|
In The Order of Dawn, enter a world beyond imagination, where there is immeasurable greed and constant thirst for power. Huge armies brought war and destruction to the lands and now, only a few years after the end of the Convocation, evil is back - ready to finish what was started. In Breath of Winter, a Prince of Darkness was set free and took over the reign of the Fire Empire. His wish is to bring the Renegades, the Gods of darkness, back to Eo, but he needs the blood of a first-born Elve. With the help of powerful illusions and black magic the Prince abducts her. When the Elves of the Iceworld realize what he has done, they begin the hunt to find him across the world of Eo. In Shadow of the Phoenix, a dark necromancer is trying to reanimate the powerful circle mages and make them his unholy servants. Only the power of the Phoenix Stone will be able to prevent the returning of the Circle. Retrieve the blade of the Shadow Sword and free the special power of the Phoenix stone. The two avatars need to combine their powers and work together to overcome this final enemy.
That sounds exciting and the game premise is great. You, the player, are a resurrected Ruin Soldier who is given control of your life. You are also given the mission to vanquish the rising force of evil. To do this you must fight Goblins and Orcs, Bandits and Dragons and all sorts of creature armies.
As a game noob I jumped in to SpellForce with great anticipation. I was coming directly from playing Gothic II Night of the Raven, my first RPG, and was excited to for another roll where I could save the world. But SpellForce isn't an RPG and this noob didn't get it.
Presented as a RTS/RPG hybrid SpellForce offers some elements of an RPG but in reality it's a Real Time Strategy game. I found it interesting but a couple gears lower than Gothic and a bit frustrating. After a few hours of play I uninstalled the game and decided to review something else. I've decided that this is a common event for players, especially beginners, who are unfamiliar with game styles and different genres.
After a few days I reinstalled SpellForce Platinum edition.
Knowing what to expect has helped me enjoy SpellForce more. It's not Gothic! (I'm actually playing NOTR again but as a Paladin) but is interesting.
Here's the lowdown on the game and my assessment thus far.
" The graphics are sharp and fun. They have a bit of a cartoon feel to me.
" The dialogue is boring. The actors, or rather people reading the script, are unemotional.
" Battle is not nearly as much fun and in an RPG. It may be more fun as the fights of a few become battles of armies, I hope/assume this is the direction I'm heading, and troop movement is more important.
" The maps are small and easy to maneuver.
" It's important to plan. Building a community allows you to build a military force. At first I plopped down buildings here and there. Then a large army of Gremlins attacked. They burned my buildings and killed my workers. Defensive measures like Crossbow Towers are imperative to survival.
" The Spells are confusing to me. There's too much to read and remember for each. A sword or bow is much simpler.
" There are a lot of categories of 'stuff' to keep track of and I'm still not sure what it all means.
" Something more than a Quick Start manual would be nice.
I still have a hard time not comparing SpellForce to Gothic and since these are my fantasy game reference points my judgment is based on my preference as to the type of play and a first time experience. And as I get further into SpellForce I will probably like it more. Right now I give it a 7.
Rating | 
