SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars

Spellforce 2: Shadow Wars is a combination Real-time strategy and RPG game created by German game developers Phenomic as a sequel to their 2003 release SpellForce: The Order of Dawn and its two expansions (Spellforce: The Breath of Winter and Spellforce: Shadow of the Phoenix). Spellforce 2: Shadow Wars has been followed by the expansion Spellforce 2: Dragon Storm.

The Spellforce game series has been one of the few attempts to fuse role-playing game (RPG) and real-time strategy (RTS) elements. Other games that have attempted to integrate the two genres include Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard and Warcraft 3.

The RPG aspects of Spellforce 2 parallel games such as Diablo, Diablo II, and Sacred for both character development and skill trees, equipment customization, and top-down isometric viewing. However the capacity to control multiple heroes often makes the gameplay similar to that found in the Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights PC games.

The RTS aspects of Spellforce 2 mirror the Warcraft fantasy RTS games. This includes the ability to control several separate factions such as "the Realm" (humans/elves/dwarves), "the Pact" (dark elves/gargoyles/shadows) and "the Clans" (orcs/trolls/barbarians). Each faction has its own individual troop and building types.

Spellforce 2 has several gaming modes, including Campaign play (which is expositional), Skirmish mode (which almost purely RTS), and Free Play (similar to Campaign play, but without an overarching plot). It can also be played co-operatively or competitively in multiplayer mode.