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Sacrifice By John "Award" Del Percio, December 17, 2000
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Developer :Shiny Entertainment
Publisher :Interplay
Release Date :November 2000
Demo Available : Yes - Download
Table of Contents

· Introduction
· Closer Look
· Facts
· Final

Hello, My Name is Award, and I'm a Sacrifice Addict

Combining the unlikely combination of First Person Action, Role Playing, and Real Time Strategy, Sacrifice takes an entirely new approach to conquer the stale old RTS genre, and succeeds in a big way. Sacrifice is the single most unique game to come into the industry in a long time, and something tells me it will remain that way (at least until the slew of clones is done in a year and a half). Not only is the gameplay extraordinary, but the environment and conditions in which it takes place fuels the need to complete it. It is the first strategy oriented game in which I have ever felt a part of (that includes Homeworld), rather than as some observing commander giving my forces orders. Sacrifice is a truly incredible spectacle of imagery, gameplay, and depth, the likes we've not seen before, and will likely not see again for awhile.

Rating

Personal Note

Graphics - Sound - Gameplay - Depth - Multiplayer  Reviewed by John Del Percio
GRAPHICS
99 %

It looks good. The artwork, the models, everything looks great. The only complaint I have here is the fact that a game with support for hardware T&L should utilize it a bit more, such as MDK2 did. That's more of a pet-peeve than anything. Not to mention, the adaptive graphics engine should keep it current for some time.

SOUND
98 %

EAX support and the other usual amenities make the sound pretty immersive, but what I was really impressed with was the voice-overs. Usually 3D action/strategy games get the short end of the stick when it comes to voices, but Sacrifice has faired rather well. The in-game sounds (especially the conversions and desecrations at the altars) were well orchestrated, in addition to the fitting (and catchy) music (except for Pyro's music which sounds like one of those bad 1970's mythology movies with the stop-motion animation.)

GAMEPLAY
100 %

It's the first of its kind, so it's pretty hard to compare it to anything to give it a lower score. It's fun, it's addictive, it's entailed. What more do you need to know?

DEPTH
95 %

The gameplay is fairly complex. The storyline is only as deep as it could be. Deep storylines are only fitted for adventures, RPGs, and Half-Life. It contributed well to the single player game, but the depth of the gameplay itself truly makes up for it both in single and multiplayer.

MULTIPLAYER
99 %

It's the next generation in strategy gaming. While nothing will ever replace the purely tactical and strategic overhead-view games such as Total Annihilation and Starcraft, this will, without a doubt, rekindle the flame of RTS that was nearly exhausted.



It's typical of me to disregard some of the more mainstream games that hit the industry like a lead-plated iron ball with a spoonful of white-dwarf star material at its core, and favor some of the smaller titles that didn't get as much publicity yet are every bit as fun. Sacrifice is certainly one of the big games, so for me to favor it this much should indicate how good it is. The last game I was this addicted to was probably Quake or Myst (ok, or Baldur's Gate II). There are a lot of other really cool games out there, and a lot that even think differently, but at their core, they're still part of one genre or another. Sacrifice is the first in awhile to break through all known barriers. Sacrifice has definitely won itself a nomination for the GameVisions 2000 Top Pupil Awards in the categories of Strategy Game of the Year, and Game of the Year.

Overall Rating

 



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