Dark Messiah of Might & Magic is the highly acclaimed new action/RPG in the Might & Magic series. Instead of labeling it with a number like past M&M games, this one boldly comes out with its own title, and I have to say it’s well-deserved.
The story is about a hero named Sareth, who is on a plight to defeat the Dark Messiah, a half-demon half-human, along with the Dark Messiah’s father, the Demon Sovereign, prophesized to unleash the Demons into the world and pretty much wreak havoc on all. You of course play Sareth in this first-person RPG, fighting towards your goal but also unlocking secrets about your past.
My first impression of this game was “wow, this looks dark”. And by “dark” I don’t mean just the colors, I mean the spirit of the game. It almost feels like a similar story to Diablo, but this is a completely different type of game. It was hard for me to get used to the first-person view again, and there doesn’t seem to be any other type of viewpoint available. Also, being an avid WoW player, I’m used to the A-S-D-F keys for movement. It took me a little while to learn that the A and D keys strafe rather than turn, and to use the mouse to turn around. Of course, if you’re used to these controls, you will have no problem at all adapting. When you start a new game, you’ll be in a tutorial level so you can get used to the controls and the different actions available to you.
An interesting thing about fighting in this game is the ability to use the environment in combat. It’s not just hack and slash anymore! Well, it’s a little bit of hack and slash… but in some cases, you will want to use items in the environment to your advantage. For example, some rooms may conveniently have spikes in the walls for you to kick your enemies and impale them. Also, kicking wooden planks causes whatever’s above it to tumble down and crush your enemies. It’s a bit tricky to aim yourself to be able to do these actions in the heat of battle, but at least the option is there for you. As for hack and slash… you can hold the mouse button a few seconds to execute a “power strike”, which is a more powerful blow than your regular hits. You also get an adrenaline bar which fills up with every hit, and when full allows you to deliver an even more powerful power strike that serves as a “fatality” move to finish off an enemy quickly.
Going through the game is pretty linear. There is a story to be told, and objectives to fulfill to move to the next step. As you complete objectives you earn Skill Points which you can spend in your Skill Tree to buy new weapon, spell, and miscellaneous skills (such as disarming traps and stealth).
Multiplayer mode involves a bit more installation time. If playing on a LAN you won’t need the Steam® account, but you’ll need it for playing over the Internet (kind of like Blizzard’s Battle.net). There are five different multiplayer modes to choose from: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Crusade and Coliseum. The first three are pretty obvious as to their objectives. Crusade mode involves two teams of players (human vs. undead) who battle to achieve various objectives on a map and eventually destroy the other team’s stronghold. Coliseum mode is simply an arena to fight another player and test your uber fighting skills. Multiplayer also allows you to play different classes of characters, melee or caster, which adds to the game’s variety (not everyone can be totally cool like Sareth). Skill trees and controls are slightly different, so refer to your manual to check on the differences.
The graphics in this game are very detailed and fluid, on par with most PC games of today. I also like the interaction with the environment. Being able to jump onto a chain and climb up it, then jumping off to an adjacent ledge is actually easier than you might think. I also found it kind of fun to rotate the camera view to look at my feet every now and then. In the video options, I’d probably turn off the “head-bobbing” to minimize the motion-sickness factor, and don’t forget to adjust your brightness because some areas are pretty dark (though you do get a Dark Vision spell that’s similar to putting those night vision goggles on).
I had a lot of fun with Dark Messiah of Might & Magic, and even though I’m not the best at the first-person view games, I was able to easily adapt and enjoy this dynamic new title!
Special thanks to Ubisoft for providing a copy of this title.