control layout is archaic, but the gameplay and visuals hold up remarkably well. cutscenes are decently voiced, the terrain deformation still has not been stolen by other RTS the spells are up there with sacrifice in terms of gameplay punch while the standard (for its time) control scheme means it's a lot less of a hot-mess once you get into combat versus sacrifice and it's third person instant-area-death moment to moment combat variability. buy it, play it for RTS kick that the console generation tried it's best to bury (oddly enough this would work ok on a controller, not that I personally would) oh and it has lightning, fireballs and the ability to sink your enemies land into the cold grasp of the uncaring sea, what's not to love?
