Much better than expected.
Considering the delays, cancellations and all the trouble in between, i didn't expect much from this game. I'm glad to admit i was pleasantly surprised.
The cons:
The biggest one is the graphics. Don't get me wrong, it's not that bad, but it's definitely not 2012. It's a little improved over the last 2 games (wide screen resolution and some other tweaks), but still looks outdated.
The main story is not that interesting, but than again the main story was never spellforce's strong side.
The pros:
Very nice RPG elements, LOTS of armor, weapons, sets and jewelery.
Lots of side quests.
There are fewer maps, but you get to spend a lot of time on each one of them. More than 50% of certain maps has nothing to do with the main quest, but i still very much enjoyed exploring (and it was rewarding).
The game can be quite challenging sometimes (played on normal).
The soundtrack is fantastic, music-wise. The voice acting is OK.
The RTS aspects are pretty much the same. The major 150 NPCs battles are very enjoyable.
Overall, I've enjoyed this as much as i enjoyed Dragon Storm.
There are better RTSs out there, and there are better RPGs, but there are no better combinations of the two than Spellforce.
With that said, i haven't even tried the multiplayer...
Enjoy.