Early Hours with…

Sacrifice

Tom's Comments: Some games you play for an hour and you get a sense that you know just what you're in for. Sure, you'll get new weapons, you'll play new maps, and you'll meet a Really Big Boss. But the basic paradigm is established early and it's not going to change. Diablo II. Zeus. Red Alert 2. Rune.

But some games are like Sacrifice. You spend the first hour scratching the surface and getting a vague sense that there's going to be a whole lot going on that you can't quite appreciate yet.

At its most superficial level, Sacrifice is just another attempt to let the player sit inside a real time strategy game. Yeah, yeah, that concept kind of peaked early with Battlezone. But the twist here is that we're in one of Shiny's funky Alice in Wonderland universes (please note that we're talking Earthworm Jim Shiny, not Messiah Shiny). There are five gods that each serve as a "side" with unique game-bending spells and creatures, some of which are intentionally not mentioned in the manual. I cannot begin to imagine the insidious combos you get when you mix and match them in the single player game. I hope there's some provision for that in the multiplayer game, but so far it looks like this is something you have to unlock by finishing a single player campaign.

I've played five scenarios in the single player game and discovered that the choices you make between missions determine the contents of your spell book; this is like a big fat neon sign that says "Replay Value". I've also run through a few multiplayer games, but only against people who haven't been able to climb the learning curve yet. The game moves quickly and it can get very messy. "Utter chaos," said one of the players after I had handily desecrated his altar. Shiny has streamlined it so much that it's equal parts RTS and action, but perhaps without a smooth enough interface to support the speed of the action. For instance, it's nearly impossible to target a fast moving enemy with a direct spell and it's easy to lose track of your creatures. I'd say 75% of the battle is creature management. But what a battle so far.

Mark's Comments: I haven't played it quite as much as Tom, though I hope to get back to it because I really enjoyed what I did play — the tutorials and the first two missions. Sacrifice is another game with an interface learning curve. It's not difficult, but you will have to play through the tutorials. This is not a game you can pick up start with the campaign and learn as you go.

A lot of games go for quirky and end up just weird. Sacrifice draws back its bow and aims for quirkiness and hits “charming” right between the eyes with one of those little wooden arrows with a red suction cup on the end. It's that kind of game, one that never takes itself seriously about anything other than its intent to provide fun. From the bickering gods you choose among before each mission to the individual units like the Shrike which sings "La la la" as it attacks, Sacrifice is made to be played with a grin plastered to your face.

The reservations I have about the game center on its strategic elements. Since the creation of new units is dependant on the harvesting of souls and souls come from dead enemies or your own troops (or some neutral creatures in some scenarios), it may be hard to gain a numerical advantage on your opponent. In most RTS games the strategic aspects focus on building efficiently and grabbing and protecting neutral resources. Sacrifice doesn't have much of that. Since you can teleport your troops in Sacrifice, there's little reason to split them up, because bigger armies will invariably beat smaller armies. Being successful at Sacrifice seems to hinge more upon quick mousework and judicious use of spells than any other tactical considerations. But hey, you're a wizard, ok? So jump in and start acting like one and throw some lightning bolts!

November 13, 2000

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