Others say...

"Best game ever"
Loads of fun. Great graphics. Great RPG. Great RTS.

I've played it a few times and it's never boring. Story is fantastic although linear. A true proper trilogy.

I hope SpellForce 2 will be at least as good as this one. (I've got it already but did not start it yet)

Cheers.

"the key they gave me didn't work."
hi- it was impossible to use this product because the key

they gave me didn't work. i

might make a fisbee out of the dvd!

jerry

"RPG meets RTS"
I've never played real time strategy games before because I primarily play RPG's. This game combines the best elements of both and I've enjoyed playing it immensly. I look forward to playing part 2 after completing it a couple more times with different characters.

"A Phenominal Value"
Essentially, this Platinum Edition DVD is three games for a bargain-bin price. I couldn't pass it up. I had a little trouble getting it to launch at first, but after a little Internet session, I was back in the world of RPG/RTS hybrid excellence. The seamless integration of the two elements makes for a truly unique experience. Unlike other RTS games, there are many adventure elements, and you aren't just plunked down on each map; you have to fight your way from map to map. Unlike other RPG games, your hero won't be able to go it alone; to defeat the foes that lay in their path, he/she will have to call upon the power of armies from six different races: Human, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Trolls, and Dark Elves. Your avatar must find structures known as rune monuments to access his/her unique power of using runes to summon forth rune heroes and armies.

The RPG element of the game is limited essentially to the character you create at the beginning. Your avatar, a rune warrior, is a remnant of powerful heroes that served the Circle Mages during the time of The Convocation. The avatar is completely under your control; you choose the name, equipment, gender, and distribute skill points and stat points as they gain levels to create a unique character. You can create a punishing melee fighter, a powerful sorcerer, a deadeye archer, or any combination of those and other concepts. Your avatar can also summon rune heroes as he/she goes along; these heroes are other rune warriors whose levels and classes are fixed, so all you can do is equip them with the best available items. As you progress through the game, you can find more powerful hero runes to summon better heroes at the hero monuments.

The RTS element is a continuation of the system started in Warcraft, but with a few twists. You must find a rune monument for one of the six races (human monument, dwarf monument, etc.), and possess the appropriate worker rune, building plans, and unit plans to summon an army. Once you summon your workers, they can gather resources and build the necessary structures to summon an army. The need to have the appropriate building and unit plans occasionally necessitates fully exploring each map, so as to not miss any. The levels of your military units depends on the level of the worker rune you used to summon your workers, so as you find higher-level worker runes your units will gain levels and become stronger.

Heart of Winter and Shadow of the Phoenix help add dozens of hours to the original Order of Dawn campaign, granting you access to higher levels, more powerful equipment, new heroes, and more advanced units. One of my favorites was the "Walking Fortress" troll unit that hurls massive boulders at enemy structures. You can import your avatar from The Order of Dawn into both expansions, allowing this hero to complete an epic adventure. Shadow of the Phoenix is very challenging and has some of the most ridiculous boss fights I have ever seen. Several of them require your avatar, the rune heroes, and a full army to bring down a single foe. Heart of Winter is an excellent continuation of The Order of Dawn, adding new friends and enemies, and Shadow of the Phoenix is a harrowing and challenging test of strategy and patience as your rune hero moves towards their ultimate destiny.

To sum it up, this DVD has plenty of adventurous RTS/RPG action wrapped around an engrossing fantasy yarn that should provide dozens of hours of quality entertainment. Highly recommended.


"Like europe politics it stinks"
Bought this Platinum game with much anticipation and it doesn't work at all. Tried the download .exe patch and does nothing and to top it off half the original game forum sites crash too. No one has any idea how to fix this game and all you have to do is look at the dozen of patches out on first game. If they had spent the time and money to build the game and test it right like Blizzard does and companies like Westwood was then they would release a finished game but decided to use everyone as gunea pigs to test the product so they could try to patch it to work.

DO NOT BUY ANYTHING from this company or its affiliates I think they are Alkida implants trying to take over the western world. If you want to play a game with style then wait until June and get "Titan's Quest" which should be finally a Diablo 3.

Too bad this company couldn't find the capital to complete the game before release and would think anyone wanting to buy Spellforce 2 should be warned upfront to make sure you wait for about 6 months after release and buy an additional hard drive so you can download the new Patch fixes they will probably try to smoke screen you with as they count their money and send it to Iran.