Customer Reviews

Sacrifice

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Remember all those things recent games were supposed to offer? Gorgeous, detailed graphics, getting to play god, intersting creatures and minions. Well, while many others ended up with a few failings, Sacrifice truly shines in all of these areas, plus more.

The graphics are amazing. It offers a true, HUGE 3-D world that you roam around, under and through. You get to choose from one of 5 different gods, from the Earthy James to the fire-inspired Pyro and others. The gods are not content with each other, and their back-and-forth is half of the fun. Each has different spells, creatures, techniques, aims, and attitudes.

With all of the things to keep track of, you might think you'd be overwhelmed. However, the tutorials are fantastic and easy to work through. There are so many different ways you can approach it - as a true-to-one-god roleplaying, as a strategic mission, as a hack-and-slash adventure. The game supports you no matter which way you go, and the graphics and music surround you in lush beauty.

A must-have for any gamer looking for a worthy time-sink! This is one game I *love* writing the walkthroughs for!

I am a member of the press, and when I got my copy of Sacrifice for review, I have been playing it non-stop. It's been hard to take time to write the review!

The game has: (1) The most amazing engine I have seen on the PC. (I think Intel wrote some of it) (2) The most amazing graphics I have seen. (I have an Nvidia card) (3) It's a full scale Epic RPG action strategy game (My favorite genre) (4) It has fantastic net-code... I have been playing other editors on Gamespy and the gameplay has been flawless (5) There is a level editor... It looks cool, but I have not had time to try it out yet

Yes I am gushing, but only because I have been hoping the RPG game developers would finally make the break from 2D to 3D... So until Warcraft III comes out next year, Sacrifice is my No #1 pick for Christmas.

- Mike Lois

Ok, first of all I gave Sacrifice only 4 stars because the multiplayer portion really is not worth it at the time of this writing. Maybe after they get patch 3 up and running it will be worth a second look. With that aside I have to say this is one of the best games I have played...ever. I will not bore you with details about the plot or characters, you can read other reviews for that. I will just give you a run down on playability, system specs, graphics, etc. I am using an Athlon 850/256megs ram/and a Voodoo 5500 AGP. With this machine the game plays very smoothly and graphics are some of the best I have seen so far. As far as playing on lower end machines, I would have to say you probably would not have as many problems as you may think. You can always "tweak" settings to your system. I would stay with a Pentium 2,3,4, or Athlon only. The speed probably would not be as big a factor as your graphic card. The game play kind of like Battlezone. You are in 3rd person view and can control you players and participate in battles. There are some resource management in the form of "souls". The more souls you get(from battling opponents), the more troops you can build. This is a very easy to master setup. The learning curve is not steep at all. The 3 tutorial games are first rate and bring you up to speed slowly. If you like strategy games with great graphics and the ability to go anywhere on the massive game maps, this is for you. Oh by the way, there is a good bit of exploring to do on the huge maps. There are no load times, once a map loads that is it.

At a time when I'm sick of just about every type of game out there (especially 1st-person shooters . . . ugh), comes Sacrifice. I'm not even a fan of the Real Time Strategy genre. More often than not, I'm turned off by losing focus because of haing to keep up with WAY too many variables. Sacrifice is so different, and has really changed my mind.

The deep, inventive gameplay, massive control, excellent graphics and voicework make this one a real winner. Shiny has again come up with a truly original idea. It's a real system hog, though, so be warned. I'd take the minimum requirements with a grain of salt, and make sure you have plenty of RAM and a doozy of a graphics card in order to truly enjoy the game. I give it 4 stars only because it does run a bit funky (freezing and other glitches) on systems that aren't up to spec. Be sure to get the most recent patch, too.

So, if you enjoy controlling hordes of flying demons and bloodthirsty ground troops, running pell mell all over crazy landscapes and destroying everything in sight, then Sacrifice is for you. It's so much more than that, but I'll spare you the details. Dying over and over and learning from my strategic mistakes has never been this fun!

Tired of computer games? This one just might renew your interest...

Gorgeous, Great Voice acting, well developed character, Awesome music.... Shiny has just developed an instant classic.

You play a wizard who fled his homeland by travelling across the 'Astral Void' to a beautiful but mysterious realm which is the home of 5 gods:

Persephone: goddess of Life. James: god of Earth. Stratos: god of the Air. Pyro: god of Fire. Charnel: god of strife and death.

Finally a game that has a non-linear single player campaign. During the course of the game, you can listen to each god explain their predicament and offer assistance, in turn they grant you special creatures and/or spells to assist you in meeting the objective. The campaign also offers moral choices during regular play that can have a significant impact on the story! You may want to set up a library of save positions. The story is remarkably intertwined if you make more characters and play the other gods, you get to be part of the developments that the other gods spoke about in passing.

The graphics are as dazzling as Shiny's MDK. You feel that you are a part of the experience and not just punching build icons as in other RTS games.

Shiny went to the market and recruited some great voice acting as well as hiring a professional music studio to score the game. Each realm has it's own distincitive music. Beware though, the musical themes are quite catchy and you might catch yourself humming them.

Another boon is that this RTS game bypasses the base building / researching / upgrading / tech tree icon smacking building slapping that dominates most of your time in the classic RTS arena. The action moves fast, very fast. Games can finish in mere minutes if your opponent(s) catch you off guard!

This game is not without drawbacks [mostly because it's just plain tough!]. This is a borderline twitch game. You need to be able to work the controls fast and have a lightning wit in order to survive the most heated of battles. I strongly suggest selecting missions from only one god during the campaign so you can learn how that god's creatures and spells work. The same tactics you employ with one god may fail miserably if you chose to employ yourself with another god!

If you frustrate easily when you lose, you might want to purchse this game with caution (or watch your superstar gaming friends get vanquished first). If you love a challenging, rich, immersive RTS gaming experience then this is the right game for you.

This is, quite simply, one incredible game. It combines a unique control system which puts you right in the middle of the action, yet retains traditional RTS characteristics. Instead of the usual 'build your base, build your troops, charge at the enemy' routine that has become the mantra of the RTS genre, Sacrifice offers a continuous thrill ride that won't let you down. Think of it as a combination of Diablo, Warcraft, and Quake all in one (the last for the graphics). The command is from a detached first-person perspective that essentially casts you as a field commander- not some omniscient satellite being looking down from the sky. The sides are very well balanced both spellwise and in units, and each side is distinct enough that you'll want to change often. On the graphics end, it is visually stunning, and one of the best games for eye candy you'll find anywhere. Perhaps the best part of Sacrifice is its excellent interface, which you will quickly become accustomed to and is highly intuitive. The game's mechanics are excellent, which is commendable for a 3-d RTS. In particular, the path finding and spell casting works flawlessly, and is obviously the result of a great deal of dedication. Sac won't pull a 'Force Commander' on you, and is incredibly addictive. Definitely worth checking out.

This game is too addicting that I've lost sleep and actually played multiplayer over the internet! I don't play games very often. I did play Baldur's Gate and thought it was good but kind of boring sometimes. I read a review that said Sacrifice was more for hardcore gamers and maybe on the complicated side. But it was pretty easy with the extensive (but easy and fun) tutorials it comes with. The best part of the game is the help that Shiny gives. They've already put out three patches to add settings and improve on the game that didn't need to be improved in the first place! But it makes it better. Obviously, don't buy the game if you don't have the minimum requirements but if you do, you're in for a treat (as well as loss of sleep which I hate).

It has great replay value because the single player has a campaign that has ~45 different endings depending on the choices you make, most importantly which one of the 5 gods you choose to support. You're a wizard that barely escaped your destroyed planet and get to choose which god to work with in this world. By the way, the voice acting is superb--one of the more powerful creatures of death you can summon creeps me out when he says things like "I HUNGER" --chills!, especially when you're playing way past your bedtime and it's cold and dark at 2 in the morning. They even got Tim Curry for one of the voices and the animation is awesome giving the gods very distinct personalities!

The gods have different powers one is the goddess of life, the other is of earth, wind/lightning, fire, and death--and each have different creatures and spells. For example, if you choose the goddess of life, you get spells like "ethereal form" where you can temporarily become invulnerable or if you choose the god of earth my favorite is "halo of earth" where huge boulders tear out of the ground around you and spin around you and when you get near an enemy one (or some or all--depending on if it's still alive) go shooting off to bash and pummel it. Also, you get the ability to summon creatures that serve that god (like the druid for life goddess, storm giant for lightning/wind god). And some of these creatures have powers of their own that you need to put to good use; the druid can create a body shield that makes it less vulnerable to attacks, storm giant can call down chain lightning, etc.

You choose a god for each level so if you keep picking the goddess of life she'll give you stronger spells and creatures that you can summon but at each level you have the opportunity to choose another god who'll give you the ability to use different kinds of spells and creatures. Careful though 'cause this may piss the other gods off and they'll refuse your help. This way, you have the opportunity to tailor your spells (picking the best from all 5 gods that fit your fighting style) and the creatures you can summon and also discover all the storylines. And that's not even scratching the surface of the game!

Multiplayer is great too. You can choose to just play on your own against computer opponents or log on to the internet and play real people anywhere in the world! It also has a LAN connection that I haven't used. The graphics and gameplay are incredible but I didn't feel any difference in the game over the modem than just on my own computer. You can also design your own maps and play them or upload onto the internet to let others try or play with them or download theirs. Extremely fun. Maybe too much.

This game has it all - visually stunning graphics, simple, well thought out interface, a sense of humour, and great game play. I picked this game up two days ago and have been playing ever since. If you are familiar with RTS, and in particular 3D RTS games like Battlezone, then you will feel right at home. The units are generated through summoning spells which are provided to you through a God that you are serving. Each of the Gods provide some form of melee and ranged, air and ground units to summon. Summoning units and casting any other spells in your repetoire requires mana. Mana structures need to be found, generated and gaurded so that a ready supply is available for casting - slow down on mana recovery and you will quickly find yourself without any units to do your bidding. Units are controlled much like other RTS games. Group your units, assign them a group number, command them to gaurd, attack, etc., and hold onto your err... hat. Enemy wizards attack fast so there is no time to slowly build up your forces. One final thing - did I mention that this game has the most awe inspiring graphics imaginable?

I've never played a game so original as Sacrifice. It cannot blow any other games away simply because it is in its own category. We'll call it a Real Time Third Person. In the game, you are Eldred, a wizard lord that has wondered about the planes looking for a world to inhabit (since he unintentionally destroyed his last one). With him is his imp familiar and guide, Zyzyx. He comes upon this world with five bickering gods, each with completly different takes on the world. You, as the player, chose to follow one, or occasionally serve the interests of a couple, of them. You march into war with the 3rd person perspective, spells, and souls. Souls are used to summon troops and spells can do just about anything else. The gameplay of this game is virtually flawless. It gets increasingly hard as you progress, but nothing becomes unbeatable. Patience is important in this game of games though, it takes time and strategy to get places. Beyond the gameplay is the intigueing story, twisted and delightful characters, and passable graphics even now (this was a 2000 release). A great game to get, especially for the price it has dropped to. If you are a gamer, play it for fun, if you are an artist, study the characters and be inspired, if you are a writer, listen to the story and be intrigued. I did all three.

What I especially liked about this game is the fact that it's not very linear, you have a certain freedom of chosing your missions. I also liked the design of each level, the terraing is simply amazing with vast fields and great plains. Very fun to explore, very fun to play.
The game is a real-time strategy type of game, much like Starcraft or Warcraft. You basically create troops consisting of various creatures and also "buildings" which are actually mana fountains that replenish your mana. Then you go to battle.