Risen
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Game Info
Developer: Piranha Bytes
Publisher: Deep Silver
Engine: Proprietary Engine with Emotion FX character animation, SpeedTree foliage, and PhysX for physics simulation
Platform: Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360
Release date:
Microsoft Windows
EU October 2, 2009
NA October 2, 2009
Xbox 360
EU October 2, 2009
NA February 23, 2010
Genre: Action role-playing
Mode: Single-player
Distribution: Optical disc, download

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Story
Risen is set in Faranga a Mediterranean island with different climate zones. The island is inhabited by humans, as well as many wild fantasy creatures. The ancient temple ruins have risen from the ground, giving access to a network of connected underground areas such as catacombs and dungeons. As a result of this, the humans have put in place an Inquisition, forbidding anyone from exiting their city or the island. In the intro the player's main character and a gypsy named Sara can be seen sneaking around on a ship in the middle of a stormy ocean. As they get to deck, they see the Inquisitor, calling out to a Titan in the seas. The giant Titan rises through the waves, shrieking at the Inquisitor. The Inquisitor tries to battle the creature, but he realizes that the battle is lost and teleports off of the boat. Seconds later the Titan smashes the boat into pieces, sending Sara and the unnamed protagonist into the deep sea. The player character wakes up on the shores of Faranga in the midst of the storm, surrounded by dead bodies.

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Graphics
The graphics within Risen are not bad at all, the engine used can produce some really great images. Sometimes it looks a bit flat and fake, but for a game like this, it really isn't bad. The effects on say, walls are not really great at all, they all look a bit blurred and very 2D. For a 2009 PC game, you'd expect more, but it really isn't enough to stop you buying it. Playing on PC will always be better and smoother than the Xbox 360, and it really does make a difference. Playing at 60FPS+ makes the gaming experience a whole lot better. Here are a few examples of the kind of detail and effects the engine can produce.

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Controls
Sadly, Risen does not support any controller support (PC Version) so a mouse and keyboard is a must. The default mapping for the buttons are relatively decent, I only had to change a few. But it's the same with almost every PC game, all buttons are customizable so you can map what ever buttons to whatever function you desire. So no one can really complain about them.

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PC System Requirements
OS: Windows XP (with Service Pack 3)
Processor: 2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 Single-core Processor
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics: 256 MB DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics card (nVidia GeForce 7900/ATI Radeon X1800 or better)
DirectX: DirectX 9.0c compatible graphic card driver
Hard Drive: 2.5 GB free Hard Drive space
Sound: 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
Controller Support: Keyboard, Mouse

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Ratings
Story: 7/10
Graphics: 6/10
Controls: 10/10
Fun: 7/10
Ease of Play: 8/10
Overall: 8.5/10

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