was not enough time to rework the gameplay. It feels incomplete at best. You explore a beautiful jungle and then suddenly you get killed by a monkey which takes at least 10 blows with a sword to kill. Very nice touches here, stupid and mediocre mechanics there.

    STORY
    A very interesting story, at a first glance. You have an inquisition guy who disquises himself and joins the ranks of pirates to save the world from Mar, the force behind the titans walking the earth. So we got pirates, we got titans, seems pretty good no?
    Well, not quite. The game looks like creators built a cheap knockoff of Mass Effect 2. Yeah, search for the titan artifacts, fix yourself a ship and crew and make it big. Not nearly so. The dialogues are poor. Most of the time you just skip them because nothing what is said is interesting or fun. You just go with it, to get the quest listed in the diary. The characters are weak – both the NPCs and other people feel lifeless. As if you were talking to an ATM for money and glory. The ending to this story is so weak that you question yourself why you played it for so many hours. The answer is that this game kind of hints to the gamer that there`s an epic quest around the corner. That you would gain some special skills and items that would enrich the gameplay tenfold. The truth is that none of that comes. The whole thing is just like a big sidequest. You go there, you do this, you get a cutscene. There is no challenge, there is no big prize. And YES, the end of game means you end playing it.

    GAMEPLAY
    The gameplay is even less of what the first Risen was. Less skills, less items, less character development. A lot of it was cut to suit the consoles and it ended like half of what even the worst of gothic series was. To Gothic fans, Risen 2 immediately feels familiar. Same walking, running, jumping. The openness of the world is still fun, that is if you can get through the VERY old Gothic mechanics. To be honest, years ago it looked ok. Nowadays it just looks silly. Risen 2 seems like a game in its own world. As if it did not notice that the world moved on forward since 2005.
    So as written above, you make less elixirs, you have less weapons to deal with, you have less combat moves to learn. None of the gameplay feels like extended. For some reason Piranha Bytes thought it was alright to still force you to sing with one of the fractions, so you can`t learn muskets unless you joined the inquisition. No reason at all to implement such a limitation, because the gameplay only loses.
    The sword fights are boring, the guns are silly. You often lose fights because the camera feels disconnected. You still have to learn a friggin kick. Still a single animal you come across in the first 10 minutes of the game is a life threat to you. Most humans are more dangerous than you and can kill you with one blow. This made sense 10 years ago, now it doesn`t make any sense at all.
    Gameplay wise, I can`t even compare this game to, say TES : Oblivion. This and Oblivion just seem like games from two different ages.

    MUSIC
    It blends nice with the environment. Gives the game a good, pirate like exploration flavor. Does not irritate. Quite a good job. Saves the game from a sad defeat.

    GRAPHICS
    This and music kept me going. I wanted to hear and see something more. Beatiful green islands, sandy beaches, dangerous caverns. beautiful towns. The lighting, shadows are awesome here. The scenery looks briliant when there`s a storm raging. The whole environment changes from day to night, from sun to rain. Wonderful. That said, the characters and animals look mediocre like dolls, not living people – very artificial.    … Expand
  22. Juicymarmalade
    Aug 5, 2013
    5
    You can't sail your ship. If you're making a pirate game and you can't at least get that part right, then there isn't really anything more to say. Aside from the ship travel consisting of a loading screen, there isn't really anything else that's good either. The combat is sluggish, repetitive, and just as bad as Gothic 4's and the voice acting and story are awful as they usually are inYou can't sail your ship. If you're making a pirate game and you can't at least get that part right, then there isn't really anything more to say. Aside from the ship travel consisting of a loading screen, there isn't really anything else that's good either. The combat is sluggish, repetitive, and just as bad as Gothic 4's and the voice acting and story are awful as they usually are in Gothic/Risen games.

    The graphics and music are pretty nice and the game world has some genuinely interesting sights and areas to see and explore but the gameplay is just bleh.    … Expand
  23. Klewer
    Jun 17, 2014
    5
    A fairly average game in every aspect. Nothing grabs you and makes you want to keep playing, it becomes a chore. Many potentially great features, just poorly executed.
  24. Dynasma
    May 25, 2013
    6
    Disappointing, feels like a shadow of its predecessor.
    + good graphics
    + plentiful enemies, some of which require special strategies + progression of the character felt ok - one of the worst combat systems i have seen in a game. That's not hardcore, it's just outright tedious. - muskets completely useless to upgrade - players needs to way gold in the start to do anything, feels    Disappointing, feels like a shadow of its predecessor.
    + good graphics
    + plentiful enemies, some of which require special strategies
    + progression of the character felt ok

    - one of the worst combat systems i have seen in a game. That's not hardcore, it's just outright tedious.
    - muskets completely useless to upgrade
    - players needs to way gold in the start to do anything, feels frustrating
    - plot is just generic
    - irrelevant main and side characters
    - mediocre boss battles
    - final boss fight took me less than a minute to end. Nuff said...    … Expand
  25. Neddy
    Jan 31, 2014
    7
    I really wanted to like this. Risen (1) was OK, even though I had issues with. I have so far played only ten hours, so my review is of my feelings so far. If my opinion improves I will alter my score above '*five out of ten*'. It's worth saying at this point I do not feel to have had ten hours worth of enjoyment from the game.

    Risen 2 starts well because it looks nice. However some    I really wanted to like this. Risen (1) was OK, even though I had issues with. I have so far played only ten hours, so my review is of my feelings so far. If my opinion improves I will alter my score above '*five out of ten*'. It's worth saying at this point I do not feel to have had ten hours worth of enjoyment from the game.

    Risen 2 starts well because it looks nice. However some distant trees change size and shrink as you get closer. Bizzare. The graphics are good though. It's a nice place to be.

    Appreciation moving on from there is difficult. It forces you to become a pirate, and you wonder if you will have to do immoral acts. Second they have left out map markers for quests. While you can argue map markers are lazy, I think of them as essential. Eg. you soon get a particular quest and are told go to the end of the valley. It's usual in games that the quest giver will mark a map, either then or later when you get a map. I went all over the island and I studied the map, and there is no obvious valley. I ran about for ages looking. Eventually I gave up and looked the quest up online in a walkthrough. Some quests do give clues in the narrative and mention a plantation. Overall though, quest destinations are hard work.

    I really think to continue from here, I am going to need to refer to online walkthrough quite often.

    (EDIT: After finishing I'd say it's a good game, but just not brilliant. It took me about fifty-five hours. One last warning, do all your quests before you go to Mara, or Storm Island. Once there if you do the tasks there, the game ends.)    … Expand
  26. Darkin20
    Oct 20, 2013
    7
    Pros:
    -Graphics are amazing
    -Plot is interesting
    -Characters are well formed
    -Lots of hidden treasures

    Cons:
    -combat is confusing and hard to do well
    -take a long time to get into the grove
  27. Sabatasso
    Nov 2, 2013
    7
    Well... the game itself can be enjoyable if you're willing to swallow a few camels along the way. It's not a great game by any means but it isn't as bad as some people make it out to be either.

    Is it fun? yes
    Could it easily have been much funnier? yes
    Does that make you sad? yes...
  28. eleven13
    Nov 8, 2013
    5
    There were lot of improvement in graphic engine since its previous predecessor, Risen. The idea is quite refreshing & awkward. To be honest, Risen is far better in gameplay sort of way, because it stick to the principles of Gothic franchise (I & II). Even though the refining work is much better on this episode, it still most likely going to end up being Gothic III, and that is such a waste.
  29. Nuker
    Jun 29, 2015
    7
    - Good: Exploration, Character progression, Some locations
    - Mixed: Story, Setting, Combat, Writing
    - Bad: Pirates bleh

    Pretty average after superior Risen 1.
  30. Gelaos
    Sep 20, 2018
    5
    Unforgivable disappointment.

    Story is dull and full of plot holes, combat is absolutetly horrifying (free camera + rigid animations + sometimes unresponsive controls, enemies stun you all the time), whole piracy theme is absurdly exaggerated, characters are incredibly shallow... Quests are stupidly unimaginative. Example: NPC: "Hello, I lost artifact. Will you help me find it?"    Unforgivable disappointment.

    Story is dull and full of plot holes, combat is absolutetly horrifying (free camera + rigid animations + sometimes unresponsive controls, enemies stun you all the time), whole piracy theme is absurdly exaggerated, characters are incredibly shallow...

    Quests are stupidly unimaginative. Example:
    NPC: "Hello, I lost artifact. Will you help me find it?"
    Hero: "OK."
    (you walk 5 steps ahead and pick up the artifact)
    Hero: "Here's your artifact."
    NPC: "Oh, thank you. Only big hero like you could find it. Here, take 2000 gold as a small reward."

    World is just bunch of linear corridors and everything looks cheap, like from some low-budget game.

    Only challenging thing about Risen 2 is being able to finish it without getting crazy about stupid this game is.    … Expand
  31. GraysonUA
    Mar 31, 2020
    7
    Ну попробували освіжити сетинг, але схоже, що піранії занадто відстають від усього світу. Світ став не таким "готичним", але перейняв піратський антураж. Що обідно, так це що кораблі є, але вся їх функція це "телепорт".
  32. kruci
    Dec 12, 2020
    6
    Drewno straszne, ale na koniec dnia i tak do nie wracałem aż ukończyłem. Bez rewelacji ale też bez skandali
  33. kolarz3
    May 19, 2023
    7
    Pretty nice continuation of the first game. It had a more pirate climate. I liked more risen 1 climate
  34. Deant_Magnetic
    Sep 5, 2021
    7
    Как по мне хуже первой части, потому что не создается необходимое атмосфера из-за чего куда сложнее втянуться в игру
  35. Shnd3r
    Oct 9, 2022
    5
    Childhood game. But, unfortunately, the game was completed quite recently. Of course, by modern standards, the game is rather weak (weak game design due to constant saves, rather weak dialogue animation), but there are moments that will please RPG fans even in 2022 (for example, a well-thought-out plot and a well-built economy). In general, a good alternative to the old, long-favoriteChildhood game. But, unfortunately, the game was completed quite recently. Of course, by modern standards, the game is rather weak (weak game design due to constant saves, rather weak dialogue animation), but there are moments that will please RPG fans even in 2022 (for example, a well-thought-out plot and a well-built economy). In general, a good alternative to the old, long-favorite gothic, only on the theme of pirates, this series is exclusively for fans of this series. My rating is 5/10 if you do not look at the game through the prism of time.… Expand
  36. PenetratorGod
    Aug 20, 2023
    5
    It doesn't feel like the second game in a series. It feels like a downgrade in every way compared to the first game. If you liked the first game a lot, you can play this one with lowered expectations, but frankly, this pirate concept didn't interest me at all. It makes more sense to replay the first game instead of playing this one.
  37. Magical_Viktor
    Apr 30, 2023
    5
    Существуют просто Зло и Большое Зло, а за ними обоими в тени прячется Очень Большое Зло. Очень Большое Зло, Геральт, это такое, которого ты и представить себе не можешь, даже если думаешь, будто уже ничто не в состоянии тебя удивить. И знаешь, Геральт, порой бывает так, что Очень Большое Зло схватит тебя за горло и скажет: «Выбирай, братец, либо я, либо то, которое чуточку поменьше»Существуют просто Зло и Большое Зло, а за ними обоими в тени прячется Очень Большое Зло. Очень Большое Зло, Геральт, это такое, которого ты и представить себе не можешь, даже если думаешь, будто уже ничто не в состоянии тебя удивить. И знаешь, Геральт, порой бывает так, что Очень Большое Зло схватит тебя за горло и скажет: «Выбирай, братец, либо я, либо то, которое чуточку поменьше»
  38. IamNader
    May 17, 2023
    7
    As a huge fan of the GOTHIC series, I was very excited for RISEN 2: DARK WATERS and I was not disappointed, The game has many positive aspects that make it a fun and rewarding experience - 7/10

Awards & Rankings

41
#41 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012
41
#41 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 51 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 51
  2. Mixed: 33 out of 51
  3. Negative: 1 out of 51
  1. Hyper Magazine
    Jun 13, 2012
    60
    The real trouble with Risen 2 is that it doesn't really do anything particularly right. [July 2012, p.72]
  2. PC PowerPlay
    May 30, 2012
    70
    Despite the puppeteer's strings getting caught, Risen 2 puts on a good show that you'll see through to the end. [June 2012, p.58]
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  3. Games Master UK
    May 27, 2012
    80
    A superior, super tough sequel that offers a persuasive alternative to the RPG big boys. [July 2012, p.80]
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