Sacred

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Sacred
Sacred1-logo.svg
Studio GermanyGermany Studio II software Ascaron
GermanyGermany
Publisher Take 2 Interactive
Encore USA
Linux Game Publishing (Linux)
Senior Developer Aarne Jungeberg, Michael Bhatty , Franz Stradal , Hans-Arno Wegner
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 February 27, 2004
platform Linux , Windows
genre Action RPG
Game mode Single player , multiplayer
control Mouse , keyboard
system advantages
preconditions		 Windows:
Windows 98/2000 / XP, 800 MHz processor, 2 GB free hard disk space, 16 MB graphics card, 4x CD drive Linux:
Linux kernel 2.2.x +, glibc-2.1 +, X-Windows (XFree86 3.3.x +), 1.0 GHz x86 CPU, 256 MB RAM, 3.7 GB hard disk space, 1 × DVD-ROM, 32 MB OpenGL graphics card
medium CD-ROM , DVD-ROM , download
language German
Current version v2.28, v2.29.14 ( unofficial patch )
Age rating
USK released from 12
PEGI recommended for ages 12+

Sacred ( English for "holy", "venerable") is an action-oriented computer role-playing game ( ARPG ) developed by Studio II Software and Ascaron and distributed by Take 2 Interactive . It is the first part of the eponymous series, which continued with Sacred 2 in 2008 .

action

Shaddar, a powerful necromancer and summoner, had always sought power over life and death and was condemned by the mage community for this, so that he had to flee into the wilderness, where he built his tower. After years of study, he decided to summon a Saqqara demon, but one of his servants made a mistake in the preparations; the spell was not closed, the demon broke out and turned against his summoner. In no time the underworld opened up, swarms of the undead and Sakkara-followers covered Ancaria, and the kingdom seemed doomed, because its ruler is seriously ill and his forces are militarily bound by the constant wars against the orcs in the south. Only the hero can save the kingdom through skill with the blade, magic and other special skills.

In the add-on Sacred: Underworld , the campaign expansion builds on the old campaign: Baroness Vilya, a main character from the first part of the campaign, lets the magician Alcalata, former court magician of King Aarnum and his son Valor (and also mentor of the battle magician ), open a portal to the underworld to bring back their beloved Prince Valor, who was killed in the first part of the campaign. She is promptly kidnapped by a demon and it is up to the player to save her.

Gameplay

Character classes

In the Sacred basic game, six different character classes are available with which the fictional world of Ancaria can be explored:

  • the gladiator , a tough hand-to-hand fighter who masters the use of almost all weapons and uses debilitating auras in combat,
  • the vampire , who can switch between knight and vampire form, whereby the vampire form gives her additional skills, such as summoning servants,
  • the wood elf , a ranged fighter who works to support druidic nature magic,
  • the combat mage , who can survive in close combat, but mainly uses elemental magic ,
  • the Seraphim (actually the Hebrew plural of Seraph ), a skilled warrior who works in support of heavenly magic,
  • the dark elf, an agile hand-to-hand fighter who uses poison, traps and special blade weapons in combat.

With the add-on Sacred: Underworld two more classes were added:

  • the female demon , who can transform into four different demon forms and uses hell magic to support,
  • the dwarf , who can be played either as a close-range fighter (mainly with axes) or as a long-range fighter. For long-range combat he has special firearms and canons carried on his back.

For the voices of the characters were some well-known German voice actor committed: So the Gladiator of the is Bruce Willis -Synchronsprecher Manfred Lehmann talked (an allusion is also a battle cry of the Gladiators: "Yippiyayee pork cheek"). Franziska Pigulla , u. a. the voice actress for "Dana Scully" in the series The X-Files , lent her voice to the vampire. Martin Keßler , the voice actor for Nicolas Cage and Vin Diesel , speaks to the dark elves. The dwarf lent Wolfgang Hess , voice u. a. by John Rhys-Davies , Bud Spencer and Charles Bronson , his voice. The demoness speaks Liane Rudolph , the German voice u. a. by Nana Visitor , Madeleine Stowe, and Lea Thompson .

The character and its equipment

Each of the characters has their own little background story and the game begins in their own location in or around the town of Schönblick. Only the dark elf and the wood elf begin the adventure together. If a character dies, he is automatically resuscitated with cash deductions and reappears with equipment at a starting position that has already been reached, i.e. mostly far outside of the battle. However, the game also offers the option of saving as often as you like and creating different game states.

By killing monsters and completing the main quests or one of the numerous side quests, the character receives experience points . If he has gained enough experience, he can move up a level and improve his attributes and skills (e.g. toughness, riding, fighting with two weapons, staff weapons, dark elf blade weapons). Runes are often used as a means of payment , which are normally used to learn or improve a character's martial arts, magic skills and / or trapping skills. Each character has their own runes that they can find as well as other items. Runes of other classes can be exchanged with wizards in the ratio 2: 1 (random other rune), 3: 1 (random rune of your own class) or 4: 1 (self-chosen rune of your own class).

Magical objects such as weapons, pieces of armor, saddles, rings or amulets can be found, acquired through quests or bought from traders. The properties of normal, magical or rare items are generated randomly. There are also so-called uniques (unique items) and set items, which get additional properties the more parts of such a set a character creates at the same time. A set consists of four to nine set items, for the demoness also of up to ten parts.

One of the strengths of Sacred is a flexible system for your own production of "tailor-made" magical weapons, shields, boots, gloves and armor: In addition to their existing properties, many items have up to four free sockets (so-called slots ) in which you can add further bonuses can be built in by having a blacksmith use magic rings, amulets or martial arts runes (of all classes) for a fee. B. the weapon damage or the armor bonus, the movement and attack speed of a character, his attributes, saving throws against poison and elemental attacks and even his mastery of certain martial arts can be increased. These slots can be emptied and filled again as often as you like during the game. B. when the character rises and gradually more powerful rings and amulets are available. In this way, weapons and armor can always be adapted to the challenges of the different areas of the game world. B. Monster spiders in the lands of the dark elves are quite resistant to poison damage, but attack themselves with poison; other monsters deal their primary damage with fire, physical, or magical attacks, each of which has separate resistances.

However, caution is advised if you want to equip pieces of equipment that have more than one base with new rings or amulets at the blacksmith's shop: Normally, only one slot item can be recovered and reused, the others disappear during the conversion. So if you want to have unique amulets or rings, which the character can no longer wear directly on the body for reasons of space, built into a socketed weapon or armor, you should make sure that only one such irreplaceable piece of jewelry is used per socketed item.

Due to the fact that set items are quite rare, a real trade has developed in online play. There are some so-called " Easter Eggs " installed by Ascaron, i.e. special items such as B. Matrix- style sunglasses , greaves with the name “ Swallow King ” and much more.

Game world and orders

The detailed game world can be explored freely except for a few areas that have to be released by quest. Houses are also freely accessible, and the gravestones in the cemeteries have all kinds of humorous inscriptions. In addition to the main and side quests of the game plot, it is worth exploring the most remote corners of the game world, because there are a number of hidden caves full of monsters and non-player characters who ask for help if you happen to meet them, and even an underground secret passage which, through a mountain range, connects the area of ​​the first chapter with the lands of the third chapter. For this reason, the replay value is high, because even if you wander through the game world again at a higher level of difficulty or with a new character, you will always find hidden corners or small side quests that you overlooked on the first round.

A special feature of the game is the possibility of exploring the game world on horseback. Depending on the riding ability of the character, light riding horses or heavy war horses are available. However, not all martial arts or magic spells can be used from horseback, and the dark elf in particular will at some point be faster than the horses of the lowest quality class when galloping. Horses do not offer any additional storage space for equipment, but they are extremely durable and can trample opponents, they can be equipped with a saddle and improve some character values ​​while you are riding them. Treasures that opponents drop in combat or that can be found in the numerous secret hiding spots in the game, e.g. B. on tree stumps can only be collected by dismounting. The same goes for entering houses and caves. Talks and sales campaigns cannot be done on horseback either.

In addition to monsters and non-player characters (NPC), the world is populated by animals - from all kinds of farm animals such as horses, cows and dogs and harmless wild animals such as deer and rabbits, but also more dangerous animals such as bears, wolves and poison spiders, which are stimulated to attack by approaching them - and has different climatic zones and vegetation from south to north. (The expansion of the game world map to the north in the add-on breaks this climate zone division.) Monsters are constantly being regenerated, so a cave that has already been "cleaned" is usually populated again when you re-enter. Some monsters also fight each other or attack harmless animals. In addition, initially peaceful people can be bellicose as the process progresses. However, not all monsters have to be killed, with the exception of quest opponents.

Spread across the game world are a handful of teleporter gates, which mainly connect the cities and most of the settlements.

Also player-friendly is the fact that active and completed tasks are clearly marked on the overview map of the world and the quest log in the hero's diary shows a picture of the area for the individual sections of each active quest, where the NPC or cave entrance you are currently looking for is so that you as a player have no trouble finding the goal or back to the client during longer quests, even if the client has changed location. Some quests can also be activated from different locations, depending on which NPC you meet first. On a negative note are the quest bugs that still occasionally occur despite various patches in side quests , which can strike each player in different places (at least in the original first Sacred game).

reception

Awards

Golden sales number logo
Platinum sales number logo
  • Sacred (including the add-on Sacred: Underworld and the Sacred Gold package ) has been sold over 350,000 times in Germany alone (as of 02/2006) and received the platinum award from the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland e. V. (VUD). It was the most successful German game of 2004.
  • Over two million copies were sold worldwide (status: 03/2007), which makes Sacred one of the most successful German computer games to date.
  • Sacred was voted "RPG of the Year 2004" in the USA by the US PC game magazine PC Gamer .
  • In 2005, Sacred and Sacred Underworld received the German Developer Award in three categories .
  • In 2017, Sacred was included in the special exhibition Games Culture in Germany - 20 Milestones of the Computer Games Museum . Sacred is milestone number 15.

Sacred Underworld (add-on)

Sacred: Underworld is an official add-on to Sacred . It was published on March 24, 2005. The main features include two new characters (dwarf and demon), a game world that has been enlarged by approx. 40%, new types of opponents and items, and a continuation of the campaign from the basic version. For this sequel you have to have a hero who has reached at least level 25. You can either import the character from the basic version or use the included dwarf or demon, who are already at level 29.

If desired, the normal Sacred campaign can also be played with the new characters from the add-on , before the action of the add-on begins.

Reviews in gaming magazines

Versions

Sacred Plus (New Edition)

Since October 26, 2004, the Sacred developers have been offering an updated version of Sacred for sale. According to the manufacturer, all customer feedback has been taken into account in the “New Edition” (in German-speaking countries “Sacred - New Edition”, otherwise called “Sacred Plus”); In addition, the areas of the game world were expanded and sometimes also equipped with new types of opponents. For buyers of the original version, the expansion is available to download for free from the official Sacred website .

Reviews in gaming magazines

Sacred gold

Sacred Gold includes the main game, the add-on Sacred: Underworld , and a world map as well as all soundtracks for the game on the CD.

Sacred Gold for Linux

On May 7th, 2008 it was announced by " Linux Game Publishing " that they want to port Sacred Gold to Linux. Since April 9, 2009 the game can be ordered there, but only in English.

successor

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel

The successor Sacred 2: Fallen Angel was released on October 2, 2008 for Windows and in an adapted version on May 29, 2009 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 . For this u. a. a new 3D engine developed and support for the physics engine PhysX from Nvidia built in to make the game world more believable. The background story this time comes from the US game designer Bob Bates , while Ascaron entered into a cooperation with the German power metal band Blind Guardian .

The game character gets into a conflict between the elites of the elven kingdom that dominates the game world Ancaria, the nobility and the clergy. The clergy are therefore trying to get the big machine, the source of the magical T-energy, under their control in order to outsmart the nobility in this power poker. On the way of light one tries to prevent this in order to put an end to the war. On the other hand, the path of the shadow helps the clergy. According to the manufacturer, the game world size corresponds roughly to that of its predecessor ( Sacred including Sacred: Underworld ). New to the game is the ability to improve characters' special attacks.

It was the last part of the series developed by Ascaron, in 2009 the company went bankrupt and the rights to the brand were taken over by Deep Silver .

Sacred Citadel

Sacred Citadel is a beat 'em up and sidescroller developed by Southend Interactive on behalf of Deep Silver. It is a prehistory to Sacred 3 . The game was released on April 17, 2013 as a downloadable title for Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Sacred 3

Sacred 3 was first announced in 2010 after Deep Silver took over the series rights from Ascaron. The game was developed by Keen Games and published on August 1, 2014. The game differed significantly from the game principle of its predecessor, in which it was switched from an open game world to a linear level and game principles such as looting were given up.

Sacred Legends

Sacred Legends is a so-called battle RPG, which was developed by Chimera Entertainment on behalf of Deep Silver and published in 2016. It is the first Sacred game that has been developed (exclusively) for smartphones and tablets. The game, published for Android and iOS, continues the path of simplifying the game mechanics and reducing the story elements.

Companion products

Novels

Radio plays

A series of radio plays appeared for Sacred 2 .

  • Sacred 2: Fallen Angel - The Shadow Warrior. Episode 1: The Resurrection
  • Sacred 2: Fallen Angel - The Shadow Warrior. Episode 2: The deceptive paradise
  • Sacred 2: Fallen Angel - The Shadow Warrior. Episode 3: Under the spell of the beast
  • Sacred 2: Fallen Angel - The Shadow Warrior. Episode 4: The Forbidden Knowledge
  • Sacred 2: Fallen Angel - The Shadow Warrior. Episode 5: Salvation

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Patch-auf-Version-228-published PCGames.de
  2. ↑ thorium: Unofficial Sacred Patch 2.29.14 . sacredvault.org. November 10, 2008. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
  3. ↑ Andreas Lange (ed.), Gameskulktur in Deutschland - 20 Meilensteine, Berlin, 2017, p. 111f.
  4. ^ Sacred Gold for Linux
  5. ↑ Sean Ridgeley: Deep Silver announces Risen 2, Sacred 3 . Neoseeker. August 19, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
  6. ↑ [1] Pocketgamer
  7. ↑ [2] Gamestar