Spell force 2

Dark clouds threaten as the Shadows team up with the dark elves, and advance steadily towards the Kingdoms of Light. It’s up to you-a Shaikan warrior-to save the world.

Gameplay
Spellforce 2 blends the RTS and RPG genres extremely well-you’ll control your avatar character in RPG style, and his entire army in RTS fashion. Character evolution is deep, but not as much as a dedicated RPG. with regular fighter/ archer and mage classes. The skill tree is highly hierarchical. There’s a huge variety in equipment available, with a virtually unlimited inventory system.

Missions are very diverse, at times typically RTS-esque, other times very RPG-like-such as when exploring the countryside with just your party. The maps are very non-linear, encouraging you to explore, return to complete quests and explore some more, very RPG-ish!

The epic single player storyline adds a good deal to the gameplay, while the actual game experience is engrossing enough to be a winner all by itself.

Multiplayer hasn’t been ignored either, with the full campaign available for play co-op style for up to 3 players, multiplayer battles are also possible against human opponents.

Sights And Sounds
The world of Eo comes to life beautifully with the spectacular Spellforce 2 engine. The graphics rock! Character animation is top class, (even NPC characters and units), movements are very lifelike, while the environments are simply breathtaking. 

Battles are very well animated, with just the right touch of blood, and the spell and special feat effects look awesome!  The game has a nice soundtrack with some voice acting is good, the sounds during battle are particularly notable, with the clangs of blade on shield, and the whoosh of a fire spell incinerating all those who oppose you.

This Spell Forces You To Play!
An epic storyline, Gameplay that involves you with a near perfect blend of genres, all this with swanky graphics and engaging gameplay make Spellforce 2 Shadow Wars a must play regardless of whether you’re a fan of either genres or not.

The Woes Of Urban Warfare
If you’re sick of all the World War II games but are still fascinated by being in a war-zone, Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers (FSW: TH), the sequel to Full Spectrum Warrior, is probably for you. Set in the fictitious country Zekistan, FSW: TH tells the story of UN peacekeeping troops fighting for control of the only pass through the Tien-Hamir (the Ten Hammers)-the unforgiving mountain range that cuts through the country. After overthrowing its dictator, the forces must now fight the disgruntled citizens of the land to maintain peace in the region (hmm…sound familiar?).

You will be controlling up to four teams of four soldiers each-the Team Leader, a Rifleman, an Automatic-Rifleman and a Grenadier. The intention is quite Commandos-ish, with strong emphasis on tactics rather than all-out shooting. In fact, it’s all tactical-you’ll never directly be shooting at anyone! Instead, you’ll be giving soldiers a rough “fire zone” within which they will eliminate the enemies. An addition over its predecessor is the ability to “Precision Fire” from behind your team member’s shoulder-a decidedly fun feature, and quite deadly for your foes. The trade-off is that it makes your soldier more vulnerable to enemy fire, and when your men can be downed by just two or three shots, this is one feature you need to use with caution.

Visually, FSW: TH looks good, but there’s really nothing special here that we didn’t expect already. Every now and then you’ll see seams in the 3D models-something that didn’t go down too well with us.

With its team-strategy-meets-third-person-shooter approach, FSW: TH could have been a really great game, if it weren’t let down by its clunky interface. Getting used to the controls is no mean task, and even then, moving your troops long distances, RTS-style, is quite a pain. You will be commanding a maximum of four teams, and thankfully you don’t need to keep switching teams to call them to a location-if you have one team selected, you can command the rest to your location in no time. However, there’s no guarantee they won’t be shot before they get there. The nature of the controls hampers any quick reactions you may think of having-so even if an enemy saunters into your line of fire, you’ll still be fumbling while he leisurely decides on where to take cover. The lack of control over your soldiers’ firing causes mounting frustration and boredom, more so when you can’t have them track a moving enemy.

Try this if you’re bored of the same old war-based FPS or strategy games and want to try something new, but casual gamers are bound to tire of this quite swiftly.  

The Game’s Afoot, Watson
Based on the insanely popular CSI TV series (the original one, based in Las Vegas), CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder has you as the new CSI (Crime Scene Investigator) on the team, solving some of the most difficult crimes in Las Vegas with some forensic science, detective work, common sense and a little help from your friends.

The game has you solving five different cases, our favourite one being the one with the murder of a big game company boss at the game’s fictitious version of E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo) – heated opinions on the morality of violence in games, even broaching the subject of “Why can’t we all just play happy-fuzzy games?”

In each case, you need to build an “Evidence Trinity” – a tool used by real-life CSIs – to form a triangular link between the victim, the crime scene and the suspect. Accompanying you on your sojourns will be one of the original CSI team, asking the questions that you may or may not think of, but are crucial to the progression of the plot – like revealing the shady past of a suspect.

The point-and-click interface of this game – after dozens of recent shooter, strategy and adventure releases – is oddly refreshing. There is undoubted appeal in using your brain more than your hands, and use your brain you must. You will be going through the standard CSI procedure – examining and searching the crime scene, analyzing evidence in the lab, and finally scoring warrants from the Brass to question, search or arrest suspects. While getting your criminal doesn’t require you to be Sherlock Holmes, you can’t sail through cases without paying close attention and exercising those gray cells a bit. When we played it with dulled senses in the dying hours of the day, missions took an average of an hour and a half, so don’t expect to be stuck to this one for long.

For such a recent release, CSI: 3DoM looks appalling. The 3D counterparts of the real actors should have looked much better. However, when you consider its light system requirements, you see the sense in it all – this game was made to be enjoyed by anyone with a half-decent PC – hardcore gamer or not. It’s saving grace is the voice acting, which is brilliant for the suspects you question, though a little bland for the original CSI cast. Overall, this isn’t a title you should crave, but if you’re looking for a break from the other genres, pluck this one off the shelves.