Like most innovative games, Spellforce features equal parts frustration and fascination.
Gameplay features a number of fascinating and unusual ideas. The main character can be played in first- or third-person, though I found I rarely used the former except to embrace the graphics. Resource management is quite straightforward (with one issue), as is recruitment. The handy tabs at the top of the screen make it easy to control groups of troops, which can be grouped by type with a simple click. Having to stop enemy scouts before they can get back to their base and report your position is a great idea. The ability to customise the types of heroes you can summon and buildings you can build is also an excellent idea, and well handled. The world is open-ended with a wide-branching quest system.
Unfortunately, with so many interesting ideas, many of the basics have been overlooked. Unit AI is downright terrible. While pathfinding around the map is actually better than many games, with a simple click often taking units from deployment to a distant position, workers often get locked in a single position. They often forget their tasks, and do not show up as idle, so if you don't watch your resources, you may not realise that they are not doing their job for some time. They can also be very slow to react to enemies, often ignoring scouts that have spotted them and even occasionally ignoring attacks. The quest system is also confusing, with only oblique references to which land it is to be carried out in and occasional scripting problems meaning quests can't be completed.
Spellforce exists best perhaps as a promise of something that can be improved on. As a stand-alone game, it can be fun to play, but through gritted teeth.