Spellforce 3 is a real-time strategy fantasy game with a mix of classic role-playing elements, where you build your own army to fight epic battles alongside your party members in the unstable wake of the Mage Wars.
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Pros
Pro Two people can play the whole campaign together
You can play through the entire story of Spellforce 3 with a friend. One person will control one companion at a time as you progress through battles, the main scenario and any side quests of your choosing.
Pro Mature story and interesting characters
The story is set in the year 518 after the Mage Wars between groups of rebellious mages and the ruling class of royalty. Now the war-torn lands are thrust into another conflict as a new ruler, the Lord Marshal, tries to restore peace through autocracy. As the main character, your father was a rebel mage, but in the current day, you're a member of the royal army. Spellforce 3's story challenges you to choose whether you'll remain loyal to your family's history or your place in the army, tackling mature subjects of authoritarianism and betrayal along the way.
Characters are also fun to get to know, like Yria, an elven huntress skilled in archery and healing magic. She's a down-to-earth and friendly companion, with great banter between her and your main character about the nearby scenery or the latest rat-filled dungeon you find yourselves in. Situations like these are clever and well-written, encouraging you to play through more of the game to find out what else your companions have to say as you go along.
Pro Full voice acting
Everything in Spellforce 3 from character dialog to loading screen lore text is fully voice-acted. Main party members and the narrator all have top-quality delivery that sounds believable. Side characters and other, less important characters could have had their voice acting scrapped altogether, as they don't sound anywhere near as good as the rest of the cast. But the game still boats full voice acting for everyone, even if the quality varies here and there.
Pro Player armies are customizable with different factions
As you progress through the game, you'll get to pick which factions of races you want for your army: humans, elves, or orcs, all with their own unique strengths and weaknesses. Humans have a balanced mix of weaker units and more powerful ones to even things out. Elves have fewer units overall, but their ranged units have superior reach at the cost of less damage. Orcs are more aggressive with a larger selection of units, while sacrificing ranged options. For fort-building, you have your own outpost where you can create buildings to fortify the space. You can supply resources to elves to build turrets on your outpost, while orcs have weaker structures that need to be built in larger quantities, and humans again have a more balanced offering of standard construction.
Pro Solid framerate
During large battles with dozens of army units and enemies on the field, the game's framerate is mostly stable. Aside from instances of bugs or glitches, performance is solid and reliable. The recommended system requirements list an Intel Core i7-4790, AMD FX-8350 with 8GB of RAM. As long as your specs are near those requirements, you'll have a smooth experience.
Pro Great mix of RTS and RPG mechanics
Spellforce 3 features top-down, fast-paced combat, ordering your army units across the field to fight and reach objectives, and collecting resources like wood and metals to build forts along your outpost. The game also has a story with player-choices, skill trees, loot, in-depth inventory management, and weapon, armor, and appearance customization for your party members. Everything fits well into a unique blend of RTS and RPG mechanics, where one moment you're focusing on resource management with your army, and the next you're engaging in banter between your companions as you traverse through lush forests or peaceful towns.
Cons
Con Polarizing ending
Some aspects of the ending feel rushed and unfinished, with certain events that don't live up to how much the story spent building up to these moments. Some players will feel that the ending works well while others will disagree.
Con No tactical pause during combat
Even though Spellforce 3 has the methodical combat that you'd expect from a real-time strategy game, there's no ability to pause the action before making your next move. Some battles will have you scrambling to keep up with the pace. You won't be able to slow down and take your time to think about which abilities you want to use.
Con Army units are weak in combat compared to party members
Soldiers are powerful in numbers, but this is the extent of their usefulness in battle. Your companions, on the other hand, have special, flashy abilities that deal tons of area of effect damage, and most of your time spent in battle revolves around managing these skills. In combat, your army only seems to exist to soak up damage and protect your main party members. It's a waste of potential.