Spellforce: Conquest of EO Reviews

SpellForce: Conquest of Eo offers a unique turn-based strategy experience for players who want a more objective-based experience. And it runs great at 30 FPS on the Steam Deck.

Although it has a faithful fan base, the Spellforce franchise has always flown just a little under the radar. Since the series launched in 2003, there have been over a dozen sequels, expansions, and improved editions of older games. Twenty years ago, Spellforce did something new. It was a hybrid of two, uber-popular genres at the time. It combined the base-building aspect of real-time strategy with the action of isometric RPGs. While it had nothing to do with Blizzard’s IPs, Spellforce was like a peanut butter cup of Warcraft and Diablo. With Spellforce: Conquest of Eo, the formula has changed. For the better, or not so much?

SpellForce: Conquest of Eo is a good reason to return to the universe, but it feels far less epic in scale when compared to the previous titles.

I ultimately think SpellForce: Conquest of Eo is going to be a turbulent release. As a fan of turn-based combat, I loved every minute. Exploring the world finding new and powerful allies to add to my armies, discovering new Necromancer recipes to summon deadly hordes of the undead, fighting off the constant attacks from The Circle - it's a game I will return to time and time again. However, long-time fans of the franchise may struggle with the stark differences between turn-based and real-time strategy in a franchise they've grown to love for the latter.

Spellforce: Conquest of Eo is a delightful spin on the 4X strategy genre. However, it remains just a step away from being truly ambitious with most systems continuing to play the second fiddle to the overall exploration and management.