SpellForce not one of those games whose return millions of fans are waiting for. Well, there was such a series of strategies in half with RPG, well, several parts came out, without failures or breakthroughs. Nevertheless, the series has its own small community, and it is for them that it is slowly being completed SpellForce III. And, to be honest, why not just take a noble strategy and go out to the delight of anyone?? I talked about this with the development director THQ Nordic Reinhard Pollis (Reinhard Pollice), and from his answers and my impressions of the game I compiled the following text.
On two chairs
The continuation is being forged under the auspices of returning to the roots – a kind of universal answer to any questions, if we are talking about an old series that has been brought back to life. That’s how it was with "Cossacks", this was the case with the “Master of Orion”. True, Orion did receive its dose of necessary changes. Here we go SpellForce III didn’t avoid them.
At its core, this is still the same hybrid of real-time strategy and role-playing game. You have a hero, or even several, who live by all the rules of an RPG. That is, they gain experience, new levels, learn skills and change equipment to something cooler. With the only caveat that the camera can always be torn away from the hero and raised to an “RTS” height.
Here the game is completely different. Heroes are no longer powerful loners: they strictly need the support of other soldiers. Infantry, archers, cavalry – the whole gentleman’s set from any strategy. In truth, in SpellForce strategy is much more than an RPG. A properly “pumped up” hero is capable, of course, of defeating a pack of enemies himself, however, in a large-scale clash in which the formation of units, their formation and tactics become important, and not just a stupid “rush”, it is advisable for the hero to take care of himself. Fortunately, from a character you can mold not only a fighter, but also a support master, around whom the soldier waves his sword more vigorously, and the horse does not get tired.
Working with the public
At the strategy level SpellForce III has https://soccercasino.co.uk/bonus/ changed noticeably. Each location is divided into sectors that are subject to capture and retention. It would be a stretch to call them control points, but there is a difference. Sectors do not supply some abstract resource, as was the case in the series Dawn of War And Company of Heroes, but they are inhabited by peasants, peaceful inhabitants, ready to follow your instructions. You can’t add or subtract from a peasant, you can’t move him to another sector, which is easier for you to protect: where the woodcutter was “registered”, there he will live until the end of the game.
The hero doesn’t have as many parameters as in an RPG without strategic elements, but it’s also better – otherwise you’d have to pay attention completely.
Here the game is already swinging at The Settlers, drawing the life of villages. True, there are no production chains here, and they are not needed – in a hybrid game it is extremely important to balance both entities so that they do not overshadow each other. Therefore, village management is very simple. You order the construction of barracks, all kinds of storage facilities, and move residents from one building to another, thus changing the focus of production. And the more sectors-villages you capture, the greater the forces you can deploy against the enemy, and other common RTS truths. Apparently, there is no chance to sit in a corner with one unfortunate farm.
At the same time SpellForce III does not look like a game capable of pitting hundreds of warriors against each other. Here the maps are more like labyrinths suitable for RPGs. There is still room for company-level tactics. What’s even more important, SpellForce III uses the Line of Sight system, which is a rare guest in strategies (you could meet it in the same Company of Heroes 2). In this situation, the fog of war does not dissipate all at once if it falls into the field of view of your “units”, but depending on the terrain. An enemy fighter can take cover behind a house, and your squad will march two steps past and not notice anything. I believe that in the early stages of online battles this property will be used to its fullest, and there will be a place for it in the campaign: a lone hero who has escaped from prison, patrols with a predictable route – you get the idea.
I was especially interested in the balance between the parties to the conflict, of which there are three – people, elves and orcs. Mister Pollis especially emphasized that the players reproached SpellForce III for the lack of asymmetry, that is, each faction had approximately a common set of “units”, but with different appearance and some properties. In the release version, the armies will no longer be reflections of each other, which, of course, will decorate and diversify the gameplay.
If only the asymmetry does not concern the overall balance of power (when one faction is objectively stronger than the other). This is often the case with story-dependent RTS games, and SpellForce III promises a campaign of 30 hours or more. So you can easily not notice the skewed balance if you thoughtfully overcome the “plot” and do not get involved in “skirmish”. So, wait, there’s no lopsidedness there yet! I’m panicking early, sorry.
Gates allow you to teleport armies over vast distances. I shared my concerns about this with Herr Pollis, but he assured me that the game would not turn into a madhouse.
But there is a very real concern – the RPG component will not be able to attract enough attention to itself. In skirmish against AI or online battles, it is much easier to use the heroes’ skills using hotkeys, without resorting to third-person view. In multiplayer you will not have time for this at all, because you need to monitor the bases, captured sectors and the distribution of labor in them. Here SpellForce III shows itself to be an interesting strategy, but will it still remain a role-playing game?? What will make you not look at the hero from under the clouds, but get into his skin? Well, except for the story campaign, where you will be interested in battles one way or another. The game is not released on Steam Early Access, so as not to scare away the public with the crudeness of the build, so my acquaintance with it was limited to the demo level on IgroMir. SpellForce III It’s worth giving a chance, and it’s unlikely to let you down. But will it remain the same unique hybrid?? This question haunts me.