Yes, I played it and you can really see that it was done by the original Gothic developers. In the beginning of the game there is no mercy, no level scaling (aka Oblivion), you take one wrong step and a pack of wolves will murder you in a few seconds.
The world is big, graphics are good and gameplay is for once hard, but really satisfying. After all, when you get to the town gates and feel that "Holy, shit, I survived" feeling is what really sets an atmosphere for a real dangerous wilderness, as opposed to the feeling that you are in some Disney forest that many new RPGs give.
When you level up, the combat will become easier, not because of your level or whatever, but because you actually gain a weapon proficiency and can defend yourself, even though your enemies are as vicious as ever.
^ Risen is apparently only available to PC and Xbox 360
Hmm.... It got released at the same time on both platforms, so it was not an Xbox exclusive. I think this is the prime example of developers who are not touching PS3 because it is much harder to make games on it.
As for 2 worlds2 (the name is fucking ridiculous

), it is awesome as far as game goes, but it somehow managed to make me lose interest after I got to another continent. Maybe it has too many irrelevant side missions. Hopefully other people will have a better momentum in story and continue the game.