SpellForce 3

 PC
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 187 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 126 out of 187
  2. Mixed: 32 out of 187
  3. Negative: 29 out of 187
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  1. Shikyo
    Dec 12, 2017
    10
    After reading a lot of user reviews here, I can't help but wonder how many of the people writing bad critics actually played the game longer than just the intro before the character creation.
    Personally, I got reminded of Spellforce 1 a lot, I was a bit disappointed of the lack of playable races and the fact that yet again you have to play a human (the character creation itself was well    After reading a lot of user reviews here, I can't help but wonder how many of the people writing bad critics actually played the game longer than just the intro before the character creation.
    Personally, I got reminded of Spellforce 1 a lot, I was a bit disappointed of the lack of playable races and the fact that yet again you have to play a human (the character creation itself was well done, I loved the implementation of different body types). I heard about expansions and them planning to add the other races so that's why this point is irrelevant to my rating.
    I can only praise the storytelling and writing, it feels authentic, darker than its predecessors, the characters are extremly well written and made the RPG part of the game yet again the most important one with the strategy aspect remaining a little flawed compared to pure RTS games. Actually, the implementation of real RPG companions like in good old Neverwinter, DOS, PoE etc was done way better than I expected - I was surprised to find myself enjoying to play with a team rather than controlling a single character as I preferred in Spellforce 1. I was also surprised and happy to see a base in the game and then such a beautifully designed one.
    RPG part deserves a 10/10 from my side.

    Now, the "bugs" everyone seems to be talking about so much. I am well aware that everyone has different ones and a different experience but I'm gonna be honest, after about 25 hours of gameplay I have encountered only one single bug which was an NPC in Greyfell being constantly stuck between my two characters due to body block, so technically not even a bug (and I managed to get rid of him without reloading). Again, it's different for everyone but I can't say I shared this bad experience of others and even if, DOS2 had a LOT more bugs after its release and yet no one was rating the game so much by them so I don't understand why it's the case here, please be a bit more fair or at least wait a few weeks, the game was just released.

    Now, the RTS part... While staying true to the Spellforce 1 experience, I found it lacked improvement in comparison to that. I often got frustrated because apparently the best strategy is still to strike as fast as possible with little to no planning or building and I felt like the more you build, the less chances to win you actually have (doesn't sound very immersive, does it?) because you obviously can't do so many things at the same time and there's the catch: A simple "pause" option would solve that problem so you can order your workers to build and assign them to their tasks and order/reposition and plan your troop movements meanwhile. I understand this feeling of a "rush" was intented and supposed to feel more realistic because in real war you can't just pause to plan but then again it's usually not a single person doing it and the game mechanics itself are limiting.

    Then, the controls... I still cannot get used to them and as soon as I play something else I will have to get used to them every time again, making things "different" doesn't always mean "better", that's definitely a major flaw and even when rebinding keys, the interface itself is confusing and switching from 3 skills to the next is overly complicated, a simple skillbar would have served this purpose way better. Holding Alt to use skills also felt inconvenient and in larger battles it's incredibly hard to select the right unit. What I liked is the option of slowmotion during holding Alt and not just pause, after a while it's actually getting more fun to play like that but I wonder if this couldn't have been done in a simpler way as well.

    To sum it all up, I have to say this is a very well done game in my opinion and certainly comparable to other and bigger game releases this year, namely DOS2. The start in Spellforce 3 is slow but once you get to a certain point, the game is absolutelty enjoyable and the complicated controls and flaws in the RTS system don't break this picture for me.    … Expand
  2. Aceor
    Nov 18, 2019
    8
    Never played first or second one but man what a great story, graphics beautiful and love the rts/rpg element. For the bugs haven't seen many and devs fix asap whit updates.
  3. Scritty
    Dec 8, 2017
    10
    There are a few bugs for sure and multiplayer is not particularly well implemented (yet) There is also confusion over character customization - which is not revealed until after the first two missions. This lack of transparency has lead to some angry reviews from many who think the customization does not exist (that's how important being able to personalise an experience is these days).There are a few bugs for sure and multiplayer is not particularly well implemented (yet) There is also confusion over character customization - which is not revealed until after the first two missions. This lack of transparency has lead to some angry reviews from many who think the customization does not exist (that's how important being able to personalise an experience is these days). The initial missions are not taxing and don't showcase the game as well as they might either. But...

    Once you get through that - the game is very very good indeed. I don't play multiplayer but have some sympathy for those who want to use it, but as a single player experience the game really is A1 quality. Just play through the first couple of missions - they are there for noobs and the game opens up nicely after that    … Expand
  4. kaomax
    Dec 8, 2017
    10
    If you are a League of Legends players looking for an easy game where you just use 4 keys and cry over others moms, this game isn't for you.

    + Finally a real RTS full of well thought complexity that makes the gameplay rich and interesting. + Graphics are quite good compared to any other RTS on the market since 10 years. + no dumb 1000 vs 1000 units like Starcraft + challenging game    If you are a League of Legends players looking for an easy game where you just use 4 keys and cry over others moms, this game isn't for you.

    + Finally a real RTS full of well thought complexity that makes the gameplay rich and interesting.
    + Graphics are quite good compared to any other RTS on the market since 10 years.
    + no dumb 1000 vs 1000 units like Starcraft
    + challenging game that will make you use your brain
    + incredible tolkien level story-telling
    + support this game so it became the reference RTS of this generation    … Expand
  5. KingsmanAgent
    Dec 7, 2017
    10
    Amazing game, nothing like Wacraft 3 or Age of Empires level of amazing but still insanely good.

    A consistent RTS with some little RPG bult in, it offers awesome soundtracks and gorgeous graphics. Top notch quality right here
  6. Franky_Franky
    Dec 27, 2017
    10
    Das Spiel unterhält mich, bin bis jetzt sehr zufrieden.
    Habe schon über 30 Std. damit verbracht, und hatte keinen einzigen Absturz, oder sonstige schwerwiegende Fehler.
    Grafik ist ok, der Ton ist der Hammer auch die Deutsche Vertonung ist Super.
    Die negative Bewertungen kann ich nicht nachvollziehen.
  7. Serafion
    Dec 26, 2017
    9
    I encountered only 2 bugs in the game, one was repaired by repeating the mission and thankfully it was fairly early in the mission and the second was entering some unimportant cave where I could not move. So it seems I have been quite lucky in comparison to others.
    Anyway, about qualities of the game. The story is great, maybe even better than in the previous Spellforce games, because it    I encountered only 2 bugs in the game, one was repaired by repeating the mission and thankfully it was fairly early in the mission and the second was entering some unimportant cave where I could not move. So it seems I have been quite lucky in comparison to others.
    Anyway, about qualities of the game. The story is great, maybe even better than in the previous Spellforce games, because it feels more personal and immersive... like your character was really there and an integral part of the story. Or maybe that's just what I like. So, the RPG part of the game is great, especially when you have multiple choices how to deal with different problems and you can react however you want to role-play your character. The RTS aspect is a little weaker, though. At first, I was sceptical about the art style of the game, which changed and lost the sex appeal and colourfulness of the previous games, but in the end, the graphics look really great, with animated leaves on trees, shadows of clouds, the locations are varied and interesting and have great atmosphere. Oh, and the soundtrack is one of the best I heard in some time. There are more things that could be said, but this is just a small Metacritic review.    … Expand
  8. deathweeper
    Dec 17, 2017
    8
    I like this game but it still has a few glaring problems that keep it from being as good as it deserves to be. The campaign starts of really well I felt that the story was amazing, the missions lackluster but it was still fun. However here is the problem (except for all the bugs) yo you start of a mission and you think great i am making progress it was nice and now i will just wipe out theI like this game but it still has a few glaring problems that keep it from being as good as it deserves to be. The campaign starts of really well I felt that the story was amazing, the missions lackluster but it was still fun. However here is the problem (except for all the bugs) yo you start of a mission and you think great i am making progress it was nice and now i will just wipe out the enemy base, but o wait not enough resources i gotta conquer more territory, gotta collect build and that one last simple objective now suddenly takes an extra two to four hours to deal with. This game deserves a bit of a lower score but I really like rts and rpg games so I gave it a higher one. Overall if you love the last game or similar ones you will like this one but otherwise this will not win you over, good story but otherwise rinse, repeat and grind.… Expand
  9. KalrocVN
    Jan 14, 2018
    10
    The best way I can describe this game is a character and narrative driven fantasy RPG along the lines of Baldur's Gate I/II and Dragon Age Origins with a few RTS-based "narrative quests".

    That means that most of gameplay will feel like Baldur's Gate with you controlling a party, then the story will require that you play a map that layers RTS elements on top of normal gameplay (e.g.,    The best way I can describe this game is a character and narrative driven fantasy RPG along the lines of Baldur's Gate I/II and Dragon Age Origins with a few RTS-based "narrative quests".

    That means that most of gameplay will feel like Baldur's Gate with you controlling a party, then the story will require that you play a map that layers RTS elements on top of normal gameplay (e.g., building construction, resource gathering, unit recruiting similar to Warcraft/Starcraft). So overall the game feels like a party-based RPG. I do enjoy the RTS sections as a something fresh and particularly epic after party-based adventuring.

    Note that the first chapter is more of an RTS tutorial and prologue that merely sets up the main story and characters - the first lead character that you control is NOT the protagonist.

    The writing, characters, voice acting, art direction, and music are all excellent. This is what Pillars of Eternity should have looked and felt like. If you are an RPG lover like me, this is the best game to come along in years.    … Expand
  10. Piter_Ballack
    Mar 3, 2020
    10
    Impresionantemente bueno el juego. Perfecta combinación entre RTS y RPG. La campaña es muy entretenida y larga, enfocada mas en RPG (70-30).
    Mientras que por otra parte el multipplayer y skirmish es al reves (70 RTS y 30 RPG), lo que lo hace un juegazo para ambos modos.
    La gráfica es increible, probablemente sea lo mejor actualmente en el genero (RTS), y la banda sonora uufff, realmente    Impresionantemente bueno el juego. Perfecta combinación entre RTS y RPG. La campaña es muy entretenida y larga, enfocada mas en RPG (70-30).
    Mientras que por otra parte el multipplayer y skirmish es al reves (70 RTS y 30 RPG), lo que lo hace un juegazo para ambos modos.
    La gráfica es increible, probablemente sea lo mejor actualmente en el genero (RTS), y la banda sonora uufff, realmente de calidad.
    Sin dudas deben jugarlo!    … Expand
  11. belsel
    Jun 6, 2019
    9
    This game is underrated. Ok, its not as good as Original Sin and it has several things I dont like, but it provides +50 hours of play, a good story, a fair progression system and it is very enjoyable. I recommend it but I want to comment the negative aspects of the game:
    -The story loses interest towards the middle of the game.
    -Once you discover all the maps, they send you missions in    This game is underrated. Ok, its not as good as Original Sin and it has several things I dont like, but it provides +50 hours of play, a good story, a fair progression system and it is very enjoyable. I recommend it but I want to comment the negative aspects of the game:
    -The story loses interest towards the middle of the game.
    -Once you discover all the maps, they send you missions in the same scenarios and it's not fun to go back to kicking a map that you already had discovered (you have to rediscover the map and activate all the teleports). In addition, these missions are not very interesting either. In its place, made in lack unique missions that had to do with the personal history of each protagonist, as it is done in other games like Dragon Age or Original Sin.
    -Lack a variety of items. You can get very powerful weapons in 30% of the game, and then you get stuck until you get some artifacts.
    -The RTS style Warcraft / Starcraft and build is fine at first, but after the novelty you realize that it is very superficial. The game would have won a lot if you only had to play with the 4 heroes and nothing else.
    -As I said, the main story is interesting, but in the middle and end they deviate and lengthen the end unnecessarily with some tedious missions.
    -There are some bugs, I had to restart some missions and I could not finish the game because the final mission had a bug and it seemed so boring and tedious that I did not feel like repeating it.
    -The load times are very long, and my computer is powerful. 10-15% of the game you are waiting for.
    -There are a lot of improvements for the armies, and quite expensive, which are totally unnecessary. As your heroes are so powerful, you will not even use your armies.

    These negative aspects are not as serious as they seem, simply, the game has a significant room for improvement. Despite this, it has a lot of fun content, and it is very well narrated: you will want to read and listen to the dialogues. As RTS bad, but as RPG, very good. I give it an 8-9, but to compensate for bad grades I put a 9. We want more games like this and better. Do not let these sagas die. However, I think that its price should not be higher than $ 35-45, or maybe less. I forgot, the best part of the game is to have Geralt's voice back, haha.    … Expand
  12. Daermon
    Mar 12, 2019
    8
    Good RPG-RTS hybrid. Voiceacting ok, gameplay and graphich is very good.
    And the story not ended, expansion comming. :)
  13. Koyaniskaci
    Dec 5, 2019
    10
    Great game. But please do Russian voice translation! And we really miss the 3d camera from the back of the hero, as it was in the past parts.
  14. Mandulum
    Feb 18, 2022
    8
    I really enjoyed this one, with one annoying exception. In the RTS portions, unit have two modes: useless (aka, stand in place) or "pursue to the ends of the earth". If you're not paying close attention you can lose all your units because the enemy WILL kite them into the middle of their base.

    Date Completed: 2022-02-18 Playtime: 33h Enjoyment: 8/10 Recommendation: I really liked the    I really enjoyed this one, with one annoying exception. In the RTS portions, unit have two modes: useless (aka, stand in place) or "pursue to the ends of the earth". If you're not paying close attention you can lose all your units because the enemy WILL kite them into the middle of their base.

    Date Completed: 2022-02-18
    Playtime: 33h
    Enjoyment: 8/10
    Recommendation: I really liked the RTS/RPG combination    … Expand
  15. nspr89
    Oct 22, 2022
    10
    An awesome game, a beatifull 200 hours story. It's alomost like Dragon age and Pillars, Divinity but a little bit futilier. 9,5/10
  16. pixelrate
    Jun 21, 2023
    9
    great game. the camera control can be a bit enoying thats why i did not give it 10. but awesome game already looking forward to go into multi player in this game...
  17. Farlon
    Nov 18, 2022
    10
    Probably my favourite campaign out of all Spellforce games after they released the "Reforced" patch, as it fixed many issues with the gameplay and UI. The story was engaging for the most part, the gameplay was decent, and it had that Spellforce 1 feel, but the best part was the replayability.
    There are tons of little things you discover on each playthrough, they might not change anything    Probably my favourite campaign out of all Spellforce games after they released the "Reforced" patch, as it fixed many issues with the gameplay and UI. The story was engaging for the most part, the gameplay was decent, and it had that Spellforce 1 feel, but the best part was the replayability.
    There are tons of little things you discover on each playthrough, they might not change anything in the long run but they don't have to. For example, different companions might unlock different dialogues or quest routes, doing a quest might unlock support on another mission, etc.
    The game also has decent mod support, you can make custom maps, factions, items, spells, campaigns, and probably more.
    I can recommend this game for any RPG or RTS fan.    … Expand
  18. Portos
    Jun 21, 2020
    10
    Отличное сочетании стратегии и ролевого элемента , правда есть баги , но море сюжета .
  19. Misterdiony
    May 17, 2021
    8
    Man, Spellforce 3 was a tough one. As a lover of most entries in the Spellforce franchise, I was truly hyped to get more. What we got on release date was a slap in the face though. If you werent present on release date, lucky you! A completely buggy game was released that even made it unplayable for people who paid full price for it. The intense backlash forced it to act quickly, andMan, Spellforce 3 was a tough one. As a lover of most entries in the Spellforce franchise, I was truly hyped to get more. What we got on release date was a slap in the face though. If you werent present on release date, lucky you! A completely buggy game was released that even made it unplayable for people who paid full price for it. The intense backlash forced it to act quickly, and luckily after some time the game got polished up to a nice gem.

    Stepping back from story telling, after all the fixes the game was a pleasant adventure and a worthy entry in the Spellforce universe. Graphics were stunning and the story was greatly told with a nice twist that I did not expect. I just hope they learn from their mistakes in terms of Bugfixing!    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

70
#70 Most Discussed PC Game of 2017
44
#44 Most Shared PC Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 37 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 37
  3. Negative: 0 out of 37
  1. GameStar
    May 27, 2018
    77
    Successful mix of RTS and RPG on the path of recovery - but still not completely without bugs.
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  2. GameGrin
    May 7, 2018
    75
    Spellforce 3 is an ambitious game that manages to blend fun RTS segments with traditional isometric dungeon exploration in a neat RPG package.
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  3. GameOver.gr
    Mar 17, 2018
    75
    Spellforce 3 mixes two beloved genres, RPGs and RTSs, and even though it does not excel in either gameplay branch it succeeds in delivering a solid, fresh and unique experience. Through a solid story and world building it gives the opportunity for our hero to actually take part in battles in contrast with traditional RPGs, where he is only a spectator.
    Read full review
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