Spellforce 2 gold edition review full#
Spellforce 2 gold edition review series#

On a completely different note, I feel a particular need to stress the length of Spellforce Platinum. Eo feels alive, and it's certainly not the blocky models that make it that way. The outstanding immersion is essentially what Spellforce banks on, and I believe wholeheartedly that the thorough detailing is what supports this effect the most. This attention scales beautifully and really helps flesh out the world. It's not all bad news, though the texture detail is superb. I have always been impressed with the ability to scroll into a third-person perspective, but this effect is choppy even on my X800XL, a GPU that is far in excess of what is recommended on the box. Smooth shadow effects are a nice touch, although pushing these to their fullest potential seems to destabilize the program somewhat. The models are very low-polygon affairs, roughly on par with BioWare's NeverWinter Nights. Graphically, Spellforce is starting to show its age, but it still looks quite good. In my experience, Spellforce is the only game to make the 'RTS/RPG' claim and truly succeed. I have been telling anyone who will listen pretty much since this game launched that its greatest strengths are immersion (Eo is a rich and vibrant world, despite the unoriginal source material) and how well it actually succeeds in fusing role-playing and strategy. I mostly just like wandering around the towns I build up, looking at my subjects as they scramble to do my bidding.

I've always liked this feature, although I personally only use it for the occasional dip into immersion. Your camera perspective is a matter of choice Spellforce allows you to shift from top-down isometric to third-person view at will. The irony is delicious a freed slave immediately begins looking for slaves. Micro-managers rejoice! As a final nod to diversity, your hero also gets to collect other Rune warriors to summon and use as fodder. Worker slaves come in gem form too, and the key to success in Spellforce comes from claiming the monuments of each race that let you summon these slaves in order to sculpt your towns and fighting forces. Runes aren't limited to shining fighters and magic users. However, you also get to build up micro-civilizations and field massive armies, which is where the RTS elements come into play. You level up, you customize your spells and equipment, you tweak your attributes, and you climb the ladder to make your little character the coolest-looking little virtual 'you' possible вЂ“ everything all good RPGs require. What a perfect setup to become a legendary hero! This avatar is where the majority of the 'RPG' elements come into the game. Such a case is yours you are bound to no one else's tyranny and cannot truly be killed.

In rare cases, one of these powerful beings is granted his or her own rune.

Eo and its incredible species diversity is a land ripe with drama and power-plays, and you get to shape the outcome of these tales.ДЄs the player, you are in control of a Rune Warrior, a being whose soul is bound to a stone that provides the dual gift/curse of immortality and slavery to whoever possesses the rune. The surviving inhabitants of these islands include such illustrious races as elves (in both woodelf and darkelf flavors), dwarves, orcs, trolls, and humans. These are now connected only by a chain of teleportation portals, conveniently set up by the few remaining Convocation wizards left over from the war.

Spellforce 2 gold edition review series#

Some time ago, a massive war referred to as the 'Convocation War' split the planet into a series of isolated islands. The basic breakdown is roughly like this: Spellforce takes place in a 'traditional' (some might say clichГ©) fantasy world known as Eo. I will say that you travel to hell and back (literally), fight off armies of animated black-bladed armor, and get into some tussles with huge ancient dragons, amongst other adventures. I won't go too much into detail regarding the story arc(s) in this bundle, primarily because it would take far too long to cover it all.

Neither of these saw much shelf space at domestic retailers, but this may soon change due to a recent release of all three efforts bundled together in the Spellforce Platinum edition.

Spellforce 2 gold edition review full#

Undaunted, Phenomic crafted two full expansions for the game: Breath of Winter was first, followed by Shadow of the Phoenix. While the early 2004 release did well in Europe, the hybrid strategy/role-playing title failed to grab much attention in North America. It seems like only yesterday that JoWooD and Phenomic released the criminally underrated Spellforce: The Order of Dawn.