click to enlarge Piranha Bytes' RPG Risen is getting a second chance in America. Originally released in Europe on October 2009, reviewers slammed the game as "unfinished and unrefined" and "a technical mess" -- for good reason, too. The original retail release of Risen on Xbox 360 was largely a "beta" version of the game. Four months later, Piranha Bytes is putting the true finishing touches to the game, and the improvement is immediately noticeable. The European game's framerate was inconsistent at best, but this revised version is -- dare we say it? -- playable. In fact, aside from the occasional hiccup, the experience is rather smooth. According to the developer, Risen now boasts higher resolution textures, denser vegetation, better lighting, sharper fonts and brightness controls. Visually, this is pretty much a different game altogether. Unfortunately, that still doesn't place Risen in the same league as games like the admittedly underwhelming Dragon Age Origins. This is still a visually dated product, but at least this time around, the game is playable.