I just picked up a copy of Spellforce 2: Shadow Wars today, after reading the great reviews on here and hearing that it was a "truly revolutionary contribution" in the RTS genre from my gaming shop. I believe it is only mediocre at best.

Spellforce 2, is indeed a combination of an RTS and an RPG, although it only manages to do both of those on a marginal level. It plays like an RTS (in an RTS engine) with a character leveling and skill development system built in.

The first thing I noticed about it were badly dated graphics. Warcraft III, Command and Conquer Generals and Warhammer: Dawn of War look far better and are much more polished than this title. The animations (such as the way a character runs and walks) are jerky and rushed, the spells are boring and oversimplified, in fact, you don't even have control over when to use them, the AI decides for you.

The game runs well, mostly because of its poor graphics.

I expected originality from this title, and that appears to have been the developers selling point. It fails to meet its only goal, to be different from other RTS titles. It has a very simple cast of units, nothing out of the ordinary (soldier, crossbowman, mage, super-unit) The game box claims to have nine playable sides, but there are only three in reality, because the three "factions" have three "races" inside of them, which each consist of two to four units and one or two buildings each.

I've played many RTS titles, and originality and depth go a long way with me. This title has neither, and I believe the developer has no right to advertise either of those as its strong points.

If you're looking for originality in either the RTS or the RPG genre, look elsewhere, this title fails to meet the quality expectations of a $40 game in both of the genres it tries to be simultaneously.
I just picked up a copy of Spellforce 2: Shadow Wars today, after reading the great reviews on here and hearing that it was a "truly revolutionary contribution" in the RTS genre from my gaming shop. I believe it is only mediocre at best. Spellforce 2, is indeed a combination of an RTS and an RPG, although it only manages to do both of those on a marginal level. It plays like an RTS (in an RTS engine) with a character leveling and skill development system built in. The first thing I noticed about it were badly dated graphics. Warcraft III, Command and Conquer Generals and Warhammer: Dawn of War look far better and are much more polished than this title. The animations (such as the way a character runs and walks) are jerky and rushed, the spells are boring and oversimplified, in fact, you don't even have control over when to use them, the AI decides for you. The game runs well, mostly because of its poor graphics. I expected originality from this title, and that appears to have been the developers selling point. It fails to meet its only goal, to be different from other RTS titles. It has a very simple cast of units, nothing out of the ordinary (soldier, crossbowman, mage, super-unit) The game box claims to have nine playable sides, but there are only three in reality, because the three "factions" have three "races" inside of them, which each consist of two to four units and one or two buildings each. I've played many RTS titles, and originality and depth go a long way with me. This title has neither, and I believe the developer has no right to advertise either of those as its strong points. If you're looking for originality in either the RTS or the RPG genre, look elsewhere, this title fails to meet the quality expectations of a $40 game in both of the genres it tries to be simultaneously.