Sacrifice

aka: Sacrifice: Im Auftrag Der Götter, Xisheng
Moby ID: 2861
Windows Specs
Buy on Windows
$9.99 new on Steam

Description official descriptions

In this Real Time Strategy game, the player plays a wizard who escaped his own ruined world, only to arrive to a world who has quarreling gods, each trying to become the most powerful. On each of the different levels of the game, the Wizard can choose another God to support, and according to that God you'll get new spells and creatures. After finishing the game, each player will have his own unique set of spells.

As said before, this game is a real time strategy game, but unlike the traditional Top-Down view, it features a third-person view (much like Tomb Raider or Oni), and emphasizes combat rather than resources management. The most important resource, Souls, which is used to summon creatures, can only be obtained through combat- and there's a limited number of souls on the map.

The game's multiplayer option is very similar to Blizzard's Battle.Net- you can log on to the company's chat room and find new players to play with. You can either choose a God to serve (and get all of his creatures) or load one of your Single-player wizards, so you'll have your own unique set.

Spellings

  • Жертвоприношение - Russian spelling
  • 牺牲 - Chinese spelling (simplified)

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Credits (Windows version)

160 People (145 developers, 15 thanks) · View all

Producer
Lead Programming
Tools/AI Programming
Lead Design
Level / Scenario Design
Art Director
Assistant Producer
Story and Game Script Writer
Voiceovers Director
Character Technology
Character Tools
Front End & Installer
Lead Character Modeler
Lead Character Animator
Primary Scenery Artist
Spell FX Artist
Character Conversion
Addition Characters and Modeling
Additional Animation
Special Thanks
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 82% (based on 39 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 59 ratings with 6 reviews)

Confusing at first, but amazing after some practice.

The Good
This RTS throws all of the traditional aspects of such games to oblivion. The point of view is completely changed, the resource system is almost completely ignored, and playing on a defensive "porcupine" strategy will be futile in the latest stages of the game or against other human players.
The game is all about combat, and you feel it running in your blood alongside the adrenaline, Coke and popcorn. You constantly run around, constantly cast spells, order your troops, and hope to make the right decisions under time pressure- because there is no pause in war. Although someone who just watches the game or the screenshots might find it unnerving or annoying, the player won't be able to get out of his chair after the first few minutes.

The Bad
For the traditional strategy player, who is used to top-down view like Starcraft's, controlling the game will be difficult at first. The minimap isn't very useful, and the only part of the battlefield you see is the location of your wizard- so defending against two enemies that attack from different locations will be troublesome.
Another problem is playing multiplayer games with more than two players. Once the host of the game dies, all of the game information is transferred to another computer (resynch) and it might take a while, espacially with slow connections.

The Bottom Line
If you're a fan of strategy game, give this one a shot. If you're a fan of first person or third person shooters, give this one a shot. If you consider yourself a gamer at heart, give this one a shot.

Windows · by El-ad Amir (116) · 2001

Still kicks a** a decade later

The Good
- the graphics are terrific, even ten years later. I've run this with an ATI Radeon 4650 with all the game graphics cranked up to max at widescreen monitor resolution. Not the world's most powerful GPU, it's still far beyond anything the designers had available to them. The game still looks gorgeous. Toward the end of any campaign, when the maps get huge, you can climb mountains and realize you can see for miles, and those tiny moving dots are really giant beasts that are so very, very far away...for the moment...

  • all kinds of spells, and the biggest ones are really big. Those tiny moving dots are really giant beasts that have gotten caught up in huge tornado and dragged way up into the sky, aren't they? Say, aren't they MY beasts...? And yipes, now it's got me! What a fascinating view, looking down at the spinning world so very far below! Unfortunately we're all going to fall down in a minute...ouch!

  • a variety of paths through the game (although some are definitely easier than others. Ya wanna make it easy on yourself? Always go with James. Play your cards right and you can even get a dragon companion).

  • the missions have some variety. Some are scramble as fast as you can, others require settling in and having the patience to chip away at the enemy bit by bit

  • a cult following has put lots of YouTube videos on this game revealing all kinds of things I didn't find the first time I completed it. So I can go back and do even better!

    The Bad
    - the first time I played it I gave up in frustration because the manual said "always secure your mana fountains" and then I ran into a mission where the opposing side began to blow up my mana fountains (and my creatures!) with a kind of volcano machine I couldn't figure out how to beat. Grrr! I hate games I can't win!

  • some of the spells don't seem to be worth bothering with, and some of the creatures seem quite useless. Or maybe I just never figured out how to use them properly

  • it's a bit disconcerting that the final level boss "doesn't play by the same rules" that govern the rest of the game. On the other hand, that makes it quite a challenge, doesn't it?

    The Bottom Line
    Technically amazing and fun to play, so it's frustrating that you don't appreciate as much as I do.

Windows · by anton treuenfels (34) · 2011

Great game with sentimental value

The Good
The title of this review may be confusing at first... Let me explain. Sacrifice was the first game that "came" along with my new PC (it was bought not offered with the PC) so no matter what, I cannot forget this game. I still play it even if the first day in which the game got into my PC was 13th of January 2001 (yes, I remember the exact date). A quarter past 8 A.M. more exactly.

But of course those mentioned earlier by me are not the only reasons for me to love this game. At first I didn't think that this game will stay installed on my PC for more than 5 years. This game has anything a hardcore action player would wish for. Same for RTS players... Hell! Even for RPG players...

As you may have guessed by now, this game is a combination of RTS/Action/RPG. I liked the gameplay... Especially the gameplay. The action camera perspective is perfect for scouting the area, and the easy control over your creatures makes the game really fun. Also, with each level up you get new spells and possibilities, and of course, I was really curious to find out what I'd be able to unlock next.

The story is great. I finished the game with all 5 available gods each time the game got more and more interesting. However the ending is the same... Only the spells/creatures differ.

But the game is not only great in single player. It is great in multiplayer also, which offers quite a lot of possible game modes. In the multiplayer match, your strategist soul will be awakened ;)

I also fell in love with the music of the game... It is simply perfect and atmospheric.

The game graphics are really good. I can't believe now that game had such good graphics back in 2000. It amazed me when I bought it, and it still amazes me.

Perhaps the strongest point of the game is it's originality. Simply put, I've never seen any game like this one before...

The Bad
None I may say... Maybe the short campaigns... but that's not really such a great flaw...

The Bottom Line
The most original game ever, my favorite game and one of the best games ever. If you haven't tried it by now, you shouldn't call yourself a gamer. The game features all good and specific things found in Shiny's games... It also reminded me of MDK somehow :D Great game. If I had a hat, I'd take it off.

Windows · by Hypercake (1310) · 2008

[ View all 6 player reviews ]

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Sacrifice appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Engine

Did you know that Sacrifice was one of the first games to ever implement a scalable engine? That means that it would look better on better computers.

References

Everybody knows Shiny's Earth Worm Jim, but nobody in our world ever heard about the Earth God James and his powerful bovine spells... Until now.

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • April 2001 (Issue #201) – Strategy Game of the Year
  • GameSpy
    • 2000 – Special Award for Best Genre Bender
  • PC Player
    • Issue 01/2001 – Most Original Game in 2000

Information also contributed by NeoMoose

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Abyss of the Sacrifice
Released 2010 on PSP, 2020 on Nintendo Switch, Windows
Trial of the Gods: Ariadne's Fate
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Karma: Immortal Wrath
Released 1997 on Windows

Related Sites +

  • Sacrifice Casts a Spell on Mac OS X
    An Apple Games article about the Macintosh version of Sacrifice, with commentary being provided by employees of MacPlay (October, 2001).
  • Sacrifice Center
    Look up news, polls, interviews, forums, and game information on this site.

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 2861
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Adam Baratz.

Macintosh added by Kabushi.

Additional contributors: El-ad Amir, Unicorn Lynx, jaXen, Stratege, Zeppin, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack.

Game added December 29, 2000. Last modified March 26, 2024.