spell force universe
I love the game .order of dawn got me started breath of winter real good played about half of phoenix stone. the game froze could not get it to start again. So decided to play shadow wars could not get it to load so Isen t itto dream catchers, along with a check for $8.00 as of today Ihave not heard from them.Iunstalled all spell force games.looks like Iwill not be able to finish rune warrers or try shadow wars and dragon
storm .

Colossal Waste of Time and Money
I've played these games and they were so much fun I decided to purchase copies for my home computer.

This is my third purchase of various iterations of this game. I purchased it as "Spellforce 2" & "Spellforce 2 Dragon Wars" by the original distributors, and now "Spellforce Universe" by DreamCatchers.

I have yet to find a version that installs and works. I'm not inexperienced at these kinds of problems and tried various workarounds and fixes from the internet forums and publishing companies.

Nada.

At this point, my disappointment has turned into disgust. If you wish to spend a lot of money on an excellent game that doesn't work, then this is the game for you.

Good Luck. You'll need it. (Review of Spellforce Universe)

Warning to potential customers:
While I've greatly enjoyed the Spellforce games, it's important to note that some of the Spellforce Universe copies (perhaps all of them, though I'm uncertain) have a corrupted installation for Spellforce 2. Specifically, the file sf2_base05.pak is installed improperly. On trying to play the campaign for either Spellforce 2 or its expansion, the game simply crashes with an error message before loading.

To make matters worse, the company - despite shipping the game (or at least half of it) quite literally unplayable - has apparently abandoned its product, as it seems no patch is forthcoming.

Fortunately, a few gamers in the community have provided workable solutions, but it's a bit of a headache to fix, and not something that should ever have passed quality assurance.

For those crashing when trying to start a game of Spellforce 2, you have two solutions: search a torrent network to download a ~550 megabyte .pak file to replace the version that's installed with this compilation, or visit http://www.spellforce2.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50534&highlight=Universe

The second solution only requires a 14 megabyte download, but does involve some hex editing - a complete walkthrough is provided for those unfamiliar with the process.

Great set of games for a good price
As a big fan of rts games and rpgs, this was a pleasant combination of both. It did a great job of balancing the heros abilities with the rest or your units. And for the price you can't go wrong with this game. It was an easy clean install and after the initial install the game played perfectly. The only complaint I have is with the first spellforce, there is now way to do a skirmish with just the computer so after you finish the campaign there is only online multiplayer and there really isn't any of that. However, skirmish mode has been added to spellforce 2 which is fine since I only played the first one for the campaign.

Great Game
This game is really fun for those who, like me, are into RTS and RPG games. (I also like FPS and think they should have added that one little Detail!)

You will have to overcome a few problems, there was a CD-Key issue, the latest patch fixed it. then there was a CD Not recognized issue (don't ask how i resolved it ;) My system is pretty powerful, so I maxed out all the settings, which included setting the Video to 1280x1024. every time i close the game and launch it again it says video not supported. so I have to manually edit the config file change a 5 to a 1, then relaunch the game and change the video back to 1280. I'm sure it is the intro videos that are making it pop.

All that aside, the game rocks! I am only 75% through the first campaign there is three in this 'Universe' plus the Version 2 campaigns.
I have spent 3 weeks or so. (I am a turtle when it comes to RTS)

My overall opinion, Great buy, Great game, just mail a boot to the programmers and ask them to kick themselves for you.
5/5 Story
5/5 Graphics
4/5 Controls (let me bind keys!)
5/5 RTS
4/5 RPG (I want First person, and right-clicking on spells toggles auto fire)

So far 4.6
:)