Sacrifice (video Game)

Sacrifice (video Game)

Sacrifice is a real-time strategy video game published by Interplay Entertainment in 2000 for the Windows 98 platform. Developed by Shiny Entertainment the game features elements of action and other genres. Players control wizards who fight each other with spells and summoned creatures. Impressing reviewers with its graphics, Sacrifice was the first commercial video game to make full use of video graphics cards that can process transform, clipping, and lighting instructions. The game was ported to Mac OS 9.2 in 2001.

Unlike many of its contemporary real-time strategy games, Sacrifice places little emphasis on resource gathering and management. There is no system of workers; the players' wizards collect souls to summon creatures, and their mana—energy for casting spells—constantly regenerates. Players customize their attacks by choosing from spells and creatures aligned to five gods. To defeat an opponent, the player's wizard sacrifices a friendly unit at the opposing wizard's altar, thereby desecrating it and banishing the enemy wizard. Aside from a single-player campaign, Sacrifice offers a multiplayer mode, in which up to four players can play against each other over computer networks.

Sacrifice was created by a small team of developers; most of the work was done by four key personnel. The graphic engine of the game uses tessellation: thousands of polygons are used to display an object and as lesser details are needed, the number of polygons is reduced. By adjusting the required level of detail, Sacrifice can be run on various machines with the highest possible quality of graphics. Complementing the graphics of the game were the voice work of professional actors, such as Tim Curry, and the musical compositions of Kevin Manthei. Sacrifice was praised by reviewers for the novel designs of its creatures and for its humorous content. The high level of attention needed to manage its frenetic combat was mentioned as a flaw. Despite winning several awards, Sacrifice was not a commercial success, and no sequels are planned.