Might and Magic: Spoiling For a Fight
Friday, February 9, 2007; Page WE46
The turn-based world of Might and Magic has been turned upside down with the release of Dark Messiah, which is more like a shooter than a role-playing game and nothing like a strategy war game.
The graphics are gorgeous, with flowing water and burning fires approaching photorealism. Monsters and people look pretty good, too, and the atmospheric and surround-sound effects will drop you right into an environment, be it a bustling city, a ship on the ocean or inside a creepy dungeon.
  How you battle enemies is up to you in Dark Messiah Might and Magic. (Ubisoft/ign.com) |
The game is played in first person and generally puts you on a linear path from mission to mission. Sometimes you are kept on the path by huge monsters that are chasing you, and sometimes you are kept there by the layout of the maps themselves. Don't expect a lot of free-roaming, role-playing type of gameplay. This game is about combat, and it does that well.
The freestyle combat flows nicely. Blocking enemy blows and counterattacking will become second nature, as will sniping with various bows. Your physical prowess is supplemented with awesome magic powers. You can also manipulate your environment by collapsing shelves of heavy boxes onto enemies, luring them into slicks of oil before igniting them or simply picking up a chair or bottle and tossing it like you're in a bar brawl. As you complete quests, you are given skill points and can upgrade your character, investing in magic spells, strength or stealth.
The single-player game takes about eight hours, though you will probably want to go back and play some of the more memorable levels multiple times to find all the hidden and sometimes funny ways to crush, burn and drown your enemies. After that you can extend your fun with a strong multiplayer component that is a lot like the capture-the-flag type of gameplay found in multiplayer Half-Life or Halo games, only with medieval characters.
-- John Breeden II
Dark Messiah Might and Magic Mature; PC Windows XP ($50) UBISoft
