Savage 2: A Tortured Soul review

Savage 2: A Tortured Soul desperately tries to deliver a new kind of game where real-time strategy and first-person action get it on to provide the ultimate new two-in-one genre combo. Unfortunately, its multi-genre elements don’t always get along, and playing the game will sometimes make you feel like you’re watching your mom and dad fight.

To be fair, Savage 2 has smoothed out a ton of the rough spots since developer, S2 Games took their first stab at creating a Frankenstein game that’s one part RTS and two parts team-based FPS. The basic concept remains the same. Most players handle the role of individual warriors while one player on each side takes on the role of the team’s Commander. Unlike the rest of the grunts on your team duking it out on the frontlines and attacking the enemies’ base, the team’s Commander is responsible for constructing your base structures, and directing your team to victory. Better weapons, new units, and upgrades will become available to your teammates as the Commander keeps busy managing things from above.

Above: If you want to sample Savage’s gameplay free of charge, you can download the full version of the original here or the demo of Savage 2 here
 
The biggest tweak is to melee combat which now uses a crunchy rock-paper-scissors system for blocking, attacking, or interrupting.  A block stops an attack, an interrupt breaks a block, and an attack slices through an interrupt.  This interchange makes hand-to-hand combat more enjoyable and the addition of many new special abilities per unit creates a fun, open-ended feeling to combat.