Everything Else

Wood, Gold, and Oil

Resource-wise, this game differs quite a bit from others we have played. There are buildings to erect, but there is no gold to collect or crystals to gather. Sacrifice deals with two resources: mana and souls. Mana is gained by creating Manaliths and Manahoars. Manaliths are placed on glowing holes in the ground, acting as structures that channel mana to you. The Manahoars are little creatures that act as a sort of conduit. When you are not near a Manalith these little guys replenish your mana.

The second resource in this game is souls, quite befitting of a game named Sacrifice. Souls are gathered from dead bodies, resembling the shape of a man on a public bathroom sign, an interesting enough shape for what is considered to be so mystical. You can gather the souls of your dead units in order to reincarnate them. Capturing the souls of dead enemies is slightly more complicated. You must summon another being to pump these souls out of their physical body in order for them to be sacrificed at your altar. And let me tell you, graphically speaking, that is one ceremony you won't want to miss.

Wailing wall spell in the distance

Quite a bit of blood on the ground

Multiplayer

Without anyone to play against, and being too sucky to play Terrence or Bob, I played a little skirmish against the computer. Two on one style, I stacked the odds in my favor. I gave myself a computer ally and one computer enemy. I sat down for a little skirmish with myself, thoroughly defeating the point of a multi-player experience, and had quite a go of it. I think I can safely say that once we get a few more copies of the game, (and I get a bit more skilled) this game will prove to be quite fun.

Currently there are a few modes of play: skirmish, slaughter, soul harvest, and gib-o-rama. Skirmish is battle as usual, desecrate your opponent's altar and you win. Slaughter, is exactly as it sounds, first to reach the required amount of kills wins. In soul harvest, the goal is to gather as many souls as possible. Gib-o-rama is a slightly different variation of slaughter. Gibbing in this game refers to the annihilation of an enemy creature. So utterly thorough of a kill that the soul doesn't even know what side it served before, thus making it available for use without sacrificing it. The first to reach a set amount of gibs wins.

Even he is thinking that

Very dark...

Graphics

Our first encounter with this game was a few months ago. The developers came down and gave us a test run of the game at that time. You had to be here to see the crowd Sacrifice drew. Aside from just being an unpunishable work break, this game was drawing genuine attention. The engine on this game is nothing short of genius. With the amount of detail that each character has it is a wonder that this game doesn't destroy most computers. We're pretty sure that the minimum requirements to play this game with all the bells and whistles is fairly high, but functionality shouldn't be too much of a problem for those with weaker computers.

Aside from the characters, the more stunning effects were the natural disasters that lay in store for the player. I would go as far as to say the term "deformable terrain" doesn't even begin to describe what can be done here. Sacrifice pushes the limits way beyond that here. With the ability to make large sections of earth literally fall away, Sacrifice brings with it a new era in deformability. One of the spells creates an entire volcano out of nowhere. Lava, exploding mountaintops, and flaming balls of death, no expense was spared. The resulting explosion and mountain generated is only rivaled by a small game called Treadmarks.

They sort of traipse along.

Taking down the enemy

If you take a peek at the screenshots be sure to look up. The sky in this game is truly something to witness. Most games tend to provide some pathetic static backdrop or just forgo it altogether. The shear amount of color and diversity the developers placed in something so small yet so noticeable might give you a clue as to how much better this game is once you get to the meat of it.

Sounds

The audible parts haven't disappointed so far. The music in the game can easily be left on without annoying -- nothing spectacular, but far from unbearable. Voices and other sounds in the game are fairly good. Everything from narration to battle sounds ring of all that you would expect.

Despite the fact that we don't have a single ill word about this game, it is still not final. Details and other odds and ends are being wrapped up. With Sacrifice only a scant few weeks from being on the retail shelves, we are eagerly awaiting a polished copy of the game. Almost every word we have uttered about this game smacks of praise. Hopefully the end product will grace us with more of the same. Till then kick back and take a look at stunning photography.