Fine blend of strategy and adventure
The idea of mixing genres isn't one which always works successfully, but in the case of the Spellforce series it seems to have turned out well enough, with two main games in the franchise plus a whole raft of add-on packs and expansions. The games are all broadly similar and blend RPG elements with those of real-time strategy to generally good effect and this second game in the series lives up to the usual standards. It's not really necessary to have played the first game to enjoy this one and newcomers should be able to pick up the story pretty easily, which although standard fantasy stuff, is engaging enough. This time around players take control of the usual lone hero who must venture forth into a wild land to prevent it from falling under the thumb of the evil Pact, an alliance between the Dark Elves and the Shadows. As mentioned, the game is a mix of RTS and RPG, with the player constructing their base camp with the aid of workers and which then allows them to develop more units, conduct research and so on. The main game is more like a traditional RPG, where you explore the land, battling enemies, embarking on quests and grabbing loot while levelling up your party. While there's nothing overly original here, Spellforce 2 scores a lot of points by simply being well done. The two aspects of the game are integrated well and are both equally enjoyable. There is lot of content here and you should be kept entertained through most of the running time so despite a couple of minor flaws, like dodgy voice acting, this is something which is more than worthy of your time.
