Sacred Gold Review

Game: Sacred Gold
System: PC
Genre: RPG
Developer: Ascaron
Release date: August, 2005


Pros: Good sense of humor, dozens of hours of gameplay, good variety of quests
Cons: Buggy, repetitive at times, bad voice acting


Note: Sacred Gold included the original Sacred, the Sacred Plus expansion, and the Sacred Underworld expansion pack.

"Diablo for masochists." This is how gaming website 1UP described Sacred, an action role-playing game in the mold of Diablo and Baldur's Gate. It's a little sensational but it's more or less accurate. There is a lot to like in Sacred -- several playable characters, dozens of interesting quests, a huge world to explore -- but often it feels as if playing through the game is self-punishment. The side-quests, however interesting, are overlong; the main storyline is vague and uninteresting; and the enemies are repetitive, annoying, and abundant -- they respawn with alarming frequency.

There are eight playable character in Sacred Gold.

Sacred takes place in the fantasy world of Ancaria. There, an evil necromancer named Shaddar summons a powerful demon. The hero of the game -- there are six available characters in the original Sacred (eight in Sacred Gold) -- must travel the lands of Ancaria to defeat the demon and many other enemies: bandits, mercenaries, undead monsters, etc. The story is told mostly through dialogue and through cinematic scenes that appear at the beginning of the game and at the end of each chapter.

Although the story is somewhat convoluted and unsatisfying, the main story quests are engaging and challenging. Also, if players choose, they can postpone the main storyline to take on dozens of side-quests, which range from simple fetch quests to rescue missions. The diversity of quests is a bonus for players, but as the game moves forward the diversionary side-quests become tedious and burdensome; they become, in other words, a chore.

Point and click. Swing and strike.

Still, paradoxically, they are addictive. In fact, the entire game is addictive, despite its flaws, which include the aforementioned monotony along with glitchy gameplay and bad voice acting. It makes scoring Sacred a difficult endeavor. The game might be unfocused, unfinished, and anticlimactic, but it's still fun to play. There are many different ways to customize and improve one's character, the graphics are sharp and detailed (if sometimes muddy), and the control interface is simple and intuitive (the mouse does all the work). So, to make a long story short (too late): fans of the genre and masochists will enjoy the depth and challenge of the game; those with short attention spans and high blood pressure should look elsewhere.