Although I seldom like to admit it, it'€™s becoming increasingly hard for developers to make new games that are truly innovative. As more and more games are released to the market, original ideas become harder to come by, and harder still to implement successfully. Even upon the odd chance a developer does stumble across an original concept, the risk involved with making a game using it becomes higher than ever,€“ and as a result, most developers prefer to take the '€˜safe bet'€™, and instead use the tried and true alternative. This mentality is applied to the MMO genre more than any other, with some extreme cases seeing new games released that are so similar in likeness to another that it can become hard to tell them apart.

So when a game like Savage 2:€“ A Tortured Soul comes along, with innovation the likes of nothing the genre, no,€“ video games in general have ever seen before, one tends to take notice. And we have.

Take a deep breath, and count to 10
Imagine for a moment, that you are playing an RTS (Real Time Strategy) game the likes of Warcraft 3 or Command and Conquer. You're building bases, mining resources, and waging war on your opponents. Now imagine that the troops under your command are actually other players, playing in a third-person perspective similar to an MMORPG. Imagine that the players controlling those tiny little units, of all different shapes and sizes, had their own unique spells and abilities, and gained experience every time they killed an enemy. They could level themselves up and add attribute points to better suit their individual play styles, and they could use ranged weapons in a first-person perspective as if they were playing an FPS (First Person Shooter).

Now, stop imagining. You don'€™t need to anymore. It'€™s a reality now. Savage 2 is everything mentioned above and plenty more. And yes, it is as awesome as it sounds.

System Requirements: IQ > 90
Savage 2 begins with in in-depth tutorial explaining some of the core features of the game,€“ simple combat tactics, using spells and abilities, and managing an entire team of players. And it'€™s hard. But it'€™s supposed to be,€“ nothing in life comes easy, and games are no exception. The tutorial covers as much as possible, and does so with the help of voiced instructions that make the learning process significantly easier, but it would be impossible to explain everything. So instead, every time you choose a new class, activate a new spell or ability, construct a new building, or fight a new opponent – the friendly voice-over instructor will make an appearance to guide you through.

As Savage 2 is a room-based game after completing the tutorial, the only thing left to do is begin playing. It's not an easy way to begin playing such an in-depth game, and the learning curve is significantly higher than the norm, but players that persist will be rewarded, and rewarded well.

Where'€™s your head at?
As I vaguely mentioned above, Savage 2 has two distinct and unique play modes, soldier and commander. Commanders play Savage 2 as if it were an RTS, watching from above, and there can only be one per team. Soldiers consist of everyone else; they choose their class at the beginning of the game and whenever they are killed but are limited to what they can choose until the Commander has built the required structures. I'€™ll explain both of these in more detail later in the review.

There are two factions to choose from at the beginning of each game, Humans and Beasts,€“ and as games are room-based, and each completely individual even if you reach level ten in one match, you'€™ll be level one again in the next. Inside the games, teamwork is everything. Just like in an RTS, each team has a stronghold that needs to be destroyed to win the game. Gold mines are scattered throughout each of the many maps and must be captured to generate income. To do so the Commander must fist build a smaller stronghold, then a mining station. Income generation is everything as without it the commander cannot build the additional structures that are required to unlock new units. It'€™s a lot to wrap your head around to begin with, but if you'€™ve played an RTS before then you should have a pretty good idea what I'€™m talking about.

Baby Steps
Are you confused yet? You should be, it'€™s the sort of thing you need to play to fully understand. But to begin with, all you really need to focus on is the killing, as the Commander Role is best left for more experienced players. This is probably the only downfall to Savage 2,€“ as when an inexperienced player takes the role of Commander failure is usually guaranteed. Back to my point, to begin with, you only need worry about killing.

As you begin playing Savage 2, you are asked to select your class. There will only be a few available options to begin with as the more advanced classes require structures built by the Commander before they can be accessed. Pick your class, and head into the fray. It'€™s the only way to learn. Classes range from Melee and Ranged fighters, to healers, siege units, summoning units, and shapeshifters. Kill a few other players, heal a few teammates, or destroy a few buildings and you'€™ll soon find that you'€™ve leveled up. When you level you are awarded attribute points to spend on increasing your stats like Strength, Agility, or Intelligence. These changes are static and carry over to each different class you choose when you die,€“ but remember, everything reverts to zero once the game is finished.

Paper, Scissors, Block.
Even the combat in Savage 2 is innovative, as unlike typical MMORPG games you can'€™t simply click on an enemy and watch him die,€“ you need to fight! A simple Left-Click will allow you to use a quick attack,€“ several will chain the effect for more damage. Clicking the Middle-Mouse Button with allow you to block, stunning any opponent that attacks you using a quick attack. And a Right-Click will cause you to charge, stunning opponents using block. So combat can be quite strategic even at a face-to-face level!

The only time these rules change is when you control the more powerful characters such as siege weapons used for destroying buildings, or Hellbourne units. Hellbourne units can only be controlled by players who purchase Savage 2 for the ridiculously small price of $9.99,€“ and they make a fantastic addition to the game. That purchase also allows you access to game replays (every game is recorded and can be viewed on the website at any time), player statistics, additional item slots, and quite a few other perks to spice up the mix.

From the Top
Once you'€™ve played a few games and learned the ropes it might be time to take a crack at playing as the Commander,“ but to do so you'€™ll need to be voted in by your fellow players at the beginning of a match,€“ or assume control if a previous commander leaves. Playing as the commander is the same as playing an RTS, only you don'€™t control the units,€“ instead you give them guidance, build defenses to help them, or cast buffs on them to increaser their damage, defense, speed or heal them (and the opposite to the enemies units, of course). Playing as a Commander can be tough, and I'm not going to explain it here, that'€™s for you to figure out,€“ but by God is it fun.

At this point, I'€™ve probably explained about 10% of Savage 2,€“ for instance, I haven'€™t told you alongside team gold that is earned through mines, players earn their own gold upon killing enemies that can be spent on more powerful units, items to use in battle, or donate to the team to build new structures. And I'm not going to either. I'€™ve said more than enough already,€“ the rest is for you to discover.

Uncharted Territory
It'€™s not often that I review a game and award it a top score. It's not that I don'€™t want to,€“ I do, it'€™s just rare to find a game that is worthy of such an endowment. A lot of readers don'€™t need the full lowdown when it comes to choosing a game; they skip straight to the score and make their judgment there. So it'€™s important that the score is fully justified. But try as I might, I can'€™t find a single reason not to give Savage 2 a 5/5.

Well, the full version anyway. The free version lacks some of the more interesting additions and falls slightly short of the mark, landing it a 4/5. But if you can afford the $9.99 then you'€™ll be hard pressed to find a better value MMO anywhere. Its Warcraft 3 meets World of Warcraft, Command and Conquer meets Age of Conan, Starc...€“ bah, you get the picture. It'€™s awesome, purified. Go download it.