SpellForce: the Order of Dawn (PC)

Largely, those hopes and expectations are being fulfilled by the game -- it's keeping me up past bed time, which is the acid test! The gameplay -- particularly the resource/strategy stuff and the battles -- is very good indeed. The character development is less pronounced than I'd like, partly because you spend so much time zoomed out, but it's still there. Still, compared to the antics of Minsc and Boo etc from the BG series, the RPG aspects of Spellforce are thin indeed.

The graphics are gorgeous. I've seen comparisons with Dungeon Siege, but I never got on with that game so can't really comment. You will need a decent 3D card. I'm using a Radeon 9600 Pro and it's fine.

What about the flaws?

Firstly, some of the voice acting is truly awful, as if they ran out of time/money and roped in their next-door neighbours. Some of the work sounds professional, but there's enough stilted, flat delivery that I've actually missed what was being said on occasion, because my brain was so stunned by how bad it was.

One piece of screen dialogue (so far) came up in German, again suggesting that the final production stages were rushed (and perhaps explaining some of the female-Schwarzenegger-style voice work :-)

Again related to sound, the unit personalities that were present in Warcraft aren't here: they don't have their own distinctive voices. This is a shame, because the game atmosphere could have been so much deeper given more attention to these details.

All in all, it could have used more polish -- particularly on dialogue and sound -- and maybe it wasn't quite ready for release, but for wargamers and RPGers, this is one that's worth a close look.

When I saw this game Spellforce I did a little reading around it from all the preview and reviews thought I was worth having a look. The combinations the characters humans, orc,dwarfs etc seamed to appeal and the promise of more than just another RTS game won it.

A word or warning here, when I first got the game I had problems installing, you need to download the patch 1.03 and run this before you try to install the game then you should have no problems.

Once it was installed there has been no going back, the tutorial is slow but worth doing as it explains all the basics and you’ll be itching to go. Creating you character as in RPG is very important, so spend you abilities well. Then away you go.

The game feels massive I’ve only made it to the third island (level) but I already feel as I’ve missed so much already, there are sub quest you can do or you can just march on into the action. Building a settlement is easy and moving your army is quickly picked up. I sat down yesterday and before I knew it 3 hours had passed, I now can’t wait to get back on it and see what I will be able to next.

If you’re a fan if either type of game this is well worth a go, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Graphics – 7

Sound – 9
Gameplay (the most important thing in a game) - 9

1. This game lets you build up your hero with experience points and skill points which you can allocate to certain skills (unlike DS). You can choose to become a fighter or a spellcaster or both! A huge range of spells. Equip your hero like Dungeon Siege with assortment of weapons, armour, rings, helmets, shields etc. Collect gold to buy more stuff.
2. It actually plays like Dungeon Siege with 3D third person view or you can zoom out if you want to. You can have up to five companions.
3. Bonus point in this game is you can build units like Warcraft as well. Collect resources like iron and wood and off you go. Units include Wintermages, Paladins, Elites, Battlepriests, Druids to name a few. Imagine Dungeon Siege battles with your hero and the 5 companions AND all your other "build" units, it's awesome.
4. Choose to play with 6 races! Elf, Human, Dwarf, Orc, Dark Elves and Undead. Each unit is nicely detailed.
5. Huge maps and lots of side quests. Still haven't finished this game yet. A BIG game.
6. Nice graphics and nicely detailed units especially when zoomed in.
7. Save game anytime anywhere
8. Nice plot and story that keeps you interested.

Bad points:

1. Graphics not as "polished" as Dungeon Siege but still gorgeous. Will need a good graphics card
2. Crashed a few times.
3. Sound can be better.
4. Slow to load (this is on a P4 2.8 Ghz 512 DDR )

Conclusion:

Kept me enthralled for hours on end. Missed bedtime. Missed food. Reluctant to stop. Girlfriend gets angry. Dungeon Siege + Warcraft, it doesn't get better than this folks. Excellent entertainment. BUY! BUY! BUY!