Not sure where all the TW hate is coming from, but I'll chime in for the positive. Is it as polished as Oblivion? No way, not even close. Is it a damn fun game to play? Heck yeah! I've put in around 5 hours or so on the PC version over the last few days and I'm hooked. I've never played Sacred so I can only say that it's way more like Gothic 3 than Oblivion.
However, the combat is exactly like Diablo 2 or Titan Quest, in that it's just button mashing with a few skills thrown in that you can also do (kick dirt in someone's eyes, etc). There's traps you can lay on the ground, and there's spells you can do, some of them very impressive. The graphics are a mixed bag. The scenery is awesome, as is the textures on a lot of the armor and enemies. However, some textures, particularly on NPCs during conversations, look very low rez and muddy.
Do most of the character models look the same? Sure, but who cares? I didn't notice after 10 minutes in the game. It's rare for a game to give me a sense of awe, but TW managed to do it, and more than once. The first time I came up the slope heading to the desert and saw a Sand Dragon in my way, I was slack-jawed. Same goes for my first visit to a Necromancer tower. The game is just full of these kinds of sights.
To dismiss this game just because people are comparing it to Oblivion is ludicrous. It isn't Oblivion, it isn't Morrowind, it isn't D2 or TQ. It's parts of all of these, rolled up in a classic medieval adventure with sweet graphics and (hopefully) nice co-op play over XBL.
If it weren't for Bioshock, this would be my most played game over the next few months.
