Sacrifice

The Good
Well, what can I say? This is an amazing blend of elements. At its heart it's a RTS, but you control your avatar from a 3rd person perspective and do all your commanding from there. Every level you can choose which side you want to play on (there are 5 with varied abilities and units). These choices affect the storyline. The game itself is very actionny, with lots of summoning and moving around. The graphics are STILL lush and wonderful, 3 whole years after this game's release. The battles are frantic, with much bloodshed and powerful explosions. And the manual needs to be the size of a small novel to describe all the units!

The Bad
The soul-gathering for resources gets annoying after a while. Defeating the enemy is a major pain in the ass (you gotta destroy their altar), but it's not really a fault - I just really suck at RTS's. Some later maps start out instantly with no time to think - just summon lotsa units.

The Bottom Line
An action/RTS that should be on every gamer's hard-drive!

The Good
Basically, being a strategy game, this game has the weirdest build I have ever seen. For example I'll point out that it's built like a 3d-shooter game, the game will most of the time be focused on you, the player. As you roam around and cast spell, or summon creatures to aid you in defeating an opponent wizard. Storyline is well built, and also open-ended. The multiplayer is a weird experience in this game because it is mostly a resource fight.

The Bad
The game has a "scissors-stone-paper" mechanics. Each unit is good against another one, and perfection is impossible. This means you have to somehow know what creatures your opponent possesses, and act accordingly.He who first sights a hidden opponent, or he who has more resources, will win!

The Bottom Line
The weirdest game you will ever play!

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.