SpellForce: The Order of Dawn

 PC
SpellForce: The Order of Dawn Image
Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 122 Ratings

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  • Summary: In their immeasurable greed and constant thirst for power, the thirteen most powerful Mages of all time doomed the land, hurling it into an endless spiral of chaos and despair. Entire countries were wiped out in the blink of an eye when the devastating power of the Elements was unleashed ?In their immeasurable greed and constant thirst for power, the thirteen most powerful Mages of all time doomed the land, hurling it into an endless spiral of chaos and despair. Entire countries were wiped out in the blink of an eye when the devastating power of the Elements was unleashed ? Elements summoned by dark rituals. Continents shattered like glass, the pieces strewn about like leaves in the wind. Huge armies, bound by the the power of ancient runes, brought war and destruction to the lands that survived the initial onslaught. All that was left were a few islands, connected by magic portals. Now, only a few years after the end of the Convocation, evil is back - stronger and more powerful than ever before ? to finish what was started. Yet there is still hope. The prophecies tell of a human. A human damned to immortality, bound forever by the power of the blood runes... Soon, the time will come when the power of one may change the destiny of many. For better or for worse. [JoWood]… Expand
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 24
  3. Negative: 1 out of 24
  1. Four Fat Chicks
    100
    SpellForce enlisted my involvement and playing dedication with the incredible opening cinematic, the brilliant tutorial and, ultimately, the absolutely captivating game adventure itself.
  2. Gamer's Pulse
    86
    A title that deserves credit for breaking the cookie-cutter mold that RTS games have fallen into. Even maps with simple goals can turn into endeavors that last for hours, if you take time to smell the roses and just enjoy playing with powerful, fully customizable avatar with the ability to raise a monstrous force.
  3. IGN
    82
    There haven't been a lot of games that manage to combine large scale strategy and role-playing together and be successful. Phenomic has made a damn good stab at it with this one though.
  4. Game Informer
    78
    The RTS portion of the title, which is mostly very well-done, suffers from one problem that almost utterly kills my enjoyment of it: Unit AI is freakin' terrible. [Mar 2004, p.113]
  5. Game Revolution
    75
    The AI of the game is its most irritating aspect. The computer’s strategy always involves sending small sallies of units to die on your defenses every couple of minutes until you have built up a large enough force to attack and overwhelm them.
  6. Cheat Code Central
    70
    It's a combination of role playing and real time strategy that goes together like chocolate and peanut butter. In other words, it not only works, but it tastes great too.
    All this publication's reviews
  7. 1UP
    45
    A disappointing compilation of ambition without practical delivery. It's a game broken into several fundamental components that never work on their own and never contribute to a whole that can be appreciated.

See all 24 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 15
  3. Negative: 2 out of 15
  1. Lukamator
    Jan 3, 2014
    10
    its one of the best games i had ever played.this game is the perfect example for the time where the games were made with love.its 2014 now butits one of the best games i had ever played.this game is the perfect example for the time where the games were made with love.its 2014 now but this game is so good that you can buy it even now… Expand
  2. ChrisB.
    Feb 2, 2004
    10
    It´s the best Game I´ve ever played, no more to say!
  4. XPowerBlazeX
    Apr 24, 2016
    10
    Spellforce: The Order of Dawn is one of the greatest games I have ever played! And that is saying something because I have played some awesomeSpellforce: The Order of Dawn is one of the greatest games I have ever played! And that is saying something because I have played some awesome games! Such as Elder Scrolls, XCOM, Fallout, Super Mario 64, Dawn of War, Civilization II and Black and White!

    This game has such immersive and fun game play, you will be glued to your computer for hours and hours before you glance at your clock and notice it's 6AM!
    It gets everything right here! The units, the races, the story, the characters, the missions, the music, the side-quests, EVERYTHING!
    It blends RPG and strategy so well, it never feels out of place or awkward! It's just so well crafted and you can tell the developers really knew what they were doing here!
    Every map you play feels fresh along with a brand new mission you have to accomplish!
    The game design in this game is so good! The map design in this game is one of the best I've seen. The main story is very long! One mission can take hours depending how skilled you are!

    Yes, it does have flaws. But these are minor compared to the amount of fun you are having playing the game!
    This is a German game, so there are translations errors.
    The English voice actors are terrible compared to the foreign ones! But, there are great voices actors here! But, they are limited to the important characters!
    The maps are big compared to how slow the units move, but this is never game breaking.
    The AI isn't the best I've ever seen. It definitely can have it's dumb moments.
    It can also get annoying as controlling many units can get difficult. But, you get used to it.

    This is one of those games where you really have to play the game to understand how awesome it really is! It's difficult to put into words the sheer amount of fun I've had playing this game! But trust me! It really is awesome!

    When you boil down to it, the game play here is very impressive and fun to play for hours and hours! It's very immersive and pulls you into the world! You actually feel like you are the hero saving the people from an evil mage and his dark army! And that is what a game should be about!

    This is only the main game! I have not played the two expansions yet!
    But, I have heard they are just as long, addicting, awesome and impressive as this game was!

    If you are a fan of RPG or strategy then do yourself a massive favor and buy this game!
    Obviously play it after!

    P.S. if the game crashes when you click options, make sure it's using your processor in 3D settings - Program settings.    … Expand
  5. Misterdiony
    May 17, 2021
    8
    One of my childhood classics that I really enjoy looking back to. The mixture of RTS and RPG was something completely new for me back then andOne of my childhood classics that I really enjoy looking back to. The mixture of RTS and RPG was something completely new for me back then and I had a lot of fun with it.… Expand
  6. DorlGaming
    Jun 12, 2023
    8
    Deffinetly a great game, but very monotone expierience, your characters or army just standing while they need to fight and bad voice actingDeffinetly a great game, but very monotone expierience, your characters or army just standing while they need to fight and bad voice acting make this game a little bit boring. Even though it has a nice ost and quality of product itself. 8/10… Expand
  7. RockerKR
    Jul 16, 2021
    7
    Good game ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
  8. Broyax
    Apr 27, 2020
    0
    Spellforce suit une approche légèrement différente et mêle des éléments et statistiques de jeu de rôle à la stratégie en temps réelSpellforce suit une approche légèrement différente et mêle des éléments et statistiques de jeu de rôle à la stratégie en temps réel classique... mais en vérité lorsqu'on regarde plus attentivement et qu'on expérimente ces systèmes imbriqués les uns dans les autres, Spellforce n'est que complications (au pluriel) et complexité embrouillée...

    L'adage, la devise du développeur n'est ici que de "faire compliqué pour faire compliqué" afin de se différencier de la concurrence (acharnée) en matière de STR... or, ce qui est compliqué, inutilement compliqué ne sert à rien et ne fait finalement qu'ennuyer grandement et rapidement le joueur téméraire perdu dans ce merdier inexpugnable !

    Les héros, les artisans, les runes, l'inventaire, les "monuments", les 7 ressources différentes (!) à collecter, exploiter, farmer (etc, etc) : tout est conçu pour faire "style" et genre "jeu riche et profond" mais cela n'aboutit en vérité qu'à un jeu inutilement lourdingue et barbant. L'interface trop perfectible n'est pas à la hauteur des "ambitions" affichées et n'aide pas à la jouabilité pas jouable d'un tel bordel à gérer en même temps...

    Echec patent donc pour ce STR qui voulait péter plus haut que son cul et a dégringolé brutalement jusque tout en bas !    … Expand

See all 15 User Reviews

Awards & Rankings

75
#75 Best PC Game of 2004
61
#61 Most Discussed PC Game of 2004
34
#34 Most Shared PC Game of 2004

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