Blizzard must’ve made a deal with the devil. Nearly a decade after the last Diablo was released, the rest of the action-RPG world has yet to surpass its infinitely replayable blend of action, adventure, character management, and dungeon crawling. The first Sacred — released for PC in 2004 — was among the closest to crack the Blizzard code, and this welcome Xbox 360 sequel gets even closer.

As a top-down quester, Sacred 2 will be instantly familiar to any Xbox gamer who’s played Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance or Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (anything with the word “Alliance” in the title, apparently). Wander as one of six character classes, kill, loot, level up, repeat. And Sacred 2 is packed with plenty of all of it: the game’s world of Ancaria is bursting at the seams with sidequests. You can’t throw a rock without hitting someone who needs to be escorted somewhere, have some monsters slain, or have a message delivered.

It’s almost too much, in fact, because it becomes very easy to lose sight of what’s happening in the main quest, which involves, um…well, heck, we can’t remember. See what we mean? This problem with the surrounding sea of nonessential activities is compounded by the fact that the primary story arc itself isn’t presented very well. Sure, the key quest introductions are read by voice actors, rather than just splashing globs of text across the screen like the rest of the tasks, but that’s about it. Cutscenes are nonexistent, and none of the characters — friend or foe — are particularly memorable.

In short, Sacred 2 lacks a soul. It nails the nuts and bolts — the core mechanics — of action- RPGing quite well, boasting some nice graphics in the process, but the void left by the plot makes the adventure feel more like you’re simply going through the click-and-kill motions, rather than forming attachments to anyone or anything on the screen. Of course, when you bring along a friend or three for a little Xbox Live cooperative help, the fun and camaraderie of that action definitely numb the monotony of the mindless questing. Co-op play always gives this genre a boost, and support for four players (instead of just two) only adds to the enjoyment. The framerate can also bog down annoyingly when there’s a lot of action onscreen, but it doesn’t happen often enough to hamper the overall experience.

If the sheer act of dungeon-crawling is your bag and you don’t mind a subpar story and an unending flood of other random errands to run, Sacred 2 is a great romp that lasts 25 to 30 hours. Especially since the odds of Blizzard bringing Diablo III to Xbox 360 are about the same as a snowball’s chance in, well, you know…

[Ed. note -- This review has been updated to correct a mistake. We had previously written that Sacred 2 did not include local two-player co-op play. It, in fact, does. Though our score remains the same, OXM apologizes for the error.]

On Xbox 360

+ Solid dungeon-crawling action for a meaty 25-plus hours.

+ Four-player co-op!

- Lacks a narrative hook.

? Where are the rest of the action-RPGs? We're waiting with our wallets open!

7.5