You might well have missed the original Savage. Released several years ago, it was something of a cult favourite and certainly a highly original game. This sequel is built along exactly the same hybrid lines, merging real-time strategy with first-person shooter and role-playing elements. Naturally, the new version boasts a raft of gameplay and graphics engine improvements.

Savage 2 is an online-only affair which pits two sides - humans and beasts - against each other in a game of conquest. Each team has a commander who plays the game as an RTS, building up his base, mining gold for resources and directing his army across the map with the eventual aim of destroying the enemy's stronghold.

Of course, his army don't always obey his orders, because the troops on the ground are controlled by the rest of the players. This means that when he or she orders an attack on an enemy outpost, the relevant squad might not come charging directly to the battlefront. Instead they could be delving into the options menu re-defining their hot-keys, or staring open-mouthed at the anti-aliasing on the nearby trees. Such is human nature.

At ground level the action comes thick and fast, although it's not as FPS as you might expect. Yes, there are machine guns and lightning spells which are aimed in first-person, but most of the game is played in third-person melee, using the more effective blade and claw weapons to slash and tear opponents to pieces. Marvellous.

It isn't a brainless slasher, mind you, as the combat mechanics have tactical nuances based on that crusty old favourite, rock-scissors-paper. There are three basic moves - attack, block and interrupt - and each beats one and loses to another. Blocking overcomes an attack, but an interrupt trumps a block; successfully landing any of these counter-moves stuns your opponent briefly, giving you a second or two to tenderise them with no retaliation.

This system takes some learning, and it doesn't help that it's difficult to spot some of the blocking animations (particularly on the beast team). Savage 2's Achilles heel is the game's learning curve, as combat can be fast and brutal, particularly when you don't know what you're doing. However, once you've acclimatised, this reactive hack-and-slashing makes for some very satisfying skirmishes indeed.

The lack of a game manual doesn't really aid the novice, either. With each side having access to nine classes, including infantry, ranger, healer and siege units, all with a number of different skills, there's a lot to take onboard. A tutorial and practice mode are included, but you'll spend a fair bit of time perusing the developer's site and forums in order to work out the intricacies of the game.

And there really should be a commander mode tutorial, because as it stands, you've got to begin your commanding career by jumping into a real game and having a go. But that's pretty intimidating when you're unsure what's going on and the rest of the team are calling you sixteen different variations of numb-nut.

All that said, playing on a basic level with an infantry grunt character isn't taxing, and the developer has sensibly divided the servers up into skill levels. This means that beginners play together, so there are plenty of other clueless folk running round who don't know one end of a summoner's staff from the other (and believe us, when you summon a bear up your nose, it's painful).

The Savage 2 site tracks all your stats, keeps ranking ladders and even saves a replay of every game ever played. The latter is useful for basking in past glories, not to mention learning by watching the top players at work. Some basic organisational tools are available too, such as a buddy system and a framework for organising clans.

The player population is a little on the scarce side, although we could always find a game, even if there wasn't much in the way of choice. The servers seem pretty stable and we were only assaulted by the dreaded lag monster on rare occasions (provided we stuck to the UK and faster pinging Euro servers).

Savage 2 is the most fun we've had online gaming in some time. Its mix of real-time strategy and both first and third person combat makes for a potent hybrid brew. While the novice level matches can be somewhat chaotic at times, particularly if you have a lot of total newbies on your team, a well balanced bout with some decent commanders directing the action is an absolute joy to participate in.

If you're willing to put in a little effort and master Savage 2's intricacies, you'll be richly rewarded with a delightful blend of action and strategic conquest. It's also worth noting that you can try before you buy, as the game offers five hours of demo play for free.