![]() Neither does it dampen the overall atmosphere, which is enhanced by touches of visual detail like people sat supping ale in the beer gardens outside of taverns, or piles of dead bodies littering the reddened grass of a battlefield. Fortunately, that doesn't stop the storyline from being compelling and providing some intriguing twists. It's better here, although much of the dialogue's still hammier than a gammon steak. ![]() SpellForce was home to some of the worst voice work ever, and there's a lot of competition for that accolade in the computer gaming world. The upshot of this is there's no more back-tracking through previously cleared levels hunting around, but on the other hand, it does feel uncomfortably close to spoon-feeding at times.Īnd speaking of things to hate about the original, there was the voice acting, which was just magnificently rubbish - with arch-mages who talked like the camp German officer out of 'Allo 'Allo. Those of you who hated wandering around SpellForce's maps searching for quest objects and NPCs will also appreciate the fact that the game now highlights many of these locations on the mini-map. Builders can be automatically assigned to specific resource collection duties upon creation, items in the inventory will highlight characters qualified to use them when you move the cursor over them the list of useful little tweaks is massive. ![]() Patrol, follow and other standard RTS orders have made a welcome appearance. Various one-click buttons have been added which cover a variety of tasks, such as selecting important buildings (to queue unit construction orders while away in battle). The interface has also undergone an overhaul. Sir Geoffrey's horse was different from all the others, so it used to bully them. This means you can concentrate on the combat itself, rather than base micro-management. The seven resources of the original have been pared down to three, and gone are the complex base-construction trees, replaced by a much neater and compact system of core buildings. However, these epic bun-of-demon-slaying-+3-fights have been streamlined considerably, meaning that you don't actually need a masters in engineering to be able to manage your settlements anymore. Obviously it's not all questing - there are still large-scale RTS battles complete with base-building. Furthermore, the game's positively dripping with sub-quests, some of the more standard 'kill this' or 'get that' variety, and some which are pleasantly more involved, with riddles and puzzles to solve, or choices to be made. There are more maps which involve small skirmishes, or adventures into abandoned mines and the like with only your party members for company. On an overall design level, there's been a slight shift in emphasis towards the RPG side. SpellForce 2 doesn't change too much - neither should it - but there are distinct differences. It did have its problems, sure, but what's really impressive is that the developer seems to have listened to reviewers' and players' moans alike, and fixed most of these issues for the sequel. Surprisingly, the RPG element wasn't just tacked on as a gimmick, and the game was packed with sub-quests, proper character development and Diablo-style loot-hauling. ![]() But, as it turned out, this was misplaced. And indeed, when the original SpellForce was released, the name plus the concept - an RTS and RPG combination - left you with a sense of impending dread. It sounds like some sort of educational spelling challenge, given a trendy edge to appeal to the kids.
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