Wizards and warriors, elves and orcs, dwarves and goblins - these are all the standard archetypes for fantasy and have been for as long as I can remember. Countless variations on these themes have been put to page, and recently the grandfather of them all has enjoyed a renaissance in popularity owing to big budget film adaptations. PC gaming has more than its fair share of releases that utilize these ideas, so many in fact that it’s almost impossible for developers to eke out a niche in the flooded market of medieval magic myths. Yet some ideas still ignite a gleam in the eye: Could there possibly be a more intoxicating concept than a blend of Diablo II, Dungeon Keeper 2, WarCraft III and Dungeon Siege? German development house Phenomic didn’t think so, and set to work welding together everything they thought a hybrid like that should have. After three years, the end result of their labors is here: Called SpellForce: The Order of Dawn, it’s the first title to fully merge 3D strategy and role-playing into one package.