Sacrifice, though "old and dated" by current standards, remains fresh, addicting, challenging and as impressi
The game play is what sets Sacrifice aside from all the other games out there. Sacrifice is an action RTS (Real time Strategy). The player controls a wizard manually from a third person perspective. The Wizard is the central force of play, as he or she acts as every important facility that can be found in more traditional RTS games; the Wizard gathers the resources, builds any structures, or produces any units for combat, while also casting his own spells into the midst of the battle. It seems confusing, and at first it can be overwhelming. The game's resources come in two different forms. One is souls, and the other mana.
Souls are used to summon the various creatures in the game. As you level up, you get access to more creatures. A creature can cost anywhere from 1-5 souls to summon - the higher number of souls, the stronger the creature. Every game has a set amount of souls in it, meaning that souls are a very important resource. If you have a soul, that is one less soul your opponent(s) have. If there is only 5 souls in a game, then every soul is drastically important. Souls, likewise, are gathered from fallen creatures - or, can be found just hovering around in some places. When a creature dies, the souls of the creature hover above it. If it was your creature that died, then the soul will appear blue - meaning you can pick it up as it is. If it's an enemy's creature, then the soul must be converted - which costs mana.
Mana is much easier to come by than souls. Throughout every level is what are called "mana fountains." These fountains spew mana out of them, replenishing your wizards mana reserves - which is what allows the wizard to do any sort of magic, be it summoning creatures or casting a fireball. The wizard can also take ownership of the mana fountain by making what is called a manalith. The manalith is a building constructed over the fountain which makes it so the fountain transfers mana only to the wizard and his creatures. Mana, as previously stated, is what allows the wizard to do what it is that wizards do. A wizard without mana is worse than a wizard without health. The game play can be fast and frantic, often with upwards of 20 creatures fighting on screen at once, with up to 5 wizards all casting spells in the midst of the battle, thus making it a very intense skirmish. Even when there aren't 4 wizards, the battles can escalate into sheer chaos.
This is partially due because of all the creatures in the game. Sacrifice offers more than 50 different creatures for the player to summon for his disposal. Each of the creatures is unique, and distinct, offering its own advantage to the game. Some of the creatures are small - such as the speedy frostwolf or the pesky gnomes. Others are gigantic, easily 5 times bigger than your wizard such as the monstrous rhinok or devilish hellmouth. The magical spells, of course, also attribute to the carnage of a battle. The spells themselves are spectacular, and like the creatures, all with distinct advantages. Every wizard will have a Heal spell, a speed up spell, and a basic attack spell. The basic attack spell - as well as every other spell aside from Heal and Speed Up - is dependent on the god who granted you that spell. Stratos, for example, will allow a wizard to shoot a bolt of lighting, whilst Pyro will allow the wizard to summon a fireball. The spells are unique, and all serving their distinct purposes. Some spells will rain destruction - or frogs - down onto the enemy, while others will revive downed creatures, put up shields, immobilize enemies, or even create a wall to prevent enemies from moving further. Each god has a "super" spell, which are the most impressive - and effective - spells in the game. These spells are able to turn the tide of battle with a little bit of luck. Such spells have wizards calling down a giant tornado, which causes enemies to be sucked up into it and tossed about, or causing a gigantic hole to open up in the earth, swallowing whatever is above it. One even causes a massive volcano to erupt from the ground, spewing forth loads of lava, and hurling flaming molten rocks throughout the stage.
It's all very impressive.
Graphically, Sacrifice shines - even though it's 7 years old. While, not nearly as impressive as the new games that are out, Sacrifices graphics remain stunning and beautiful. Edges can be jaggy, sharp, and squared off, but it hardly seems noticeable unless you're looking to point out the flaws. The wizards are all very well modeled, and each one is unique. The creatures, however, aren't all as unique as the wizards. Creatures such as the earthfling, fallen, and the flame minion all seem to share the basic same model, but are differently textured. There are a few other creatures which are like this - though some of these are even explained in the story. The games effects are all very pretty. Though, the game uses sprites in some situations, the effects are all beautiful. Weather it be watching the Sac doctors dance around the altar sacrificing a fallen creature to your god, or watching as an Abomination pulls out a chunk of intestines and hurls it over a great distance as blood drips off it, staining the ground until it finally splatters in a big bloody mess, it's all very impressive. The game engines handles battle scars very well, and often blood and scorch marks will remain in that spot for a good while. Add this to the fact that the landscape is deformable, and you can really change the face of the battle field. Spells such as Bombardment will hurl giants rocks into the air, which will dent and deform the landscape - often leaving craters or ditches. Sacrifice's sound design is just as impressive as the rest. The main story itself is fully voice acted - and the voice acting is all done wonderfully. The scenes in which the gods are bickering back and forth are often humorous, and the sounds of the various effects all sound just right - whether it be the sound of lighting, or the deep rumble of a volcano about to erupt.
Each of the wizards also features their own voice acting, and they are all very distinct. During the time which a wizard casts a spell, the wizard will chant a few words, and each wizard sounds entirely different, while never standing out as "Man, that just sounded stupid."
More so, each of the 50+ creatures have their own, unique voices and sound effects, which does a wonderful job at giving each critter a personality. Not only do the creatures have basic lines that can be summed up as, "Alright" and "Attack!" they even have some extra lines in there which some players might never hear: such as an earthfling saying, "Ya got mud on your face, your a disgrace, I will rock you."
The music itself is epic, and dynamic - as well as customizable if you'd rather listen to your own music in the game. There are various tunes for the different landscapes, as well as various battle tunes, which make battles even more intense.
It can be said that Sacrifice is a game that still shines today, despite being released in 2000. Sacrifice has a lot of flavor, and a great personality, as well as some good humor - what other game lets you cast a spell to drop a gigantic cow onto the head of a foe? The game play is fresh, untraditional, fast, and extremely unique, while the graphics remain visually beautiful thanks to the amazing style and art. The sound is phenomenal and engaging, and the story has various paths allowing for replay value. It even comes complete with a very impressive, yet easy to use level editor to make your own multiplayer maps, or even campaigns. Sacrifice is a one of a kind game, and a cult classic for those who fell in love with it. The game can be found on Amazon for under 5$ or even downloaded at http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/ for a small fee. Anyone who hasn't played Sacrifice is missing out on one of the most unique games released within the last 10 years.