Sacrifice

The Good
Basically, being a strategy game, this game has the weirdest build I have ever seen. For example I'll point out that it's built like a 3d-shooter game, the game will most of the time be focused on you, the player. As you roam around and cast spell, or summon creatures to aid you in defeating an opponent wizard. Storyline is well built, and also open-ended. The multiplayer is a weird experience in this game because it is mostly a resource fight.

The Bad
The game has a "scissors-stone-paper" mechanics. Each unit is good against another one, and perfection is impossible. This means you have to somehow know what creatures your opponent possesses, and act accordingly.He who first sights a hidden opponent, or he who has more resources, will win!

The Bottom Line
The weirdest game you will ever play!

The Good
Well, what can I say? This is an amazing blend of elements. At its heart it's a RTS, but you control your avatar from a 3rd person perspective and do all your commanding from there. Every level you can choose which side you want to play on (there are 5 with varied abilities and units). These choices affect the storyline. The game itself is very actionny, with lots of summoning and moving around. The graphics are STILL lush and wonderful, 3 whole years after this game's release. The battles are frantic, with much bloodshed and powerful explosions. And the manual needs to be the size of a small novel to describe all the units!

The Bad
The soul-gathering for resources gets annoying after a while. Defeating the enemy is a major pain in the ass (you gotta destroy their altar), but it's not really a fault - I just really suck at RTS's. Some later maps start out instantly with no time to think - just summon lotsa units.

The Bottom Line
An action/RTS that should be on every gamer's hard-drive!

The Good
- amazing engine, well used and performed magnificently. Stable.
- well presented - graphics are quirky, colourful and original
- good level building tools - people made some great levels in Sac.
- the game was non-linear and had a high replayability. I finished it 3 times over, taking different paths.


The Bad
- multiplayer suffered from drop-outs and a lack of player base
- no SDK released for modding (great opportunity here)
- once you lose your mana fountains then you basically lose the game - it's really hard to recover
- the powerful creatures dominate to the point that it's not worth creating any other


The Bottom Line
Think "magic the gathering" in real time with fantastic spells and creatures. You are in the game as the wizard, so you can attack/be attacked yourself. Summon creatures to fight for you, and rain down death with powerful magicks.

An interesting story coupled with unique presentation and great technology makes for a fantastic experience.

It's a shame that they didn't sell well enough to warrant a sacrifice 2 or an SDK for sac. It was also a shame that the multiplayer was never that popular.