Sacred 2 Hits PS3, Xbox 360

cdv Software Entertainment USA and Ascaron Entertainment have released Sacred 2: Fallen Angel for the Xbox 360 and PS3 this week. Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is a hack-and-slash action-RPG with a hundreds of missions, an open-world, unique character classes and a gigantic seamless world. This world contains massive dungeons, treacherous opponents and hundreds of challenging quests. Intelligent enemies, which adapt in number and difficulty based on player progress, challenge gamers in single- and multiplayer battles for up four players on consoles.

And if you’re wondering what platform to buy the game on, your best bet is to just choose your favorite platform and go. Why? Because there’s no noticeable difference in gameplay across these platforms. The PC version is also an option if you prefer your RPG action with the mouse and keyboard. Find out more about all three version by visiting www.sacred2.com.

Sacred 2 PS3 Complete

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel has been available for the PC for a awhile, and recently Ascaron and publisher cdv Software announced that the Xbox 360 version of the game had gone gold. Now we can call it a trio because the PS3 version of the game has gone gold and will be in stores May 12. Sure, the console versions of the game have basically put the company in debt up to its ears, but hopefully it will have been worth all the risks, hard work and sacrifice.

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is an action role-playing game set in Ascaron’s popular PC role-playing game universe promising a rich story, a seamless world filled with dungeons, hundreds of quests and lots of enemies. These enemies will apparently adapt tactics based on the player’s progress in the world by shoring up their numbers during encounters. Other features include a heavy metal soundtrack by Blind Guardian, seamless drop in cooperative and competitive multiplayer for up to four players, a deep skill system, six classes, high definition graphics and a whole lot more.

Not too many differences between the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions that I can see, but we’ll know for sure when both games ship next month.

Sacred 2 Developers File for Bankruptcy

Here’s some troubling news out of Germany: Ascaron, the maker of Sacred 2 for the PC (and the recently completed Xbox 360 version) has filed for bankruptcy protection. For those worried about Sacred 2 for Xbox 360 not making its release date - don’t fret - it’s still on schedule.

Ascaron released the following statement on its web site, revealing its financial troubles:

On Tuesday 14th April 2009, Ascaron Entertainment GmbH, Germany, went into administration at the regional court in Bielefeld, Germany.

Due to the protection offered by German administration rights, Ascaron intends to use this as an opportunity to secure the future of the company.

We, the executives of Ascaron Entertainment GmbH, thank all our fans for their superb support and assistance in making Sacred 2: Fallen Angel the success it is today.

Most of the blame is being put on the extended development of the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the action RPG. But it’s not all bad news. Ascaron believes that it can weather this temporary financial hardship and move on if things go its ways; the company told GameSpot that it is already working on an expansion to the PC version of the game and mentioned that development has already begun on Sacred 3.

We wish them luck - mainly because we want to play Sacred 3.

Alienware’s Games Convention Plans

Alienware (a division of Dell) will be at Games Convention 2008 in Leipzig, Germany next week supporting a number of developers and hosting special events. The company announced today that it has partnered with 4Players, Ascaron, Team SPEED-Link and Bethesda on a number of events and plans to show off two new PCs at the show.

At its booth (Hall 2, Stand J02) the company will showcase two of its latest Area 51and Aurora desktop PCs. Valve software’s Gabe Newell will also be on hand as a special guests and a special airbrushed Alienware system (Mercenaries) will be given away in a raffle.

Other activities that Alienware will help support include the official GC Live for Speed race organized by SPEED-Link, sponsorship of the Intel Extreme Masters III tournament, Ascaron’s Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, and more. Mostly the company will be the platform of choice to run PC games. Most notably, Area-51 systems will be used to showcase the PC version of Fallout 3.

You can learn more about Alienware’s activities at GC this year by visiting www.alienware.co.uk/GC08.

Sacred 2 Notebook Optimizations

If you do most of your computing on a laptop and consider yourself an RPG aficionado, then Ascaron’s announcement about Sacred 2 might be of interest to you. The German developer and publisher announced this morning that it is optimizing its next big role-playing game for play on laptop PCs. The game is apparently being tweaked so it will run as well on a laptop using an 128Mb onboard graphics chipsets as it does on a hardcore gaming rig

The focus of these optimizations specific to laptops include core processes, graphic optimization and notebook-only features. These tweaks include in-game battery and wi-fi indicator displays, and the Ad-Hoc multiplayer mode (AMM). All functions are actively supported by the Intel Centrino Processor Technology, says Ascaron.

Sacred 2 will be released in October 2008 by cdv Software.

Just for fun, check out our E3 coverage.