SpellForce: The Order of Dawn Critic Reviews

SpellForce enlisted my involvement and playing dedication with the incredible opening cinematic, the brilliant tutorial and, ultimately, the absolutely captivating game adventure itself.

Amazing graphics, and it expands on everything that previous RTS and RPG games have created.

Its success at blending all of its parts together into a smoothly flowing, finely-crafted whole are more than just the final word in the development of the game; it’s a testament to the thought that went into blending the best features of two of the most complex genres in gaming, and creating an interface that’s easily accessible and suitably detailed.

A title that deserves credit for breaking the cookie-cutter mold that RTS games have fallen into. Even maps with simple goals can turn into endeavors that last for hours, if you take time to smell the roses and just enjoy playing with powerful, fully customizable avatar with the ability to raise a monstrous force.

If you enjoy third person action titles or RTS games, and enjoy some really good battles in between building and resource gathering all wrapped around a good vs. evil story which is interesting and contains some decent plot twists, you will definitely want to check out Spellforce.

The avatar system is a beefier system than what you'll find in any other RTS game on the market and offers for a little higher degree of flexibility and even strategy, outfitting your avatars with various weapons and spells in order to complement the other normal units of your attacking force.

There haven't been a lot of games that manage to combine large scale strategy and role-playing together and be successful. Phenomic has made a damn good stab at it with this one though.

It is neither the best RTS nor the best RPG out there. However, SpellForce offers enough of a quality experience in both genres, packaged in a pretty environment that you could spend dozens of hours exploring as a Warrior of the Rune.

The music and visuals are excellent. And you know what? So is the core play of the game. There's a lot of innovation here in SpellForce. Although parts of it are rough around the edges, there's too much good gameplay here to pass up.

Graphically stunning, infused with a rich storyline, and so full of subtle touches your head will spin trying to keep track of them all.

It may have a familiar-seeming premise, and it may have a few noticeable shortcomings, but SpellForce's unique combination of role-playing and strategy elements makes it worth a look for fans of either kind of game.

An impressive fantasy setting, intriguing plot, and reasonably lengthy missions make for a solid experience. The thing is though, those who don't prefer a hefty dose of classic epic fantasy storytelling should probably stay away.

The RTS portion of the title, which is mostly very well-done, suffers from one problem that almost utterly kills my enjoyment of it: Unit AI is freakin' terrible.

What makes this game a winner for me is the fact that it combines two of my favourite genres brilliantly and manages to achieve the best of both.

It's a quality game that can become addictive very quickly, and only loses a few points on replayability, linearity, camera controls and voice acting.

The AI of the game is its most irritating aspect. The computer’s strategy always involves sending small sallies of units to die on your defenses every couple of minutes until you have built up a large enough force to attack and overwhelm them.

Gets an "A" for design, and a "C-" for execution. Let's hope major patches can revise this game to greatness.

But as a hybrid of the two genres, SpellForce has a funky sort of synergy that elevates it above the sum of its ho-hum parts.

It's a combination of role playing and real time strategy that goes together like chocolate and peanut butter. In other words, it not only works, but it tastes great too.

If you can put up with acting which is more wooden than Pinocchio with a semi, and want a simple but entertaining strategy game to help pass the long winter nights, then SpellForce may be your vial of poison.