Sometimes I wonder just how involved a game really should be, especially a console game. We’re no longer limited to just simple side-scrolling action games on a console. Instead we get to experience the same type of games PC gamers have been playing for years. I’m not talking about a simplified, watered-down console version of the latest RPG monstrosity for the PC. Nope, we’re now reaching a level now where these monstrosities are being developed concurrently for consoles and the PC. This could result in console gamers jumping headfirst into deep waters with some very complex and intricate games.

At its core Sacred 2 is a dungeon crawler that we’ve already seen before on consoles. Champions of Norrath, for the PS2, was an exceptional scaled-down dungeon crawler released years ago. It offered a great taste of how a dungeon crawler should play on a console. Now with Sacred 2 we get another console dungeon crawler but this one with layers and layers of PC-ness hidden underneath. Sacred 2 is just the type of experience where someone might feel like drowning because of the ominous deep waters of a game usually seen on a PC.

Sacred 2 has everything you would expect to find in a dungeon crawler. Multiple character classes to select from, a total of six classes with their own unique abilities and skills. Parallel good and evil storylines along with almost 600 different quests you can play through. A limitless number of enemies to fight against at almost every turn and dungeon. Items, items, items and more items for the loot monger in all of us. Lastly, an item and character customization feature that can leave even the most seasoned gamer feeling a little overwhelmed.

The gameplay is similar to the other dungeon crawlers seen in the past. The game is presented in a top-down viewpoint and is a button mashing tour de force. Actually Sacred 2 changes it up a little bit since you can simply hold down a button to attack. You don’t need to target an enemy at all since that is done automatically for you by the combat system selecting the closest enemy for you. You can have four initial items to use in combat assigned to the square, triangle, circle and X button. The game also provides additional slots for more weapons or spells assigned by pressing the R2 or L2 to trigger the other slots. The items you can use in the game, such as healing items, are assigned to the directional buttons and have additional slots available. Unfortunately pulling off an attack assigned to an additional slot can feel uncomfortable since you have to hold down R2 button. You will get use to it but I recommend having your most powerful attacks on the regular slots.

There really isn’t a main story or central plot you need to worry about solving in the game. Instead Sacred 2 is focused on the numerous side quests you can undertake. Frankly there are no shortages of quests to accept in the game. I found myself with at least five to 10 quests that I had to complete in my quest log at one time. Some quests are simple enough with you taking out a certain enemy or picking up a specific item. Others will be more involved with multiple steps to follow and various locations to explore and characters to interact with. You will gain plenty of experience points once you’ve completed a quest but there really wasn’t a penalty for failing a quest. One big pain of the quests were the escort missions.

The game seemed to enjoy having you escort a completely worthless character to a location in the game infested with enemies. Of course the escort character wants to “help” out by attacking, which would end up with them dying plenty of times. So you are left with starting over that quest or just forgetting about it if the escort character died. On one escort quest I had to take a character a pretty far distance and I started to encounter swarm after swarm of monsters. I finally got tired of trying to protect the character and just started running towards the goal. I had a long train of monsters on my trail but I ended up finishing the quest and then immediately saving and quitting the game. When I started the game back up I still had all of the experience from the finished quest but none of the monsters to worry about.

Now the customization/skill option is where the game really shines but falters. How is that possible? Well, simply because the sheer depth of customization is amazing but understanding all of the options is daunting. You have four categories you can learn skills: Combat Arts, Offensive, Defensive and General skills. The Combat Arts are the special attacks or spells you can use in the game. They are unlocked by reading runes that you find throughout the game. The Offensive, Defensive and General skills are the character specific skills for each of the character classes in the game. Depending on what Combat Arts you modify can also determine the other skills for your character.

I can only really scratch the surface of skills just because there are so many ways you can modify and adjust them in the game. Every character class in the game has their own unique skills and items they can use in the game. Trying to cover all of those options could require a phone book size review. Needless to say for those gamers that are keen on every aspect of customization in an RPG or Action RPG you will be right at home with Sacred 2. Just getting accustom to all of these options in the game is where I was scratching my head. This felt like a PC game instead of a console game with the number of choices presented in front of you. The game doesn’t make you upgrade your skills since it’s entirely up to you. But you will have to dig deep into the menus in the hopes of understanding all of the options in the game. Sit back, take a deep breath and hope for the best.

In the end Sacred 2 is another example of the convergence of gaming as we know it. No longer is a game like Sacred 2 being released just for the PC. Now console gamers have a chance to dig deep and hunker down with all of the quirkiness of this type of game. Even if the Combat Arts are too much to understand you can still just run around hacking away, collecting loot and completing quests. But if you jump head first into the deep end of the pool then you will be rewarded with an extremely deep and enjoyable game.

Gameplay: 8.5
If you enjoy dungeon crawlers then you’ll love almost everything involved with Sacred 2. For those that have never journeyed into the depths of the dungeons the quest/loot repetition might not offer enough to keep you playing.

Graphics: 7.2
Visually the game is a cross between impressive to lacking. The impressive parts of the game are the sheer number of locations and enemies you’ll find in the game. Everything looks tremendous with tons of detail regardless if you if zoom in as close as possible. Unfortunately the frame rate has some issues with tearing and occasional slowdown, notably when the game first loads and then when the action kicks in with several enemies.

Sound: 7.0
Decent voice acting for most of the characters in the game. The music shifts between classical themes to heavy metal guitar pieces.

Difficulty: Medium
There are several different levels of difficulty to start the game with to let you ramp up the game's challenge.

Concept: 8.2
This is another example of a PC game being pigeonholed to a console with solid results. If only the game offered a more user-friendly interface when you are customizing your Combat Arts. 

Multiplayer: 8.0
The game offers a solid selection of multiplayer options. The character you use in the single-player game can also be used in the online portion, which is always a bonus. You can have up to four players in a party playing either a Free World mode or Campaign mode. Free World places you at specific points on the world map with the side quests still available. If you are playing an online game you can also invite friends to join your party at anytime. 

Overall: 7.8
Sacred 2 is a solid game that offers PS3 owners a quality dungeon-crawling game that it was lacking. However, just be prepared to get your hands dirty if you really want to fully understand everything in the game.