SpellForce 3 Reforced – Review
Our Score: 8/10
SpellForce 3 Reforced strikes a great balance between RTS and RPG. It is the year 518. The Crown has put an end to the Mage Wars, a revolt of renegade magicians. It was a Pyrrhic triumph, though, as entire regions descended into chaos, migrants roamed the nation in quest of safety, and a terrible epidemic known as the “Bloodburn” has emerged and is now swiftly spreading.
People cling to every indication of optimism they may discover in difficult circumstances. The charismatic leader of the Purity of Light, Rondar Lacaine, holds that only Aonir, the father of all gods, will return Eo to its former glory and that mages are the cause of all tragedy.
Reforcing the Spell
Tahar, Isamo Tahar’s offspring, is controlled by the player. Tahar travels on adventures with a variety of individuals that were alluded to in the previous game as The Circle’s magicians. Yria, an elf white mage, Isgrimm, a dwarven archaeologist, Rohen Tahir, a human wizard, Ianna, an assassin, Uram, a summoner of demons, Undergast, a mage who can use both light and dark magic, and Gor, an orcish shaman and chieftain, are among them. As the titular hero, you are entrusted with halting the epidemic before it sweeps the kingdoms. The main narrative of the opening campaign centers upon a mysterious sickness that starts to spread the continent. The game looks fantastic. And the art direction, sound design, and backstory additions really immerse you in the setting as you play.
The main focus of the campaign’s gameplay is managing your own player character. Which can be chosen from the game’s many classes. After that, you’ll be put into a narrative and gameplay style that are reminiscent of classic ARPGs. But with excellent execution that makes the combat and movement feel great with a controller. The campaigns begin to diverge when you are requested to command the armed forces. At which time the RTS-hybrid gameplay type is introduced.
Mode Changer
To be clear, this isn’t a deep real-time strategy game like Age of Empires where you have to micromanage your efforts across economic and military units. Instead, you manage and expand a home base. And the health of that home base will generate more workers (up to a cap) that you can assign to different buildings, increasing your worker count. Then, you generate a larger army and you must manage it.
In addition to the campaign, there are a few multiplayer modes. They can be played cooperatively, competitively or solo against AI. The first of these is the pure RTS mode, followed by the journey mode, which is a campaign-style mode across the multiplayer maps, and finally, the arena mode, in which you control a hero who must battle waves of enemies while leveling up between waves.
Final Verdict
Overall, Spellforce 3 Reforced is a terrific game with a ton of substance for gamers who enjoy the feel of games like the original Warcraft, Baldurs Gate, and Diablo. The reading in the campaign may easily overwhelm players but the story itself is great. And while the RTS gameplay is straightforward, it might take some time to get used to it all. Mainly to train yourself to utilise the radial wheels effectively.
