Strategy Informer: Could you tell us about the Artificial Intelligence that's said to be very Advanced?

Miroslaw Dymek: Instead of individually scripted behaviours, every NPC is managed with the same, global AI module. They go about their business, protect themselves and their property, sleep and work, go aggressive or flee in panic. They react as normal people with the variety known from real life. Some of NPCs have specific tasks and they do everything to accomplish them, some of them simply do not like you, some want to help. They are governed by simple rules but those rules combine with each other and sometimes generate unpredictable challenges and situations. Eventually, you can predict the results of your actions with a sensible doze of accuracy, but never feel the stiffness of totally scripted games.

Could you also go into a little detail about the creatures through Neverwinter players can expect to come across?

We've chosen monsters not only for their involvement in the story, but for their usefulness to the mod community. If I were to cite a specific creature, I guess I would point to the Succubus, since it has popularity hereto unseen by most denizens of the monstrous manual. This is probably because they "attack" most victims through a means they find pleasurable. If you have to die, it's a hell of a way to go. You may not even mind seeing the death screen as long as you took screenshots of what happened shortly before your character's death, who knows.

A lot of games that try to infuse other genres in them do so superficially: adding experience points to a first person shooter, or base building to an adventure game. SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars shows that you can take equal proportions of two genres and combine them effectively, producing a fun game that’s an original product. The game is at its best when you have RTS base building and tactical command with RPG quests, loot, and experience taking place in the same level. This is common during the campaign and seen to a lesser extent in the free games. The RTS or RPG parts of the game on their own would not have been as good, but SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars is a game that’s greater than the sum of its parts. Add to this outstanding graphics and numerous MMO-like multiplayer options, and you have a very complete package that should appeal to most gamers. It’s unfortunate, then, that SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars is not called “The Lord of the Rings,” because then it would sell the number of copies it should. Still, SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars is a great title that brings two apparently disparate genres together in a complete presentation.

Apparently, the game has sold well enough in the past to warrant development of a sequel. SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars takes the existing form of gameplay established by the first game and seeks to add more to the story and gameplay. Like peanut butter and chocolate (or jelly, if that’s your thing,) one would think that the two genres would go very well together. Well, they do, on paper. The game strives to put the two together for a good experience, and is met with mixed results.

This week on Game/On's first interview show of June, we present you with two great interviews from E3. In this first interview, Jon Wood sits down for a very brief chat with David "Zeb" Cook, the Lead Systems Designer for Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment's Stargate Worlds. The second interview takes Garrett Fuller and Dana Massey to the Mythic Entertainment booth for a long chat with Greg Grimsby (Art Director) and Jeremy Dale (Lead Animator), about the ins and outs of their newest property, Warhammer Online.

The graphics in this game are very good. I have played all of the Heroes games since they were called King’s Bounty so the adjustment was a little difficult at first. The biggest complaint I have is that many features of the map are now hidden unless you inspect the map from every possible angle. This caused me some frustration a number of times as brush, shadow, trees or other objects obscured important landmarks. Aside from the difficulties in interfacing, however, this iteration of HoMM is the prettiest to date. Trees blow in the wind and their shadows follow while the terrain slowly fades from one type to another. Locations in the game are all lovingly animated: leprechauns dance at the magic spring while wheels turn at the mill and carts leave the mines. The Silent Storm engine really shines here. The sound in HoMMV is very good. The game has an original score composed by Rob King and Paul Romero. The soundtrack itself changes depending on your environment and always contributes positively to the game as any good soundtrack should.

5. SP: How familiar will the setting and the rules system be to a Baldur's Gate series fan and what are the most radical changes he or she will experience?

Jason Compton: BG players specifically or simply D&D players generally shouldn't have too much trouble adapting to the setting—superficially, it falls under the "sword and sorcery" or "mage and metal" category. The Byzantine-inspired flavors should be a breath of fresh air. The most significant difference that a D&D/BG player may find is that although our setting does have magic and swords and pikes and cruel, excessively tattooed elves and whatnot, it's comparatively light in the "wandering and marauding monster" department—most of the "baddies" in our world are, in fact, other people, not dog-faced monsters. That's not to say there aren't a few strange and unusual creatures in the bestiary, however.