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Any game can be really good without 'grabbing' the player. Most of the time these games depend far more on substance and less on style and design, a few tried and true methods being put to the ultimate test. Shiny has a weird habit of managing to do both in some of their games. Their latest title in development, Sacrifice, is one example of style and substance meeting somewhere in the middle to create an experience that is sure to take us for a wild ride.

The world of Sacrifice is a fractured one. Stratos, Pyro, Charnel, James, and Persephone rule over their unique domains, each carrying out their wishes in the way they see fit. Each of these Gods rule over a certain discipline of divine magic. Here is a quick list of the Gods, and their personality types:

• Stratos: Utilizes the power of air and ice to carry out his godly wishes. He is probably the most stuck up of all the Gods, believing he is the only one that is truly needed, but this doesn't keep him from having a rational thought processes. Stratos seems to strike the balance between the five gods.

• Pyro: Uses the power of fire and brimstone in an effort to bring about 'progress'. Pyro honestly believes that his destructive expansionism is the way of progress, and that the other Gods' have outdated concepts.

• Charnel: A God of despair. His powers primarily involve the extreme suffering and deaths of others. His attitude towards things in general makes him the shiftiest of the five.

• James: This down to earth being concentrates more on the simple things in life, and uses the very earth he rules over to wage his wars. While James comes off as the softy of the five, he certainly doesn't mind acting when it is needed.

• Persephone: Extremely conservative but also full of an honorable desire. Her magic is based on the powers of light and life.

All of these gods seem to work as a twisted reflection to another, which is the root of the struggle between them. Stratos holds the middle ground with James/Pyro and Persephone/Charnel taking roles as opposites. All gods welcome the main character with open arms when his services are offered in exchange for protection and power, and this is where the choices must be made.

The single player campaign found in Sacrifice isn't the usual bunch of scripted maps thrown together with bits of video slapped in between. The story/mission system works off of a system of tiers. At each tier the player is presented with a bit of the progressing story, and from that point is allowed to choose to aid one of the five Gods. Since some Gods might have the same aims, missions on each tier can sometimes have things in common with each other. This tends to add a very dynamic feel to the single player campaign that can only really be compared to the 'choose your own adventure' books.

The many efforts of the player are constantly rewarded with new skills and increases in health/mana stats bestowed by the thankful gods. Perhaps some of the most important rewards from each mission are the higher level spells. Since alliances to a God are rather loose in Sacrifice, players can aid many Gods within the many tiers of play and gain different disciplines of magic that they can be carried through the game. Players will also gain experience points through each battle and this can increase their stats as well as their spell casting abilities. Most of the low level spells are more functional than pretty but they are all very very unique. The higher level spells are literally earth shattering and need to be seen to be believed.

The most important spell casting abilities involve the act of conjuring up minions. The wizard unit (the player) is very weak as a melee unit, which makes it impossible to take on larger groups of enemy creatures alone. In order to create units the player not only needs mana points, but also soul points. Souls can be harvested from the local slaves/villagers or from destroyed enemy units. The one catch is that souls of slain enemies must be 'converted' before they can be used as a resource to create new units. This process takes longer, and can be interrupted by the opposition. Once enough mana and soul is gathered for the process the player can conjure up a unit. The units, much like the magic, differ in appearance and functionality depending on the god you invoke to create them.

Ordering troops to attack is rather simple. The view is always focused on the main wizard character and this ends up having most battles require the player's presence. The player serves as a spell/support unit, using the mouse to order and aid their forces where they can. To make things easier the traditional control group command has been added as well as a pop-up radial menu full of different formations and alternative tactics.

Since the spells can be so powerful, all spells (including conjuration spells) not only suck up increasingly high amounts of mana, but also are all set on timers. It is designed so that the largest spells take the most time, with the smaller spells only taking a short amount of time before they can be cast once more. The regeneration of mana is attained through the use of Manaliths and Manahoars. While the player's alter regenerates mana, it is within a very short radius and at a very slow rate. Manaliths are built upon natural mana geysers found scattered about each map. The creation of Manahoar units is essential for the player since they work as a sort of receiver for the mana collected by the Manaliths. By Keeping the Manahoars nearby players can have their mana regenerated constantly.

The multiplayer aspect of Sacrifice will use a sort of RTS play style with several different modes to choose from with. There are a good number of maps that allow up to four players to bloody the battlefield in an attempt to conquer. Multiplayer modes will include, Soul Harvest, Gib-o-Rama, Slaughter, and the classic Skirmish.

I saved my comments on the visual presentation of Sacrifice for last because it really is sort of a moot point. As shown by the screen shots on the following page, Sacrifice looks wonderful. Shiny's use of vibrant colors, unit design, building design and world design, has resulted in a game that is simply eye-popping. From what I can tell the audio seems at least on par with the visuals. The voice acting for each of the gods, as well as the many characters in the game, is top notch. In fact the voice of one of the characters sounds like the entity that revived Raziel in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, a game known for its excellent voicing.

It is really very hard to peg Sacrifice into any one genre. From some aspects it could be seen as a real-time strategy title, but then there are the noticeable influences from RPG's and Action titles as well. The only thing I can possibly feel safe labeling it as is the most interesting PC game of the year.