Well I found Sacred 3 released on Steam and excitedly bought it and downloaded it. After sleeping on the download (it took a long long time to download) I started playing it this morning and I really wish I hadn't.

I have been a fan of Sacred and Sacred 2 and was really looking forward to the next game in this series. Much to my dismay I have to say that, for me, this is game that will go into the scrap heap and I will consider it as a lesson learned and a waste of money. I should have paid attention to the reviews of this game as most of the Sacred fans were screaming that this was no "Sacred" game.

I started the game and waited through the introductions then when I finally got control of my character I was directed to go hack and slash my way through. This was a tutorial of sorts and I was given help on controls etc. The first problem I had was movement. You can't move the camera as in the other games and you have to use wasd keys to move and it gets complicated because you have to use a combination of them to go in the direction you want. As I said it's complicated, at least for me. I somewhat figured this out thinking that it will take some getting use to then I started to move along in this cathedral type place and slashing my way through tons of enemies. The game gave me all kinds of different keys to press to get different combat effects (I'm exagerating but it seemed like a lot to me) and again I thought this will take some getting used to. I continued along until the game told me that I was in a resting place where I could gather my party except I had no party only my seraphim but I thought OK here is probably a save point so I quit the game thinking that I could continue from this point when I restarted. Wrong!!

When I restarted the game it started from the beginning again. So I moved further along and got to a point that appeared to be my first Boss fight. I defeated this character and moved through a gate and got an achievement award. Ahhh, thought I, now surely I have a safe point. Wrong again when I quit and restarted the game took me back to the start again and I had to start over. It was at this point that I decided that, if they don't give me any save points then the game is not for me.

All of the above considered, I will not be playing Sacred 3 and have wasted the price of the game. If you're looking for a continuation of the Sacred series I'd advise against this game. There may be a save system if you go through the whole first mission I don't know but I was too frustrated to find out so this game goes into the scrap heap for me.

I'm sorry to hear that, oldman. I was looking forward to this game as this series was also among my favourites.

Thanks, Oldman, it does not seem to be well thought out.

It would be nice if there could be a post-release patch addressing the save-game issue. I remember that such a patch was released for Vampire: Redemption after it had been out for a short while.

I've played Sacred Gold. I also have Sacred 2 Gold, but I haven't played it. I doubt I'll be getting 3, especially after what you shared, oldman.

There were some really cool things I enjoyed about Sacred. It's a beautiful open-world game, and it had some unique features. Good story. Different characters. But what I also remember were all the hordes of respawning enemies I had to fight. I would clear an area, find I had to back track and fight those guys all over again. I don't think I could face that much hacking and slashing anytime soon! By the end of the Gold version, I was done in.

If they've also made the fighting more complicated on top of having legions of enemies, I am not interested in Sacred 3.

Do you think it would play badly on the Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 consol versions ?
I have a logitech controller for the PC too. Maybe that could be used?
I too am a big fan of Sacred. But I hate useing the keyboard to play. So won't buy it for the PC.
If anyone knows about useing the pc controller or how the game plays on the consoles.
Please post. Thank You maryjo

I've never played on a console but in my opinion this game was made for consoles. My biggest complaint, other than the lack of a decent save system, is the movement controls. You have to use a different key to move forward, left, right, and back. Sometimes you can use 2 keys together to go diagonally and this gets too confusing for me especially during a fight when you're trying to move toward an enemy and at the same time use special keys to do different attacks. I, for one, run out of fingers as well as trying to remember all the different keys I'm supposed to push.

It would probably play better on a console. Maybe someone else can answer that question.

Maryjo, some of the review I read talked about using a console controller for the pc, and I have a dim memory of doing that on other games

Thank You for answering me. I'll wait till the price comes down and buy it for the playstation3 then.
That's what I did with Diablo 3 after all the really bad reviews it got on the PC. It played great on the Playstation3.
Still if anyone did play Scared with a PC controller or on console I would be intersted in their opioin. Thanks maryjo

I just checked on Youtube to get an idea of the game play and it is definitely just a hack and slash game, all combat. I'd guess from watching a couple of missions that the game probably only saves at the end of each mission but that's just a guess.

Anyway it is not a "Sacred" game and it is definitely a waste of money for me.

Thanks for the heads up, Oldman. I am also a long-time fan of Sacred and would have bought this without a second thought if I hadn't seen this.