SpellForce Platinum

Spellforce has everything a mix of RPG with RTS gameplay should have. It's entertaining, it provides a lot of gameplay ... and it is unfinished content wise. The main program begins very good, gets better and better, but after two thirds of the game, the designers simply forgot to "fill in the blanks". No more sidequests, barely existing main storyline, boring hardcore missions for people, who find pleasure in punishing themselves in playing the last third. Both addons partially fix this lack of content, but sadly, the difficulty level reaches new heights and frustrates many players instead of offering a fair (!) challenge. "Spellforce" could have been a very good game, an excellent game. But its shortcomings are to big to ignore. So, only 3 out of 5 for the potential and the first two thirds of the main program. THIS part is very enjoyable!

This is a great game. I actually bought this set for $40 when it came out a few years ago and it was worth every penny. I am completely shocked that this type of game did not become a standard in PC gaming. It is basically an action/RPG game mixed in with RTS element used for battles. I really wish they would continue to make these games.

What really makes this game interesting is that balances RPG, RTS aspects really well. I'll go into detail parts below. Gameplay: As your Hero, or Runemaster levels up you get access to many different spells and armor/weapons. There are many building to use in this game as the list for one race alone (human) is nearly 25 buildings. Each race has 9 units with a more powerful hero to be constructed or summoned at higher tier structures. The basic units range from healers to spell casters to range missle unts. Every spellcaster that heals automatically heals friendly units nearby. Another interesting aspect is the resource system. There are a total of 6 resources spread through each map. Each race only uses 3 or the resources. Each resources type has higher tier buildings that give back more of the refined resources for the player to use. This can be spent on building and units. Because of the way the UI is setup all runemaster and henchmen can cast defense spells/skills with a friendly target selected and a click of the mouse button. There is no need to look through a units panel to find out what it can do. The same goes for offense spells, when a enemy is selected. I baffles me that other new games do not have this simple system. UI: The best I've ever used. One of the reason, as stated previously... "Because of the way the UI is setup all Runemaster and henchmen can cast defense spells/skills with a friendly target selected and a click of the mouse button. There is no need to look through a units panel to find out what it can do. The same goes for offense spells, when a enemy is selected. I baffles me that other new games do not have this simple system." Also the camera system is done well. The camera isn't jittery and follows/moves well. The clickable icons are layed out well and the inventory screen/character screen is layered out well too. Yo can also assign groups to units too. You can also set units once built to fill a certain role. Graphics: Graphics were top notch at the time of the release, but like any game on Gog.com I do not really judge a game based upon that. I see more that the icons represent what they are suppose to be doing and the animations of the units/buildings are done well. Sound: The music, sounds are is pretty good. They all fit correctly and well in their places. I want to fill this with more information but nothing really jumps out to me as astonishing.

Spellforce is not a bad game, but there are a few pacing and gameplay issues that make it less desirable than some of the other games on this site. Like Septerra Core, I can recommend it most strongly as a good time-waster, but not so much as a good game. SOUNDS (2/5): It all sounds very standard, really. Blaring trumpet fantasy-tracks, the same fire noises and sword-clashing noises that everyone else uses... but that's not why I gave it a 2. I gave it a 2 because the voice acting is so bad it's almost funny, at least in the Order of Dawn campaign. It's slightly better in the other campaigns, but still less than stellar. VISUALS (4/5): This game is pretty. Maybe too pretty, given how much it lagged on my computer, but there's no questioning that this game looks nice. The animations could stand to be a little better, particularly when characters are having a conversation, but overall I can offer no strong complaints against the game's graphics. STORY (4/5): The plot's fairly well-written, and in particular I was impressed with the Order of Dawn campaign's ending. However, the story is marred by bad delivery. The voice acting, as previously mentioned, is mostly garbage, and the gameplay can make it hard for you to really enjoy the story, or even remember exactly what the story is. GAMEPLAY (3/5): It's a solid concept, it really is. The idea of building stuff up, amassing armies, and then unleashing them to destroy your enemies is a tried, tested, and true way to play a game. Spellforce, however, suffers from three major problems. 1. Clunky interface. If you're directing a large army, it can be difficult to select a particular unit on the battlefield seen from above unless you zoom in close, and then you can't see what the rest of your units are doing. The AI can be kind of clunky, too; if you ctrl+right mouse button to make your units travel to a particular part of the map and kill anything in their path, you may find that they're walking back and forth along a line for no clear reason after they've finished a fight. 2. Unclear system. If you want to build a good character, you need to do at least a little bit of planning in advance, but the manual is completely unhelpful when it comes to describing what the different skills are good for and what the different spells are. As a result, character creation is largely a process of trial and error. On top of that, you can never see the numerical stats of any units besides your heroes. You might know a unit's level, and be able to tell if that it has half it's health, a quarter of its mana, and certain spell effects on, but you can't actually see attack and defense numbers for your troops. This can make strategic planning difficult. 3. PACING! This game is far, far too slow. It takes an arbitrarily long time for units to cross the vast battlefields, and there's no way to speed this process up, or slow it down if you feel so inclined. An Active Pause feature and/or a speed dial is something that EVERY self-respecting RTS must have, and the fact that Spellforce lacks both of these things is reason enough to dock some points. PRICE FOR VALUE/OVERALL (3/5): There's many, many hours of play in this game, or I'd consider giving it a 2. However, given its length and its relatively low price, I can say that this game is okay. Not bad or good, but okay.