Solid game, that scales wells until the factory cannot grow
One of the beset economy-sims out there - with all the numbers, graphs, ratios. There may be some "idle times", depending on playstyle, there would be enoguh to do though. But the IP is discontunued and the controls did not age well. But for what it does, it does great!
While the first "next gen" patch did basically more harm then good, the soon follow-up patches fixed the most troubling issues. That said, I got a 1070 and used to have quite playable experience in basically all scenarios, which isn't the case anymore - so in case your gear hasn't been updated and you know how well it used to run, it likely won't anymore. And because of that, i actually have to tune down the graphics - ironically, now it looks even worse than before while also running worse at the same time. And 2 other issues have been introduced as well - I use a ultra-wide screen, which now seem to fk up some "scenematics" (flickering, out of center, camera tilt) - has become better after a patch, but still notiably worse than it used to. And my controller does not work anymore. How bad that is, i don't think i have to tell you.
To condense the review: It is an uncut gem. You can appreciate it or see it as inpracticable. There are elements that are good, but there are many edges and impurities that - if once fixed - can be astonishing. However, if i had to prepare my former me how to play the game, I'd say: Just focus on the main-quest, don't make use of any other extra content, because side-content is either not existent, limited, inbalanced or frustrating.
Some of the old feels of SpellForce are still there, some not. Sometimes the controls are messy, sometimes a little odd AI behaviour. But it's quite easy to get, and to adabt. There is a lot of potential and after the first view patches it's certainly fully enjoyable. Nice features like multiplayer-campaign, the famous RTS/RPG mash-up. Graphics and sound are usually taste, but can't think of anything bad - compared to StarCraft 2, loading-screens are non-existent (about 10 secs on HDD) - so even the many map-changes are not bothersome.
