Review: SpellForce 2 - Shadow Wars

The original SpellForce, released in 2004, was part real time strategy and part RPG, a very interesting mix of gameplay. The sequel, SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars, continues down the same path, with a lot’s of additions and gameplay optimizations.

You play human character, either male of female, as a member of an outcast group set to defend the world from the dark elves, who have started an offensive against the good nations (which you are part of, of course). You start by doing some quests in order to build up trust in the group. There are tons of quests to begin with, and a lot of variety among them. It certainly ads some variation to the game, at least in the beginning.

SpellForce 2 has the usual skill system found in many other RPGs, where you can distribute your gained points to either magic or combat. There are over 100 different skills, where you can choose to focus it all on magic or combat, or a combination of both (usually the most preferred way to do it). You can stockpile your inventory with as many items as you like, weapons, armor, potions etc. And there are plenty of items in the game.

Most of the time you’ll be doing straightforward hack-and-slash action combat, like Diablo or Dungeon Siege. Then there is the RTS part, where you start creating your own army. It works the same way as any other RTS, you need resources, so you set some workers to gather them, then build buildings, and so on.

The maps are huge and have a great variety, and you’ll be sure to check out every part of the world since the quests are designed that way. Lot’s of running around, but lot’s of stuff to see as well. The units and objects are quite detailed, and the graphics in general are very sharp and realistic.

The control seems quite easy. The RTS part in particular is very streamlined and easy to handle. The interface system lets you control lots of units during combat, and still keep a decent overview.

The single player campaign is quite long, stretching over some 50 hours, with an online multiplayer mode as well. The multiplayer part sports a co-op mode, where you can play with 2 other players online, and the usual skirmish mode.

I all, SpellForce 2 is better, more streamlined that its predecessor, and blends a very interesting mix of RTS and RPG. It has a few downsides though, like the steep system requirements if you wish to enjoy all the eye-candy. The game AI could also use some improvement, since most of the AI controlled units act like “robots”, going from point A to B, etc.

Since it mixes RTS with RPG, it may not suit everyone. Players expecting an RTS game will get a bit disappointed, same with ones expecting an RPG game. However, if you’re open to something new, this is certainly a game to check out.

Publisher: Aspyr Media
Developer: Phenomic

System requirements:

Minimum: Intel P4 1.6 GHz, 512 MB RAM, 5 GB Harddrive, DX9 Videocard w/128 MB RAM
Recommended: Pentium D 3 GHz or AMD 4000+, 1 GB RAM, GeForce 6800/radeon X850 w/256 MB RAM or better.