SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars [PC]

Ever wondered how the role-playing depth of Diablo would blend with the conventions of the real-time strategy genre? This follow-up to a little-known 2004 release shows us the answer: very nicely indeed, thank you. Spellforce 2 integrates RPG hero development and inventory management with RTS base and army building, and straps on a credible plot and smooth presentation to boot.

Unlike most role-playing games, Spellforce 2 doesn't limit your hero's advancement with a class system. So you can explore both the combat and magic skill trees as you wish -- hybrid characters are entirely feasible. You'll acquire plenty of new items for your heroes on every map, and can equip them with a standard RPG paper-doll inventory view. Although the system is nowhere near as deep as, say, Diablo's, it is considerably more complex than most other RTS games can boast, even the superficially similar Warlords Battlecry series.

If you're wondering where the balance between these styles lies, it's more to the RTS side than the RPG -- which is probably a good thing, as Spellforce 2's RPG features aren't quite as meaty as the strategy ones. Spending long periods without an army or a base can be a little tedious, but the game is structured so that this is rarely a possibility. On the whole, it's impressive how well these two genres are blended.

Given that Spellforce's development team, Phenomic, is a small studio based in Germany, you might not be expecting too much from the game's graphics. You'd be a little premature with that assumption, though, as Spellforce 2 is a very smart-looking title. Eschewing the cartoony look some other fantasy RTSs take, it's a realistic-looking game, or at least it's as realistic as skeletons, fireballs and elves can reasonably get.

Particularly nice is the variable day and night cycle -- the game's shadowing takes account of the position of the sun and lengthens accordingly. At dusk, as the shadows really stretch, the whole map is bathed in a salmon-pink glow: a memorable moment not so much for technical achievement as for atmosphere. In fact, when using the third-person view, it almost looks like Guild Wars at times.

These maps are also seriously big, and home to many quests. Spellforce goes considerably beyond the usual RTS paradigm of "wipe out the enemy," although there's still plenty of that. No, NPCs around the map dish out RPG-style quests like candy, and they add considerable interest and variety to the game.