SpellForce 2: Demons of the Past - Reviews

Although its gray hairs are starting to show, SpellForce 2: Demons of the Past is a good ending to the series, and will give its fans some closure while the wait for SpellForce 3 begins.

While it does have several shortcomings, SpellForce 2's third expansion also has a pretty good excuse. It's the swan song that wraps up an 8-year-long game. And while it's a standalone release, that is more of a bonus than it is an indication that it's a separate product.

It can also be enjoyed by first-comers to the series, but the story will feel a bit confusing and its defects will pop out more. It is an interesting and fun experience, especially more so for people that haven't tried the role-playing and real-time strategy cocktail before.

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SpellForce 2 – Demons of the Past feels less like an independent expansion, and more like DLC. It promotes itself as being inviting to new players, but gives almost nothing to new players in terms of gameplay or a hook into the story. The story it tells is not particularly badly written, but suffers from an inherent blandness that never really goes away. The gameplay is incomprehensible at the get-go, regardless of which game mode you’re playing. Once you get the hang of things, you might have some fun, but there’s nothing mechanically interesting or unique enough to keep players engaged for more than a sitting or two. If you’re already a fan of SpellForce 2, this is more of the same, so you won’t have any trouble hopping back in. But being new to the series with Demons of the Past feels like walking into a movie that’s halfway over. You might be able to piece together what’s going on, but you lose the initial draw that’s meant to engage you. Demons of the Past has no such draw, and there fore, no such engagement.

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I’ve already mentioned the game has 25+ hours of content. The story alone will keep you hooked for ages, and all for just $20. Need I say more? Yes? Fine. Spellforce 2: Demons of the Past is an enjoyable single-player experience that’ll stay with you for a long time. It has a beautiful design, unfortunately marred by technical problems. I recommend it, especially for the Steam price of $20.

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coaster said:

Sounds surprisingly decent. Its been a while since I played Spellforce 2 (didn't bother with Faith in Destiny) but I think I will pick this one up.

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