SpellForce Conquest of Eo – Review of the modern tactical strategist

The panorama of turn-based games is enjoying new life: several titles have recently been released that explore this game system again, which was very popular in the 90s and early 2000s: SpellForce Conquest of Eo is the new effort of Owned by Gravity which does not include online multiplayer, so it will be just you against the computer that will certainly not put you at ease.

History? What story?

The events of the game take place approx one hundred years after those of Spellforce 3, which saw the formation of the Circle of Magi. Since magic was virtually forbidden during the events of SF3, it’s no wonder that the creation of the Circle brought about its rebirth in Eo. At the start of the game, you are but a humble apprentice who rushes to your master’s side only to find his tower in ruins. You will therefore lead a kingdom that will provide you with all the necessary aid, whereas you will have a teacher to follow your first steps.

Did you expect a plot that followed the steps of the protagonists as in the previous chapter? Well wrong! Here the plot is pretext, without too many frills and full of more or less interesting chain quests. The lack of a story can be seen as a plus for those who are not used to similar things, but we assure you that it is a flaw on a similar game. SpellForce Conquest of Eo it is confirmed already from the early stages slightly subdued compared to its predecessors.

Characters on the loose

Character creation is limited to choosing between 3 specializations:

• Alchemist – can create and use potions, useful for combat.
• Blaster – create glyphs capable of enhancing the reference army or the hero you will have in battle.
• Necromancer – initially the most performing as it is capable of assembling a huge army right away, but which in the advanced stages of the game loses ground compared to the other two.

In general, the proposed offer is small, given that some extra characters could easily have been inserted, but apparently the development of SpeellForce Conquest of Eo he finds himself with the external facade of a mediocre product driven more by the name than by the actual care.

In the game we will have a Tower that represents the kingdom of belonging to which to expand power and influence on the game map, to do this we will rely on three main characteristics, which are:

• Competence – needed to level up the Tower, thus increasing the number of rooms and apprentices available.
• Mana – your magic reserve, needed to cast spells and sometimes to complete quests. It can also be converted into gold once the corresponding ritual is researched.
• Research – the progress made towards the chosen research spell. Spells have very different purposes: from summoning more creatures, to enhancing armies, to weakening enemies.

Management allows you to track your short-term and long-term path and progress towards it. For example, stop producing mana and research points to level up as quickly as possible. You will have to carry out a real restoration of the tower by building rooms: a room specific to your specialization, such as the Glyph Smithy, a series of rooms that produce resources, allow you to hire more advanced units, and so on. Room blueprints are unlocked by completing certain quests or by purchasing them for reputation from nearby towns, which can be improved by completing quests in the respective town.

As regards the battlesConquest of Eo features standard combat based on a grill, with your armies starting on one side of the screen and your enemies on another. Retaliatory strikes, defensive positions, all as in the good old Heroes of Might and Magic. Despite the variety of buffs and items to use in battle and character abilities, unfortunately the battles will be standardized and after a few hours you will understand that each battle is a photocopy of the previous one.

Spell Disaster

Technically SpellForce Conquest of Eo it’s disastrous: aesthetically dated and without a real yield, in addition to a dancer framerate although the graphics can be set even lower than usual. The game controls are just as dated as the game itselfwhich is trivial and anachronistic. A title like this deserved a worthy fourth chapter, a rebirth for the brand which instead consumes itself in a sequence of banalities and “already seen” stuff without the slightest hint of an author: however, it would have been enough to copy from the past in a correct and congruous mannerunfortunately we didn’t have the honor of receiving even that.