Sacrifice is a unique and - for me - nail-bitingly exciting experience. What drew me to it back in the day was the visual style, which looks like a well-executed cross between Hieronymus Borsh paintings and an episode of Earthworm Jim. Even today, the uniqueness of the visuals is impressive, and to my knowledge, nothing has come along since that is even remotely like it. The skirmishes in question are incredibly fun. You fight as the wizard from a third-person perspective and summon monsters around you to aid you in combat. The monsters are all specialized to deal with certain kinds of threat - at the first tiers, a simple rock-paper-scissors sort of arrangement, while in the later ones it becomes remarkably complex. The fights are frantic and complicated and reward well-executed tactics. Anyone even remotely interested in real-time strategy should try this game. It is an interesting shift of perspective when you, the general, are right there on the battlefield along with your troops, rather than directing them from your armchair in the sky. There is no radar other than a static map and a small, featureless minimap, and no reconnaissance other than what you can keep in your head. It combines the speedy strategy of Red Alert with its own high-octane brawl and cunning magic system that can cripple an enemy, beef up a friend, or call down death from above. This is an absolute must-play.
