“My name is Inigo Montoya…”
German developer Piranha Bytes has commenced work on Risen 2: Dark Waters. An island based action RPG like its 2009 predecessor, the latest instalment will see you investigating a series of cataclysmic monster attacks. As you strive to halt the seemingly inevitable fall of humanity, you’ll delve deep into the murky depths of pirate society. Actually, if you live here in Australia, you may not be doing much of anything.
As reported by Kotaku in August 2009, the Australian Classification Board refused to grant an MA15+ rating to Risen as it contained what it described as “sexual activity and drug use related to incentives or rewards.” As there is no provision for R18+ rated games in this country, Risen was effectively banned from sale. Will the sequel have more luck with our notoriously unpredictable Ratings Board? Will Australia have a new rating system by the time the game ships? Who can say?
Risen 2: Dark Waters is being prepped for PC and unspecified consoles. Publisher Deep Silver is yet to announce a launch window.
Was the original even any good? I mean it seems alot of the games that get banned are ordinary anyways and rely on their shocking content to generate sales.
Probably a fair observation. I’m pretty sure that the original Risen wasn’t designed to appeal to the ‘Manhunt’ crowd, though. Also, while I haven’t played the game (for obvious reasons), it did attract plenty of positive reviews overseas.