Risen

Ambitious, big-thinking independent game development has been alive and well on the PC for years. In fact, it’s thrived. Far Cry, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and EVE Online all burst anonymously out of tiny European studios and onto gamers’ hard drives. But for every out-of-left-field hit, the market is littered with dozens of duds that dreamed big but were bogged down by some crippling issue. We’ve even started seeing this on Xbox 360, with Crackdown being a startup sensation and Two Worlds unable to fulfill its potential.

So, how will Risen fare? An open-world action-RPG set in a fantasy universe, this third-person game immediately evokes thoughts of both Oblivion and the aforementioned Two Worlds. It sports a massive gameworld stuffed full of NPCs and monsters, and choice plays a huge role in your overall experience.

For example, you wake up on a beach at the beginning of the game with the remains of your wrecked ship scattered all around you. As you pick up a club, you spot a woman lying nearby. Who is she? Will you help her? You can choose to give her a hand and get to know her, and perhaps she’ll end up helping you out down the road. Alternatively, you can leave her and stay solo — she might reappear as someone else’s ally and be working against you. Of course, you can also opt to just kill her before you even leave the beach. Murderer.

Not surprisingly, the developers promise a strong moral element within the gameplay system that affects all of your relationships. And in traditional action-RPG fashion, you’ll learn spells and master new weapons as you explore this massive island and discover why it’s being attacked by monsters. Risen sure isn’t skimping on sidequests, either.

As for your hero, you won’t find any ready-made character templates here: your actions will shape your character’s skills and abilities, which will include thieving, spellcasting, and alchemy. Sound a bit Oblivion-y? Even if it only manages to fall somewhere in between Bethesda’s masterpiece and Two Worlds, it still has the potential for a fun 50-hour romp. But who knows — maybe Risen will achieve even more.