Dark Messiah of Might and Magic Elements
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic Elements
In Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, players will be introduced to the world of Ashan, the new setting for all future Might & Magic games. Ashan is a dark and unforgiving world, scarred by a bloody history and threatened by an apocalyptic prophecy: the Dark Messiah. Players will embody the young hero Sareth, who has been trained in the arts of magic and war in order to battle the prophetic Dark Messiah. Players will have the choice to become expert warriors, mages or assassins, each with their own cache of devastating weapons and spells to use in battling huge and vicious enemies. Through combat, players will unlock new skills and equipment, advancing Sareth’s experience and improving his performance, battle combos, hits, spells and techniques and setting his course for his destiny.
Enlist with the humans or the undead, and choose among four character classes. Prepare to battle with up to 32 players in several online modes that allow you to gain experience and new equipment across dynamic online campaigns. ESRB Rated M for Mature
User Ratings and Reviews
3 Stars Unusually rigid but a decent Theif spinoff
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic Elements is surprisingly rigid, particularly in the level design. It was advertised as sort of a sandbox game where you explore dungeons and set off traps and shoot ice spells at the floor to make enemies slide off ledges. Yeah that’s all there, but the game is absolutely nothing but encapsulated rooms/hallways where it is obvious over and over that you can crush the entire room of enemies by setting off an obviously placed trap. However, the combat is so easy, even on hard, that often it isn’t worth bothering trying to be clever.
The redeeming features to this game are the rope bow for climbing, the hidden treasures and equipment that you can spend hours finding, creepy spiders, and kicking unsuspecting people or orcs off of cliffs. The value increases if you particularly love the Thief series. Recommended on PC over console.
4 Stars A decent roleplaying game with a slightly different format
As I’ve mentioned in some of my other reviews, I am heavily into roleplaying games of any type, however they are presented. I was attracted to this game by its Might and Magic title. I’ve played the PS1 and PS2 games under this aegis and, while they weren’t as fun for me as other games back in the day, I saw no cause to avoid this game simply because it bore the same name. I have the original version attached to my Steam account, but my PC isn’t quite strong enough graphically to play it smoothly, so I figured I’d give the Xbox 360 console version a shot. There are a few differences between the two, such as the separate character classes in the console version, each with its own specific skill set, but nothing notable enough to give me pause. This particular game reminds me of some of the dungeon crawls I and my friends did old-school on the tabletop version of D&D.
Gameplay-4 Stars
This game is set up on a first-person perspective to give a more personalized feel for the action, so you feel things are happening to you. The one major difference from just about all other FPS shooters is that you look down… and you have a BODY!!! And FEET!!! This one, as silly as it sounds, was a deal maker for me, because honestly, the only time someone might look down and NOT see their body is if they’re on a bad acid trip, so that in itself made the game more real for me (yes, I know it’s still just a game, thank you).
Combat in the game is varied enough to be decent. You can parry, make power strikes for extra damage, fighting fatigues you, and when you’re on an adrenaline rush, you’re truly fearsome. Some creatures, like the undead, require special attention (e.g. a finishing move) to take down for good, and the enemies are sufficiently varied that fighting doesn’t become blase. You can make direct use of the environment to overcome opponents (either kicking them off of cliffs, into spikes or bonfires or dropping heavy statues on them). The storyline is quite gothic and over the course of your adventure, via the cutscenes, you discover something particularly interesting about yourself that could affect your following actions, altering the ending at the climax of the story.
The game IS pretty linear, but the only first-person perspected games I’ve ever run across that weren’t were the Deus Ex series (’The Conspiracy’ for PS2 and ‘Invisible War’ for original xbox) and even they were area level-based. The game IS a roleplaying game, in that you acquire experience points based on the creatures you kill and the mission objectives you achieve. When you reach an experience threshold, you increase in level (there are 15 levels in total), and each level grants you an additional skill or increase in health based on the character class you choose at the onset of the game (Warrior, Wizard, Archer or Assassin, with-I believe-3 more classes available for download from XBOX Live), so your abilities do improve over time. The specific aspects that keep it from being your typical RPG are game length (about 10 hours from start to finish whereas the average RPG will run about 75-80 hours) and lak of shops to purchase equipment, although you can pick up better gear along the way. These, by the way, are the same gaffs that Lord of the Rings: The Third Age suffers from, although LTOR 3rd Age’s game length is about 30 hours long on average, and that game is linear as well. One neat little trick Dark Messiah has is the ability to create your own weapon at a blacksmithing forge depending on the type of metal ingot you pick up. The magical weapons are also pretty cool, if a bit cliched. Parent’s notice: The game gets its Mature rating due to violence, nudity (your travelling companion’s natural appearance is very… striking… shall we say), and sexual innuendo. It’s up to you to decide if that’s appropriate for your sons or daughters.
The storyline is pretty immersive. You learn things about the background through books you run across in barracks and libraries. You overhear people talking about how certain things came to be. All of that adds to the experience and aids in your ’suspension of disbelief’ while you’re playing.
Graphics-5 Stars
The imagery of this game is impressive. The shrines and crypts you explore give a convincing illusion of vastness. There’s cobwebs. There’s dank water in the sewers. The light shading is dynamic and the shadows are directly relevant to your ability to remain unnoticed. The beach scenery makes me pine to be out on summer vacation as I walk along the sandy ground. The architecture of the Temple of the Spider is Mesopotamian in flavor, and that’s something you don’t normally see in a fantasy game. Most of the areas are closed in, in that, if you can see off in the distance to a horizon, it’s nothing you can travel to (it’s mostly there for eye candy). But the environments are all pretty detailed thoughout. All things considered, the developers did a good job on their environments.
Sound-5 Stars
The soundtrack for this game really does it justice. The music is not typically classical but it is of a fantasy bent, with a lot of percussion, and it’s applied at just the right moments. Some of it is just monotonal, but its purpose is to increase the tension you feel regarding your situation. The ambient sounds are perfect for where you find yourself. For example, at some point you are walking along a cliff side from one rundown shack to another over planks. The sunlight is balmy as you look out at the water. You can hear the wind blowing through the cracks of the buildings with the occasional bird chirping off in the distance. All of it serves to induce a definite feeling of solitude and it hits you that you really are alone in this adventure. The voice acting of the key characters is of very high quality, with the incidental characters slightly less so (but still reasonably good). The creatures sound convincingly horrifying, especially the cyclops and the ghouls.
Replay-4 Stars
The adventure may remain the same, but the different character classes you play have a direct impact on the situation you find yourself in. There are also unlock codes that grant you access to hidden locations that give you bonus items (such as Arantir’s sanctum; there’s a point where you jump through a portal and find yourself in the same area, just upside down, making it very interesting to navigate). There are also multiple endings based on your actions, so you get something different out of the game every time you play it.
Overall-4 Stars
When compared to other roleplaying games, some might find this game lacking, but if you truly keep an open mind and judge the game based on its own merits, you might find the experience more than you thought it was at first. Two thumbs up.
1 Star Terrible…
i played for a total of three minutes, then turned of the console wondering why i wasted even a cent on this rubbish. The graphics are bland and embarrassing, the character models look like something from the PS1 and the frame rate looks like a blind child was placed in charge of assuring its smoothness…that is rude to blind children…they would have never let a game with a frame rate this bad ship. The Amazon rating system needs less than one star so this title can get the score it rightfully deserves. Do not buy this game, rent this game, or even make eye contact with this game…it will steal your soul.
4 Stars Not a bad one..
Its kind of a knock off from Oblivion, but its not a bad play. Controls are smooth and the graphics are good. Its worth a play for the price..
3 Stars Not a bad game, but Oblivion set the bar pretty high…
When it comes to console RPGs, Oblivion was in a league of it’s own. And while Dark Messiah is not a bad game, I found myself comparing certain aspects to the infamous Elder Scrolls game again and again. It may just be personal preference, but I enjoy customization and a free-roaming world. The extremely straightforward nature of Dark Messiah and lack of options was not what lessened the experience for me.
Several factors lowered my rating of the game:
1. The game’s biggest problem in my opinion was a lot of technical problems. Environmental, audio and control issues.
a. Environmental: More times than i care to remember i found myself inside of walls. Usually it was when i hopped on a rope or chain to climb or descend and it was hanging too close to a wall. Basically i would be stuck in the wall until it “swung” free … it sometimes took a while. (i guess this would be a environmental and control issue)
Also a couple of *traps* that were set up in the game were bugged and would kill you even if you avoided them using the means provided to you. Example >>> You enter a hallway and the gates seal on both ends. The walls on either side start to close on you (typical right?) above you are wooden beams that you can use your *rope bow* on to hoist yourself above the trap. The first time i did this i was hanging on at the top of the rope and as the trap closed below me i died. I assumed my *feet* had still been in range of the trap and that had killed me (even though i was as high up as i could go). So i did it again with the same result. At this point i realized i needed to figure out an alternative method. So as i was hanging there the 3rd time i hopped off of the rope onto the upper part of the wall that was closing in since it looked wide enough to stand on. Sure enough it worked and i survived the trap and progressed onward. (i know what you’re thinking [oh that must have been the right way to do it]) …. well that’s what i thought too … until i played through it again with a different character …. THIS time the *jump on top of the trap* trick failed 3 times in a row. So i reverted to the *hang onto the rope for dear life* trick … and it worked first try -_-. This is just one example but by far it was the most annoying of the glitches i came across.
I also fell through the level once (i made sure to save OFTEN in this game and i recommend you do the same 
)
And finally there were several times i found myself *stuck* … yes just *stuck* the ground was flat … there was nothing on the ground … no enemies or objects near me … and yet i couldn’t move … (no it was not a cutscene or a cinematic -_-). Didn’t happen too often but it did happen.
b. Audio: Many times i found myself hearing a sound that applied to something in the area (i.e. bugs buzzing over a dead carcass) and that sound would follow me …. into the next room …. and the next … basically until i zoned into a different area i would still be hearing the same bugs buzzing over and over again even though there were no dead things anywhere near me . Again this is just an example but the times this did happen that sound would *overpower* the other sounds you SHOULD be hearing (i.e. weapons swinging, footsteps, attacks landing etc). So not only was the constant replaying of the sound annoying it was taking away from the other aspects of the audio experience.
c. Control: In general they were very *choppy*. The time this is made most evident is in the >>chase through the city<< chapter. While you're running after the creature that took your crystal, you are forced to execute constant jumping, running, and climbing maneuvers. The jumping and running weren't so bad it was the climbing that would kill you. Supposedly if you jumped and held the button you would climb over whatever was in your path if it was doable (i.e. ledges, rocks, crates, etc) At one point the creature knocks over a bookshelf in your path. It's now laying flat on the ground, easy obstacle right? Wrong. Took me 5 different jumps before it finally registered and let my character run over the shelves. I don't know if it has something to do with the object not registering in the environment as a horizontal, scaleable object quick enough or if the jump/climb function was just being sketchy but it took way too long each time i did it to pass that point. The jump/climb thing was pretty much the biggest issue i had with controlling the character.
So that’s it for the techincal evaluation. The game itself as i said was not *bad* per se. You have 4 classes to choose from: Warrior (sword and board), mage (staffs and spells), archer (bows, daggers, and spells), and assassin (daggers). I’m a big fan of customization … from characater design to skill sets. The lack of either was a let down but the game was still fun for a play through on each class. With only 15 levels and preset skills there would be no point to play each class more than once really. The storyline is very linear. You follow the same path no matter what choices you make. Sure there optional quests (very few) and choices to make (even fewer) that will give you a slightly different outcome. There are 2 different endings … no i won’t spoil it . The voice acting wasn’t bad but it lacked a little flavor .. at least for the part of the main character. I will say that i found myself with my jaw dropped open and laughing at some of the things your *guardian demon* sometimes said … O.K. i’ll admit it the whole *hot demon chick that acts completely subservient to you but is really out to get what she wants* bit was amusing each time i played through.
Overall the game was O.K. … hence the 3 star rating and 4 star fun rating (one star for each class ) I understand that i SHOULD not compare it to Oblivion and i tried not to. So other than the technical problems, the lack of optional and side-quests, and the total lack of any customization, the game was enjoyable …. and will probably collect dust from this point on .
