Other reviews already discuss the gameplay, but what really impressed me was the ability for this game to deliver an engaging story experience that gets you hooked right from the start. Lots of games have complex fleshed out universes, but not many are able to present and immerse the player into the world without being overwhelming like the way this game does. No prior knowledge required of the franchise before diving in.
First of all I want to tell you that this game doesnt deserve 5 stars but I just wanted to compensate those nonsensical 1 or 2 stars reviews so I gave it 5...
But its definitely worth 4 stars in my opinion.
I loved SpellForce 2, I was so happy when I saw that devs didnt abandoned SF2 and were sill releasing new content for it. I was sceptical about SF 3 but actually its like SF2 but far more better! Im happy that SF3 happened, it has so much content in it.
And if the devs will support game with content like SF2 then Oh boy!
I wish to THQNordic and to Grimlore team all the best.
PS: Be aware of bugs...
PPS: Still less bugs than in Bethesda game :D
For fans of the Warcraft 3 Campaign or the older Spellforce titles this game is a must! Plays like a mixture of Age of Empires and Pillars of Eternity.
Visiuals and especially voice acting are top notch and outstanding. The gameplay itself is solid although there are some minor pathing issues or the like.
I actually like the new economy and worker management a lot! It is innovative and interesting.
Great game offering a lot of fun!
Let me preface all of this by saying I did not finish this game. I played as much as I could stomach but I don't think there's anything here I would enjoy if I kept doing it.
I like RPGs, and I like RTS games. The best way I can describe this game is that it was made by people who didn't enjoy either genre.
RPG side:
Dialogues with 1 choice to progress, sometimes you have a choice but outside of 1 time it doesn't carry over past that conversation.
Bad awareness of circumstances (I can't think of a term for it) - Characters talk and act as if something happened when it clearly didn't (Example: I ran past enemies to free a prisoner and he was shocked that I "killed them all", when they were still chasing me), and conversations that imply I made choices that I avoided earlier.
I play RPGs to have my views and ideas challanged or contrasted against others and forced to explore their consequences, and it didn't happen here.
You have about 6 classes to chose from (you can have 3 per character) with about 6 skills per class. Most are boring.What can I say about the 'bash enemy with shield' skill? It's as generic as you can get. Anyone who played a diablo clone would fall asleep just reading these skill descriptions.
The lack of abilities and limit of 3 to use at a time, means that soon levelups stop having any meaning other than the stat bonus that gives you some extra HP, or something equally unimaginative.
Strategy:
Limited to building in a specific area, many maps have too many bases to manage, you have even less control over workers, a system that locks resources to only the base they were harvested in with a caravan that doesn't work.
One of the 2 units you start with is a guy with a torch. There are about 7 units per race (I think) and more interesting units could have been there, but instead there is a guy with a stick that's on fire. So yeah, units arent very fun either.
I would like to elaborate, and there is also good stuff, but I have a word limit.
Thank you for the free upgrade to the reforced edition!
I have not been able to transfer my original save game over of 10+ hours playtime, which would have been nice. However, this forced me to start a new game; which already within 6 hours the improvements are evident.
For example, loot drops are much more balanced and plentiful, especially for the goblin meat needed for one of the side quests. Also, the RTS elements are less of a chore, as previously it was such as grind to complete these.
I will not list all the positives, as there are many other reviews that do a great job of this. Although, I will summarise that the lore is interesting, scenery is beautiful and the characters have enough depth to keep you engaged in the plot.
The only negative that I have is the back tracking to areas previously completed. However, there is enough of a change on re-visiting these to not make this feel too much like a do-over.
Lastly, I've not played Spellforce 2 but I have played the original 'Spellforce Platinum Editon' for a number of hours and this is by far better in every aspect.
If you want a game that is entertaining with an interesting story, this is well worth a purchase.
