Risen Reviews
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Eurogamer arrives at a 6/10:
Ironically, while the PC version inarguably shows up the flaws in the 360 effort all the more, it also fares far worse when compared to its peers. Consoles have relatively few RPGs in this traditional mould, but on the PC the competition is much fiercer and so well-intentioned failures are harder to tolerate. Adequate rather than inspired, Risen doesn't even match up to the polish and narrative depth of The Witcher, now two years old, so releasing it only weeks before BioWare's Dragon Age is bordering on suicidal. Patient gamers looking to tick off genre standards without being troubled by any surprises will no doubt unearth a few truffles of amusement, but in the grand scheme of things Risen barely manages to rise above the herd.
While GameSquad knocks off two points for a 4/10:
Fans of Risen will say that the game is a throwback to the old days when RPGs were hardcore, but hardcore doesn't always mean fun. RPGs have evolved quite a lot over the last ten years, and Piranha Bytes seems content with not being a part of that innovation. Risen suffers from some really bad pacing (the first chapter quests do very little to push the story forward at all); questing is hampered by the uninformative quest journal, and the game's clunky controls and horrid combat system suck out any joy that could be had from this game. Simply, Risen is nothing more than a bad carbon copy of Piranha Bytes' Gothic 3.
