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The terrain even varies according to which environment you are in, or which deity you work for; one world may have beautiful green rolling hills, and another may have jagged rough mountainous terrain. The environmental and weather effects were all very well done, and I was especially impressed by the rain which pours down at varying angles, while the sky was set ablaze by bolts of lightning.

Even with the intricate terrain, the creatures and characters are well done. Usually in RTS games that are 3d accelerated, the characters consist of just a couple of polygons, and are usually not that detailed. In Sacrifice, while the creatures are not horribly intricate, they don’t exactly look like they are walking triangles. The spells that the creatures cast (especially your main character) are exceptionally well done, and I would frequently be deeply impressed by the shower of colored sparks that would exude from my character as he would chant a spell. There are a wide variety of spells and creatures that you can cast, each having a very distinct look and feel to them. Bolts of lighting will fly from your wizard to an enemy, rings of what can only be described as “vertigo” flow fourth from harpy like creatures.

While the environments & the creatures’ appearances have been well designed, the sound is comparable. While not exceptional, it adds the ambience of the environment. Creatures will scream in pain on the battlefield as they are being massacred, wizards chant incantations as they cast spells. One thing that really impressed me was the whispering of the ghosts in some of the haunted areas. These sounds help to add a feeling of an encompassing presence that you cannot pinpoint. The casting of the voices for the various characters was done fairly well, however the lip synchronization of the deities is marginal at best. It sometimes reminds me of those Bruce Lee movies where the person would say only two or three words, yet his mouth would move for a good thirty seconds afterward. All in all, despite the lackluster voiceovers, I am happy with the level of immersion that the sound offers to the player.

All and all this seems to be a very entertaining game. The graphics are second to none, and the game play style is unique to say the least. I was pleased with my initial impressions of the game, and I only wish that my beta was more stable so that I could play it for longer periods of time. (I am sure that the stability issues will be addressed by the time this game goes gold.) In the end, I believe that this game might be something that you are going to want to put on your Christmas wish list.

Final Score: 92%