What truly makes a superb game? Answers are as varied as constituents’ opinions of the presidential polls regarding which candidate is in the lead. Realizing that the assessment of a game is relative, the publisher can only hope that their title is well received by the gamer, for all titles, like other elements in life, are subjective in nature. Shiny Entertainment has managed to create a game that is succinct enough to appeal to most strat gamers, has character development broad enough to appeal to RPG’ers, and contains enough combat to whet the appetites of any who enjoy action titles.
I must say, my belief in Shiny Entertainment has been strengthened enormously with their upcoming release of Sacrifice. In my humble, albeit a rather experienced opinion, a truly great game introduces characterizations, storylines and graphics that enhance a standard game genre. The presentation must be unique in order to climb above the mundane — the feel and atmosphere of the title must truly engender excitement, the sort one experiences when doing something out of bounds or dangerous for the very first time. The game is certainly a strategy game that additionally possesses role–playing characteristics and numerous action elements. However, it is within the strategy arena where Sacrifice shines — and in real–time, too. "Save your game often," should be the title’s mantra.
Sacrifice offers a game whose wizards are characters the likes of which you have not seen before in other games. A grand adventure, one might call this title, where magic, strategy and the ability to think quickly are your best assets. Sacrifice, in one manner, reminds me of my first taste of Sir–Tech’s Wizardry on an Apple ][, oh so many years ago. More recent examples involving the game play and character introduction would be my first experience with Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee, as well as the breathtaking spectacle of Homeworld. You see, it isn’t so much that this game opens a brand new game genre, but what the designers have accomplished is to take that genre and expand it in directions heretofore non–existant in the game world. Similar to the Oddworld side scroller, you must learn how to manage a new set of characters in new worlds with different laws of physics. Sacrifice characters are not one–dimensional inhabitants that become so much cannon fodder for others to annihilate. Rather, these characters are deeply developed and require new thought processes in addition to an acceptance of the unknown in order to further your game enjoyment.
Aye, Sacrifice is also downright stunning, graphically speaking. The ability to maneuver your camera in and out, up and down, side to side, leaves no doubt as to your surroundings and what might confront you. The on–screen "order manager" menu is a delight to use once you become accustomed to its function, but use it only when needed. The ability to command your forces in various arrays requires a considerable investment of practice time, which is highly important for your success.
I do apologize, for I haven’t provided the game’s foundation. Sacrifice’s realm is a fantasy world within which five gods hold sway. Each god has various spells and creatures with which to reward your loyalties. You are a wizard, one of those stupendous creations that you can observe in the graphic on the left side of the screen. Marvelous appearing folk, are they not? Supremely non–human, albeit mostly bipedal, your wizard selection allows you to become somewhat alien yourself as you extend your experiences through creatures you have never "played" before.
You, as the wizard, have managed to escape your home world prior to its total destruction. You manage to port yourself into another dimension wherein the worlds of Sacrifice exist. As a potentially powerful wizard, the five gods all vie for your loyalty. The gods include Persephone, a peaceful god of the feminine gender who calls herself the essence of life; James, the god of earth who commands rocks and gems and other such ground–based forms; Stratus, the god of the air and the heavens who can be a stormy ally; Pyro, the god of fire, one who believes in industries, much to the consternation of the other gods who prefer to call him a god of destruction; and Charnel, the god of death, slaughter and strife, a truly dark presence.
The campaign section of the game requires you to ally yourself with one of these gods. Once selected, you begin your journey into a world so fresh and dangerous you’ll wonder how on earth you shall ever have time to leave the game for dinner, or breakfast, as the case may be. Your god selection also alters the spell types you may cast. There are a number of basic spells all gods offer you, such as Manahoar that assigns a particular mana fountain exclusively to you. (Determining how best to protect your mana sources throughout the game, by the way, are one of this title’s most strategically–intense activities!) Should you decide to align yourself with Charnel, your spell types range from Insect Swarm to Animate Dead. Your creature types range from Locust to Styx — all designed to inflict pain upon others. Should you prefer to shift toward the "lighter" side of the gods, Persephone’s spells encompass Wrath to Healing Aura, and her minions include Druid, Scarab, Gnomes and others.
Your creation of minions (the types that are designated by your god of choice, as indicated in the former paragraph) is always important, as some can offer you constant mana injections while offering little in the way of offensive or defensive capabilities. Others are truly terrible forces you may unleash on the opposition. Your selection of spells, at the appropriate moment, can also determine the outcome of any scenario rather quickly. And not to your advantage should you fumble while accessing your menu in order to obtain the appropriate spell for a specific occasion.
There are abominations galore, some that are amenable to your adventure while others do all in their power to annihilate you. However, Shiny has managed to offer one of the finest tutorials ever, which is a boon to all newbies participating in this adventure. I am a huge fan of well–produced tutorials, as taking the time to read such actually saves time for those learning how to play the game correctly. This isn’t a manual, simply an interactive guide to the features of the game that you’ll need to become a winner. With three tutorials you are guided through every element of the game, from camera view management and character control, to combat, and spell casting.
The half–hour that’s necessary to complete all three tutorials is one of the most productive and enjoyable 30 minutes of the game! The impish character known as Zyzyz, who guides you through the tutorial, possesses an enjoyable personality, and Zyzyz also happens to be a first–rate instructor!! (Zyzyz is present in the scenarios and campaign, as well.) Imagine my surprise when I learned that, even though I enjoyed high mana levels I couldn’t create another creature until I located deceased spirits, or souls. The spirits, when absorbed, enable you to create other creatures. A blue soul is the remaining spirit of one recently deceased that you can absorb and use immediately. A red soul, the spirit of a deceased enemy minion, requires you to convert them using the spell of the same name, which summons a Sacdoctor who resurrects the deceased soul and drags it to your wizard’s main altar (your main mana source when you begin the game). There, the spirit is absorbed into your pool of available spirits. You’ll be able to tell the count and amount in the upper portion of your screen. This information allows you to determine if you have enough souls to create that minion you so desperately need! I found that there is always be something important you have to accomplish in Sacrifice.
One drawback I did encounter was the method of spell management. To cast a spell you always have to move your cursor to the lower left portion of the screen to access the spell menus. As the mouse also controls your on–screen view, move too far and suddenly you’ll find your main viewscreen has shifted in the direction of your mouse movement. A further complication comes in the heat of battle. Unless you have specifically memorized each of the spell icons, you will spend a great deal of time sliding from icon to icon attempting to find the correct magic to use. This wastes time and can definitely end up costing your forces — lives can be lost quickly in Sacrifice.
Thankfully, Shiny Entertainment has enabled an alternative binding structure for the game. You can bind various keys to commands either via the options menu, or even during game play. To accomplish the latter, you simply place your cursor over the iconic command and then hold down the SHIFT, CTRL and [n] key simultaneously. The [n] key is the key you deed for that command. This option helps you avoid the "shift over" action caused if you are too vigorous with your mouse when selecting a spell. For the oft–used Manahoar spell, position the cursor over the icon and assign a new key to the spell. However, be careful which key you assign — the normal response of SHIFT–CTRL–M will end up negating your MOVE command capability with the "M" key — definitely not a smart move, as you are always assigning your minions to MOVE. Should your key assignments become convoluted, or override other important key assignments, you can always select DEFAULT from the OPTIONS menu and return to the game’s default command structure.
With only one mission to play in this special press release of the game I became desperate, craving more. However, I shall have to wait until the final version of Sacrifice is released. The landscapes in the game are truly a wonderment, and the animation is amazing. I was informed that more than 100,000 frames of hand–crafted animation were incorporated into the tile, resulting in making the action all the more realistic. Your spellcrafting will enable you to either assault your enemies from a distance, or truly get personal in close combat melee. And let us never forget that, should battles become somewhat untoward for your success, one can always flee to fight another day!
The only element of Sacrifice that is not up to snuff is the animation lip synch, which definitely needs some work, as facial expressions and mouth movements were not in synch with the marvelous voice–overs. This less than perfect element could certainly be due to the fact that this is a special preview burn and not the final version of the game.
Overall, this burn of Sacrifice is most impressive. Certainly this title contains all of the elements that could well lead the Shiny creation into numerous Halls of Fame in the future. I fully expect Sacrifice to become one of the leading titles this holiday season and for bloody good reason — the game, up to this juncture, is superb! GAME ON!
Oh, and I say, when you start with the very first scenario, I pray that you consider your sources of information quite carefully, as I have yet to meet ANY Zombie I could trust. I mean, after all, they ARE such bounders!
"Certainly here be a title that could bloody well reshape what gamers believe a RPG/strat/action game should be comprised of -- deep, deep play and tons of excitement, to boot!"
