Update: Prison Break - New Screens

Deep Silver and Zootfly's in development console game (based on the defunct Fox TV show) is still rolling along nicely and looking quite good. Here's a peek at a few more screens showing off some nice character models and well-rendered environments. All it needs is to get finished and be fun to play and I'm happy.

Oh... Shipping before the short attention span crowd forgets about the show entirely might help as well. based on all the work going into what's here, it'll be really interesting to see how this one turns out. Stick around for more info and images as they become available

Risen Teaser Trailer #2

Hey wait... shouldn't this one actually be Teaser Trailer # 1, given the content and "Coming in 5 days" tease at the end? Oops. Well, watch both trailers in reverse order, then. Sorry 'bout that!

Risen is in stores NOW for PC. The 360 version is coming in 2010.

Risen Teaser Trailer #1

Here's a thrilling, nicely edited ad that has parts of the opening cinema. Makes you want to run out and buy this, huh? Trailer # 2 gets posted on Thursday, by the way. Risen ships out to retail shortly for an October 2, 2009 release. The Xbox 360 version is coming early next year and nope, there is no PS3 version as far as I've heard (unless that's the reason for the delay... but I doubt it).

Risen PC Goes Gold, 360 Version Slips to 2010

OK, that's one down, department: Deep Silver has announced that the PC version of Risen has gone gold and will be hitting retail on October 2, 2009. The Xbox 360 version, however won't arrive until sometime in 2010 (cue the sound of RPG fanboys ranting worldwide). While this might seem a bit of a letdown to fans expecting both versions simultaneously, it's actually more of a positive sign in my book.

How so? Well, rather than stamping your foot as you type that angry e-mail or message board posting out to whomever, look at the delay this way: it gives Piranha Bytes ample time to make sure the 360 version is tweaked to perfection. Besides, the dev team can also use any constructive feedback from pro and fan reviews of the PC version to possibly add extra content (or possible patches) that PC version gets during the window from its launch to the 360 version's release date.

It's all about the perspective, folks...

Review: Cursed Mountain

 
Platform: Nintendo Wii

Developer: Deep Silver Vienna/Sproing

Publisher: Deep Silver

# of Players: 1

Official Site

Score: A



sub·jec·tive (suhb-jěk'tĭv) adj.
1. a. Proceeding from or taking place in a person's mind rather than the external world: a subjective decision.
b. Particular to a given person; personal: subjective experience.
2. Moodily introspective.
3. Existing only in the mind; illusory.
4. Psychology: Existing only within an individual's mind.

Most horror-themed video games are extremely subjective in that each person who plays them will generally have a different overall experience. Those that frighten easily will baby-step through their play sessions, saving frequently, checking maps and trying their very best not to to die horribly. The more fearless, bolder gamers accustomed to faster-paced play will blaze forward, taking on all comers in a quest for kill counts while often blissfully unaware of the developer's intentions in attempting to set a particular mood. This type of player generally never flinches unless the game adds in "jump out" scares like those found in hundreds of horror movies or live haunted house experiences in some amusement parks. A third type of gamer takes the middle road, going into every game "cold" in order to fully appreciate every nuance as they let themselves become completely immersed in the game world.

“I finally know on what kind of expedition I'm on. I'm on the search for my brother, Frank, who disappeared somewhere on the mountain. Nobody has heard or seen anything of him or his fellow climbers. It will take me some time to reach the base camp of his expedition. But I'm optimistic. I've planned my route well and cut the way up into 13 steps. I think the distance is always smaller when you divide it. I need to stay positive...”

(from Eric Simmons’ diary)
Cursed Mountain is designed to scare you in a more than few ways, but if you fit squarely into the first two categories above, you'll need to thoroughly surrender yourself to its finer points if you expect to fully enjoy what's here. Baby-steppers will freak out because there's no conventional save system or map, but the game's auto-save function actually helps the pacing tremendously. The fraggers will be frustrated at the game's intentionally languid pacing and tendency to show off technological flash (such as no load times in vast seamless environments during an entire chapter) when all they want is just to blow more bad things away. Here, the game doles out its encounters initially in smaller chunks, but "boss" fights and some mass enemy encounters are well done enough to keep things thrilling when necessary.

However, this definitely isn't the more dynamic action movie "horror" of the last few Resident Evil games, and while occasionally disturbing, not quite the completely surreal nightmare of the Silent Hill series. What's here is more of a personal tale of one man's experience that happens to put him in a particularly frightening set of circumstances he has little control over. In order to play, understand and fully "get" the game, you have to become Eric Simmons as soon as you take off that shrink wrap. Once you do so, the game succeeds almost flawlessly. At the beginning, Eric finds himself seeking the whereabouts of his missing brother Frank and a few fellow climbers after they've gone missing during an expedition. As the plot unfolds however, it's clear that locating his sibling may be more of a curse than a blessing. The pacing screams 'adventure game', the combat screams 'innovation' and if you settle into the right mood, you'll be screaming inside as Eric's tale takes its twisted route through your eyes, ears and brain.

Movement controls are very well implemented, although those more accustomed to speedy heroic types bounding off walls and running at top speed breathlessly for hours on end will find Eric a tad sluggish and well, human. However, given that he spends the game covered up in different types of heavy winter gear, that sluggishness seems a lot more realistic. As this isn't a pure action game, Eric isn't the battle-hardened bad-ass at all. He's more or less a more talented version of Silent Hill's Harry Mason, if you need a reference point. His mountain climbing skills are solid however and yes, scaling icy cliffs actually becomes part of the gameplay. Eric soon finds himself involved in his brother's problems as the mountain and surrounding area have become rife with unsettled spirits. Telling more would spoil things greatly. Suffice it to say that there's a great deal of ghost pacifying to do with some very unconventional weapons and that long climb up Chomolonzo will test Eric's body, mind and soul to its core.

There are a total of five main weapons plus a number hidden upgrades as well as spiritual attacks in the game to discover, yet its entirely possible to vanquish the majority of the enemies with standard blows from Eric's trusty ice axe. How that otherwise normal tool can damage spectral skin is explained well enough that you don't even think twice about hacking away at nearly anything evil blocking your path. In fact, the game does a superb job of keeping your suspension of disbelief from creeping into the reality it presents because you'll start to feel as if you're actually exploring a deserted monastery and the poisoned summit above it. As you learn new spiritual moves, the fights go from simple three-hit combo slashing to zapping ghosts or objects with holy power before "ripping" them with gesture-based movements. Later on, you'll be swirling that Wiimote like a lasso over your head, but again... you'll need to see how this fits in by playing for yourself.

There are only a handful of supporting characters here and each has his or her own importance to the story. Some offer assistance from the human, Buddhist or supernatural plane, while others have more evil intentions. Saying more would again, spoil the game for more brainy players out there as discussing the more salacious elements go a long way in revealing some important plot points. Humor, a part of certain horror franchises, isn't really something CM falls back on to lessen tension. The most "amusing" thing about the game is Edward Alexander Bennett's mustache. You figure out early on that since he's got that evil Tom Selleck thing going, three names and an obsession with all things occult, he's probably not the most trustworthy man on the mountain.

Speaking of mountains, Eric has to deal with the pesky peak almost as much as he does the spirits out to kill him. Between rock slides, blinding snowstorms, the dangerously cool climbing sequences, and oxygen deprivation at higher altitudes, you'll get quite a workout wrangling that Wiimote and Nunchuck combo. On the combat front, some will gripe about the lack of auto-targeting, quick turn or strafing mechanics, but to me, this forces you to perfect your ghost-busting skills in and outside of the Bardo. If you're trying to quickly blow through the game, you'll find that not putting distance between you and some ghosts will keep you playing too defensively. Conversely, your ranged mystical weapons can only shoot so far, so you're forced to engage and retreat, running away to gain breathing room in some spots while you try
to survive attacks from multiple angles.

Healing requires seeking out incense and using it at scattered prayer shrines or "killing" ghosts in ways that leave healing energy behind. In a great touch, there are healing shrines in boss areas, so if you've got the moves and enough time while whatever's beating you down takes a break, you can heal up and continue the fight. The one problem with the boss fights is dying means you'll need to start over from the very beginning of the battle. This can get frustrating if you've been having trouble with one of the demons a few times and finally get its pattern down, only to get killed when the thing has a sliver of life remaining. The best thing to do is these cases is to regain your composure and retry, making sure you don't get hit as much while dealing out as much damage as your last almost boss-killing run.

Visually, the game works perfectly at creating and setting its bleak tone from the very beginning and this oppressive sense of dread never lets up. For all the evil monks and farmer ghosts clawing after you, Chomolonzo is really the star of the show. The dev team really shows this off with some amazing work on everything including the assorted buildings and backdrops in and around the peak. The draw distance is incredible for a Wii game and As I mentioned in my preview a few weeks back, being able to look out and see where you came from at certain points is simply outstanding. Unless you have really bad agoraphobia, that is. Some of those views may have you clawing the edge of your couch. Even better, the fact that there's no loading screens during a chapter only adds to the immersion factor. Character and enemy models also look great; a nice blend of realism and stylization that balances quite well. If you let yourself sink into the game as Eric, the whole thing almost seems very real, which is exactly what Deep Silver intends.

The different Bardo effects along with the psychological elements and more unusual creatures are all gorgeously rendered, particularly in the nicely cinematic manner in which they appear. Sometimes the screen tilts slowly to an odd angle as smoky tendrils creep into your field of view and the color fades from your TV. Other times, more dangerous enemies get introduced in a manner that lets you know this won't be an ordinary fight about to take place. Whether or not you're scared by any of this is indeed, subjective. However, if you take the game's account of Eric's adventure as "real," it's nearly impossible not to feel a bit of a chill running down one's spine as the game unfolds. By the way, the no HUD thing is brilliant. You only see a circular life ring when danger is present and later, an oxygen meter that adds much tension to things as Eric gets closer to the summit. Oh, and if you're afraid of the dark... the game has a few surprises that just may make you jump a few times.

Stellar sound production, great voice acting and a truly eerie soundtrack add to the visual power on display and really bring the game world to life. Even in the more quite moments when Eric is hoofing it to the next area, there's some ambient noise, a rhythmic chant, a lonesome wail or other sonic element to keep your skin tingling. Again, you need to play this and completely concentrate on the entire experience. Popping headphones on to listen to personal tunes here or dropping a disc into a CD player is missing out on the aural experience the team has created. I received the regular edition in the mail, but the music drew me into the game so much that I'm hoping there's a standalone soundtrack. That, or I'll end up buying that Collector's Edition at some point. My biggest actual gripe with the game is the manual has a few minor grammatical errors that should have been fixed before it was printed. Still, given that a good deal of the Joe Gamer types out there don't read manuals, they'll miss the mistakes completely.

There's a solid 15- 20 hours of gameplay here (my own time was 21:43:57 by the stopwatch I set up), provided you're in the mood to seek out every journal and patiently sit through all the montage sequences that play out during the game. I'm a fiend for a damn good story, so the game had me at the Start screen and other than stopping to write this, it kept me playing for a good 12 hours straight before I took my first break. Whereupon, I stood up too quickly and almost entered the Bardo myself as I had a dizzy spell and fell backward onto the couch, missing hitting my head on the wall by a few inches. Ouch. That made me laugh like a crazed seal for a few minutes - imagine me conking myself on the living room wall, ending up in the ER and not producing a review, good or bad after hyping how good the game was in a few previews? "Oh, the humanity..."

Is the experience totally flawless? Not quite. Those gamers with a poor sense of direction will be cursing mountains of expletives at the screen because there's no map, and anyone looking for tons of "New Game+" features will be disappointed by the linear structure the 13 levels provide. Still, these complaints are subjective - none of those elements kept me from enjoying the ride. The story is engrossing enough and there are enough memorable moments and a number of great scares as things get weirder. You can retry the game using only melee attacks (good luck with that on the bosses), if that's your bag, which is sort of like reading a book and slightly changing the fistfight scenes. For those easily disoriented: just keep heading upward and you'll get a lot less lost.

In the end, Cursed Mountain succeeds extremely well as the first high quality horror adventure experience on the Wii. You can see, hear and feel the passion and dedication that went into its creation and only the most jaded "gamer" will ignore this fact. One thing the game industry absolutely needs is more developers that go outside the box and create fresh, innovative experiences for ALL consoles. This is particularly true for the Wii, which has suffered from too many dodgy budget releases, "me-too" exercise games and more "casual" titles than you can shake a Wiimote at. Deep Silver and all the development houses that put this gem together should be commended for their originality with your gaming dollar. With a wave of other unique horror games on the way for the Wii, they've now got a lot to live up to, as Cursed Mountain is one of the best and creepiest games on the console this year. And that, folks, is not subjective at all.

Cursed Mountain Arrives Early. I'm Four Hours In....

... and I couldn't be more pleased, although it seems that the kids who want exploding zombie heads every three seconds may be a bit annoyed by the intentionally languid pacing. And the fact that there are NO zombies in the game, only really annoyed ghosts and more pissed off demonic things (that can still kill as quickly, mind you). The game layers on the gloomy mood right away and the overall sense of dread combined with the brilliant score makes for some nicely creepy moments. The game's general atmosphere has the feeling of the last depressing section of Robert Altman's McCabe & Mrs. Miller crossed with a dash of Masaki Kobayashi's classic K(w)aidan and the lonelier moments of Kubrick's The Shining. Hopefully, that will help some of you reading this in terms of placing the game's tone.

As I said in my hands-on a while back, this isn't a typical survival horror game - you NEED to throw away your preset notions and just enjoy the ride, not listen to some kid on a message board who thought he was getting the second coming of Resident Evil or some other less cerebral game. That 'Mature' rating actually means a mature, literate story, not tons of gore and tits. What's here so far is very nicely done and once you let yourself get taken away by the game's flow, it's a pretty chilling trip up Chomolonzo.

There's a VERY deliberate attempt to tell a good story here, not just dump you into an action-packed game where you're not thinking about anything but the next boss battle. Eric Simmons isn't a "hero" in the traditional video game sense at all. He's just one man with an awfully depressing journey that probably won't have the happiest of endings, I'm thinking...

But that's a good thing. Review should be up this weekend - I'm headed back to the mountain for now...

Risen Box Art, Voice Cast Unearthed

Did someone ask "Hey, where's the Risen cover art? Well, here you go - in tasty Xbox 360 and PC flavors! Very nice indeed. Looks like Deep Silver's big RPG is also getting some major talent in terms of vocal performances. I'm wiped out from spending all day at the Konami event, so here's the beefy part of the press release all set for your reading pleasure:

Deep Silver Inc., a publisher of interactive entertainment software and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Koch Media, today confirms the A-list voice talent featuring in forthcoming RPG Risen.

One of the busiest actors today, Andy Serkis takes the role of The Inquisitor. Serkis, who has had a long and varied acting career, is best known for his CG character representations Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong in the movie of the same name. Veteran British actor, John Rhys Davies, who has starred in countless blockbuster movies such as Indiana Jones and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, performs as Don Esteban. Movie actress Lena Headey, who played Sarah Connor in Terminator TV spin-off Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles take the role of Patty.

"The quality of the voice casting reflects the quality of the game" stated Paul Nicholls, Sales and Marketing Director, Koch Media UK "with such an amazing lineup of talent from movies and TV, there is a voice everyone will recognize; we will attract a new generation of RPG players to the genre."

Serkis, Rhys-Davies and Headey are joined by a lineup of some of the most recognizable British TV actors; Fincher is played by Torchwood actor Burn Gorman, Larkrise to Candleford star Brendan Coyle takes the role of Commandant Carlos, Damian O'Hare who starred in medical drama The Royal plays Olf. I'm Alan Partridge regular and Star Stories narrator Simon Greenall plays Luis. Oscar is played by Grange Hill actor Donald McCorkindale while fellow Grange Hill actor and Secret Diaries of a Call Girl star Stuart Organ plays Brogar. The Archers actresss, Louiza Patikas represents Sara and Timothy Watson who has starred in countless TV dramas from Eastenders to Casualty takes the role of Romanov.

All the actors were cast and recorded by award winning London agency Side, with voice direction carried out by Andrew S. Walsh.

In addition, here's a batch of great new screens from the game:

Risen is set to hit retail on October 2, 2009 for the PC and Xbox 360. We'll have more updates on the game as they come in.

Deep Silver Getting Ready for a Prison Break...

Deep Silver is stretching its publishing wings a bit more with an upcoming game based on the recently canceled Fox series, Prison Break. I'll have to admit to never actually seeing an episode of the show during its run, but I'm definitely interested in what Slovenian developer Zootfly (Panzer Elite Action) will come up with and how it will play, that's for sure. The developer also produced the rather interesting 2007 video trailer for an unlicensed Ghostbusters console game that amusingly enough, helped the actual game get funded.

Here's the press release for the company line:

Deep Silver Inc., a publisher of interactive entertainment software and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Koch Media, today announced the signing of a license agreement with Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising (Fox Licensing) regarding the world-wide publication rights to a video game based on the award-winning TV series "Prison Break." "Prison Break", developed by Zootfly, will be released by Deep Silver for next gen consoles and PC.

"The ingenious plots and fast action of "Prison Break" thrill TV audiences around the world, and provide the ideal basis for a video game," says Dr. Klemens Kundratitz, CEO of Koch Media. "The game will offer the same blend of action and suspense as the show, appealing to fans of the series as well as video gamers."

"Who doesn't love the thrill of a prison break? It's a great basis for any video game, but even better when utilizing the intricate storyline and colorful characters created for the Fox series," says Gary Rosenfeld, Senior Vice President of New Media for Fox Licensing.

The protagonist of the "Prison Break" game is Company agent Tom Paxton. He is sent to the Fox River State Penitentiary to find out why Michael Scofield (the hero of the TV series), a man without a previous criminal record, became a bank robber. The storyline runs parallel to the first season of "Prison Break": Paxton encounters several characters from the series and experiences key events from his own perspective.

The action adventure "Prison Break" has all the markings of the award-winning TV series: a compelling story, distinct characters, and fast-paced action. Using diverse climbing and stealth skills, the protagonist Paxton explores numerous locations of the series, all brought to life with great attention to detail.

We'll take a longer look at Prison Break as the game's development cycle continues.

Risen Hands-On (PC/Xbox 360)

At Deep Silver's recent press event, the second big game shown was Risen, a great looking third-person Action/RPG by Piranha Bytes, creators of the Gothic series. Kai Rosenkranz, the game's composer (and Jack of All Trades) was on hand with playable PC and Xbox 360 builds of the game, presented in side by side format for comparison's sake. While the PC version was running on a higher resolution monitor, both versions looked exactly the same in terms of details small and large. This was an impressive beginning to the presentation and it only got better.

The gorgeous medieval "Mediterranean" island setting makes for a nice change of pace from more familiar fantasy locales found in other open world RPGs, but Risen also mixes in intriguing elements such as an active volcano, strange temples rising from the earth, a menagerie of menacing monsters and a good deal more. Although the game's four chapters take place on a "small" island, there's a whole lot more to do than you'd think (and the island isn't as small as you'd think once you get exploring). Over 100 separate quests await, as well as the ability to join up with different factions, allowing for the use of certain class-based skills and magic as well plenty of character customization options. So, what's the game experience like? Well, read on for a few details of the first 45 minutes or so of gameplay.

Our avatar woke up on a beach where there's been a shipwreck and he seems to be the only survivor. From the opening moments of looking out into the dense jungle foliage or turning to face the raging sea you washed in on, there's a great sense of place as well as a nice sense of dread, thanks to the dynamic storm raging behind you. Searching around for items (shown as floating onscreen text lest they be lost among the amazingly detailed environment) we eventually find another survivor, a woman named Sarah. After a bit of exposition, she sent up off to look for some sort of weapon. Finding a nearby stick from the ship's wreckage, Sarah then asks us to find some sort of shelter.

Heading through the jungle, we met up with our first enemy, a tall white & black "vulture" that looked like an angry ostrich with a Mohawk. Since speaking softly probably won't do much good, that big stick we found came in handy in terms of beating Big Bird to death. Once that was done, we examined the corpse for a chunk of raw meat, which more than likely meant we'd need to find some way to prepare it for consumption. Moving onward, we soon crossed paths with a big porcupine-like creature that did a diner dash straight at our guy as soon as we spotted it. One direct hit knocked our HP down considerably, but after getting some quick swings in, the beast keeled over. Not too far away was a big, bad wolf to kill or avoid (we went for killing it) and soon enough, the game's first structure appeared in a clearing.

In this rather dilapidated cottage, a bunch of scattered goodies lay about for some easy pickings. There was a frying pan (where you can cook any meat you've taken from the dead animals on a handy fire outside) , a few gold coins, a bed to restore HP, a barrel of rainwater outside and a lot of other items. At this early stage in the game, it's impossible to know if any of the more unusual items are even useful, but the dev team smartly took into consideration the pack rat players out there. Your inventory is unlimited, so grabbing brooms, big rocks and anything else that's not nailed down is up to you. This allows players who want to lug stuff around have that kind of crazy freedom and not worry about finding stashes or how they'll going to carry that big ol' bastard sword they've been eyeballing in the Harbor Town shop. You can play as you wish, so if you like a small inventory that's easier to manage, it's up to you.

With the house located, Sarah can be retrieved and as she's not the fighting type, she decided to stay at the house while we explored some more. Behind the house, there's a pathway that leads uphill where a few more vultures await. While engaging the birds is an obvious way to deal with them, enemy AI tends to be quite fierce once alerted. Running past an alerted creature has it angrily following you as long as possible until you or someone/something else kills it. Not wanting to run into more birdies or baddies, we took them down on an uphill slope and moved on. At the top of one hill, a ruined crypt-like structure at a nice tilted angle looked mighty inviting, yet more than a little creepy. Could this be the game's first dungeon? Well, dear reader.... let's get inside and find out.

Down the dark stone stairs into the blackness we went and and yep, it's a dungeon. A rather small dungeon, at that. Taking a step or two in and we quickly find out that careless spelunking can lead to a great fall. That pit trap we carelessly stepped on drops our guy into a darker hole with a barred door and a big, mean flying moth-thing at the bottom. with almost no room to maneuver, the moth needed to be killed as quickly as possible, as it can whack off about a chunk of HP with a single strike. After beating down the bug, we noticed three chests in the room that were unlocked and looted in quick succession. Heading through the doorway and up a staircase, we came into what we thought was a new room. However, a step or two into the room, yes, sent our man back down the same trap (ouch) into the previously cleared treasure room.

The next time up the stairs, jumping over the trap definitely helped out in leaving the crypt. After heading back outside we decided to explore the area around the structure. Rosenkranz noted that the game world is seamless with no loading screens while traveling, even when entering and exiting buildings. Stronger enemies lurk off the beaten path to keep low-level characters from wandering too far, but again. players can do as they wish. We did find a locked chest tucked away on a ledge that required a quick mini-game to unlock. Pressing the arrow keys or directional buttons simulate turning a combination wheel. Success in this gessing game nets you your goodies while failure has you try again 'til you open the box.

We noticed that In the builds no falling damage was in place, but can't yet comment on how far players can drop without taking damage. We jumped of a small cliff (about 10-15 feet) and suffered not a scratch, but happened to land near a few of those big vultures, which did our poor hero in rather quickly. After reloading and fending off a few more creatures, we decided to go back to the cottage and past it to explore more of the game world. Picking up a few plants on the trek travels (mint, mushrooms, healing herbs and such), we discovered another beat-up house to explore.No sooner had we set foot inside, a cut scene took over introducing a new character and what looked like was going to be a showdown of sorts.

Nope - it's just a guy who asks a few questions about who your anre and such, before noting that this is a really dangerous area (for a few key plot reasons) and to look around and find another weapon in the house. Once that's done (there's a sword upstairs), we found him sitting outside and after some more dialog, he'll escort you to a farm area nearby . Here you can either take on quite a few quests for the different farmers (shades of the first hour of Gothic II) from picking herbs to exterminating a pack of pig-eating wolves to a couple of fetch-quests and the like. Everyone has something interesting to say if you ask, or you can ignore them all and try to make it on your own to Harbor Town. In the farm area, enemies tend to travel in packs (save for a stray boar or wolf near the farmlands), and that sword you just got really won't cut it for long, as we discovered while being killed a few times by giant moths and those annoying vultures.

On the PC version, we got to see a few of the later areas, a lot of magic spells (you learn them as the game progresses should you choose to), a monster menagerie area (which probably won't be in the final build - it was just a map where Rosenkranz showed off some monsters and spells) and even some cool transformations (a big, powerful ape-like brute, and an over-sized floating nautilus, for example). There were other gameplay elements hinted at from blacksmithing to disguising your guy as a town guard or other important person, but we were a bit busy fending off a pack of wolves to take notes. We did hear that yes, there will be a number of Gothic-related references in the game (you'll need to hunt them down, naturally) and a lot more cool stuff, but we decided not to press for more details. Sometimes it's great to be surprised, no?

Speaking of surprising, the graphics in the game are phenomnenal all around. The human and creature character models are stylized (in the manner of the Gothic games) while the island is beautifully and realistically laid out with many varieties of hand-placed plants and other natural objects that bring it to stunning life. There's a day/night cycle, lovely lighting everywhere, plenty of weather effects and you can almost feel the wind in your face when you're in an open field or atop a hill. Villagers and townspeople go about their business whether or not you're in the vicinity and beware if you get some guard-types mad enough to start chasing you. Creature design is an inspired range of familiar animals beefed up to larger sizes and some truly unique fantasy beasties you'll encounter as the game goes on.

As we only got a short amount of playtime, the overall story was only starting to unfold, but that's also part of the game's draw. While there is an overall story path, you'll have the freedom to explore and adventure at will. The game tracks everything and you'll be able to check your journal in case you're lost in terms of what to do next. On the control front, Here's a peek at the Xbox 360 version's controller mapping:

Left stick: Move character (press in to jump)
Right stick: Turn character/turn camera
LB: Draw/sheathe weapons
A: Attack/pick up object/select or use inventory item/interact
B: Block/speed up dialog portions/cancel
X:Dodge
Y: Parry

D-Pad
Up: Inventory
Down: Map
Left: Journal
Right: Character Screen

Start: pause menu/options
Back: Quest menu/stats/other info (with L + R triggers)

With this pick up and play setup, Both PC and Xbox 360 versions of the game should appeal to hardcore or novice players. While PC gamers get the luxury of hotkeys (and more keys in general), the 360 version controls just as well. Naturally, as both builds weren't complete, there were a few minor graphics hiccups in some tight spots when turning as well as some minor clipping we were assured would be cleaned up for the retail version. The English lip synching also needed to be completed, but the voices in the game we heard were excellent all around. We did see a bit of the German version's synch from that more completed build and it's nicely done, so we're not worried about anything on that front.

In fact, we're not worried about much regarding Risen other than whether or not the final version of this epic will live up to the brief time we were able to spend in this small but busy game world. Open world games are ambitious undertakings to say the least and it's quite clear here that Piranha Bytes has certainly learned lessons from the good and bad points in the Gothic series. If they've managed to craft a truly memorable experience with their fourth title, the best game they've made will be the one RPG fans flock to once word gets out. Risen is scheduled for an October 2, 2009 release - we'll have more updates on the game as they come in... stay tuned.