Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
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| Dark Messiah of Might and Magic | |
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| Developer(s) | Arkane Studios (and Kuju Entertainment for multiplayer) |
| Distributor(s) | Ubisoft |
| Engine | Source engine |
| Latest version | 1.01 |
| Release date(s) | October 25, 2006 (US) October 27, 2006 (EU) |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter, Fantasy |
| Mode(s) | Single player and Multiplayer |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| System requirements | Windows Edition: Windows XP, 2000 512MB System RAM 2.4 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor 128MB DirectX 9.0 compatible video card 8x DVD-ROM drive Download avaliable on Steam 7 GB free hard disk space Recomended Amd Athlon or Pentium 4 > 3.0ghz, 256mb graphics card ,7gb of hard drive space |
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic is a computer game developed by Arkane Studios for Ubisoft. It uses the Source engine from Valve Software, which was originally used to make Half-Life 2. While Arkane Studios created the single player portion of the game, Kuju Entertainment developed the multiplayer mode.
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[edit] Game description
Dark Messiah takes place in Might and Magic fantasy world. The game is a first person combat game that features a wide variety of ways to customize the player's character, including stealth, melee combat, archery, as well as violent and non-violent magic. The player takes on the role of a young man named Sareth who wishes to find adventure and riches in the world. He is the pupil to the wizard Phenrig; Sareth's adventures lead him the the city of Stonehelm to aid in the recovery of a mystic object known as "The Skull of Shadows".
[edit] Gameplay and Features
The main features of Dark Messiah is its environmental manipulation, combat system and unique character development.
[edit] Artificial Intelligence
Arkane Studios has said that the advanced Enemy AI can be best described as, "If the player can do it, so can the AI." This will add an extremely realistic aspect to the game. The player is now no longer the only one that can attack and defend intelligently and realistically, or create strategies and perform special moves during combat. This means players will have to think on their feet and conform to each new situation in order to successfully defeat the enemy especially once the bigger more powerful enemies come into the picture.
[edit] Environmental Manipulation
The game features destructable environments, which can most of the time be used to aid the player in combat and help the player create a strategy in order to survive the current situation. The player can do everything from cutting ropes and releasing heavy swinging objects to pummel an opponent, to kicking an orc through a wooden fence and over a cliff to his doom. The player can collapse structures that enemies are standing on and even cause a colossal statue to drop directly on top of them and crush them. The player can even set traps in order to catch enemies off guard. These are just a few of the ways in which you can use the environment effectively to defeat opponents. The two main parts that make this ability special is that using the environment is entirely up to the player, meaning that the player does not have to use the environment at all if the player wishes (although this will make combat much harder), and also as stated before "if the player can do it, so can the AI." So the player will have to be careful and be fully aware of your environment or else the AI may use the environment against the player and lure the player into a trap.
[edit] Combat System
The combat in Dark Messiah uses a context sensitive system in order to trigger special events and animations. This means that blocking, striking, and special moves will all feature realistic animations that conform to the situation. An example situation: an orc is charging the player with a sword, by pressing the block button as the orc strikes at the player, depending on the direction, area and type of strike that the orc is attacking the player with, the player's character will move the weapon/shield to intercept, and block or parry the orc's attack, giving a realistic and fluid feel to the game. This also goes with a character's attacking as well. To further enhance the combat you can perform many different combat moves (blocks, parries, disarms, stuns, slashes, stabs, shield breaking, stealth kills, and lunges to name a few) and the player can also perform special moves to finish off an opponent such as a lunging attack where you impale the enemy on your sword then proceed to kick him off the end of your blade, or the lateral slash in which you perform a powerful horizontal swing and decapitate your opponent. Along with this vicious melee combat there is also ranged combat with weapons like bows and arrows and like many games of its genre, magic attacks. These magic abilities range from ice blasts that freeze an opponent or make them slip and fall down, all the way to conjuring huge fire balls that you launch and guide to their intended target. As with the melee there are also special magic attacks that can be unlocked such as telekinesis, which a player can use to hurl objects at enemies, or even pick up an opponent and hurl him into a wall or off a cliff. Dark Messiah will feature many different weapons that can be used, ranging from different types of swords, shields, staffs, daggers, and bows.
[edit] Character Development System
There are no official classes in Dark Messiah. Instead, the player develops his character throughout the course of the game by virtue of an evolution system in which one spends his points both to develop his character's abilities in the areas of magic, stealth, and combat and to unlock new abilities and moves in these areas. However, in Dark Messiah these upgrade points are not obtained by killing enemies, which is a departure from similar systems used in RPGs. Instead, these points are acquired through the completion of goals and objectives. This property of the system guarantees that the different styles of play available to players are balanced and that one class' power does not grow more quickly than that of the other classes.
For example, a person who plays using mainly combat abilities will tend to fight and kill every enemy he encounters whereas a stealth-based player may choose to sneak past dangerous groups of enemies instead of fighting them. In a point-by-killing system, the stealth-based player would take a long time to advance and would be weaker against the more powerful enemies while the combat-based player would thrive and grow due to the sheer volume of enemies he kills. Dark Messiah's points-by-objectives system eliminates this problem. This new system ensures that each player will progress consistently and will not miss out on certain abilities. It also ensures that one style of play is not "better" or more powerful than the other styles and that all styles of play are balanced in order to keep the player at the same level as the enemies he faces.
The player does not have to choose just a single style of play throughout the game. In fact, due to the wide-open non-class-system advancement, the player could become a "jack of all trades" if he or she wishes by using a combination of all the styles of gameplay. The advancement and abilities of the character are completely up to the player to decide, but it is not possible to become a master of all styles of play. If the player distributes his points among the different styles without being careful or thinking ahead to the future, the player may end up creating a character that may know a lot of the different styles but isn't particularly good at any single one.
[edit] Story
The protagonist of Dark Messiah is a young man named Sareth, who is under the tutelage of the Wizard Phenrig. After years of studying the arts of magic and physical training in the arts of war, he is finally taken on an expedition to retrieve a rare artifact known as the Shantiri Crystal. After finding the Crystal and disposing of the would be rival expedition. He is tasked to bring the crystal to an associate of Phenrig's, Menelag. To guide him on his way, Phenrig summons Sareth a companion, named Xana. She is able to reside in his mind and give him occasional help.
After two weeks of riding on horse back, Sareth arrives at the gates of Stonehelm, a free-city state under the rule of Master Phenrig's associate, The Grand Wizard Lord Menelag. As he nears the the main gate, the villagers and town guards seem to be in a semi-state of panic and fear as rumors of an army of necromancers are coming and no sooner is Sareth accepted to go in by the guards, when a flaming catapult shot smashes into the nearby watch tower. The resulting chaos spooks Sareth's horse, causing him to be thrown off and land hard on the ground. As the injured Sareth is dragged into the city, he sees a glimpse of the horde of ghouls and mercenaries led by Necromancers butchering the town's fleeing inhabitants. Once on his feet, he makes his way to the battlements and takes control of a ballista (who's crew had been taken out). He helps the town guards in slaying a zombie cyclops. After the suspense dies down, Sareth wanders around the town and he eventually arrives at Menelag's Manor. There he meets Menelag's niece and pupil, Leanna.
From there, Sareth is introduced formally and is given a banquet in his honor. In the following night, a sleepy Sareth is awoken by a frightened servant, who informs him that the manor is under attack. From there, he tries to rescue Lord Menelag and his niece, but is frozen by a Necromancer's spell and watches helplessly as Menelag is murdered before his nieces eyes. After the spell wears off, Sareth has no time to comfort Leanna as the ghoul who had killed Menelag has stolen the Shantiri Crystal.
Now jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Sareth must track down the ghoul and find out why it is so valuable and how it is connected to the Dark Messiah.
[edit] Multiplayer
Dark Messiah will feature a new type of online multiplayer gaming. The multiplayer will take on a similar type of gameplay style as the Battlefield games and cross it with a feel similar to The Lord Of The Rings. The multiplayer portion of the game will feature two game modes and will be class based. There will also be two playable factions in the form of the humans and the undead.
[edit] The Multiplayer Class System
The class system in multiplayer works mostly the same as the non-class system in the singleplayer, that is, you still build and evolve your character the same as in singleplayer. However, the different abilities are now sectioned into classes and you can no longer combine class abilities as you could in singleplayer. You are still able to customize your character's abilities, but depending on what class you've chosen you are limited to the abilities associated with that class. As with any good team-focused game, the five playable classes on each team complement one another, meaning that you will need a balanced team in order to succeed.
[edit] The Assassin
Though physically weak, the assassin makes up for this with stealth, and has the ability to move quietly and invisibly as well as a lethal backstab. Also, assassins can set traps for the unwary.
[edit] The Warrior
The warrior is the frontline fighter that does battle with sword and shield. Naturally, warriors are stronger, faster, and have more endurance than other classes, but they're limited to using melee weapons.
[edit] The Priestess
The priestess supports the team by healing teammates, as well as casting curses on her foes. As an added bonus, priestesses can detect invisible opponents, allowing the team to see them, making them the counter for assassins. One of the most important abilities of a priestess is growing brambles on the ground, which slow down every movement in the affected area and hurt sprinting players.
[edit] The Mage
The mage is responsible for dishing out the offensive spells. The shield spell that mages can use is rarely used. Mages, like priestesses, need to be defended from harm.
[edit] The Archer
The archer is considered to be the "sniper" of the group, and specialises in attacking from long distances. Originally, Archer and Assassin were combined in one class, but in order to avoid a sniper wearing an invisibility cloak, the Assassin class was split up, and the fifth class - the Archer - was created.
[edit] Multiplayer Game Modes
There will be a number of game modes in Dark Messiah Multiplayer including deathmatch and team deathmatch. There are 2 unique modes as described below.
[edit] Warfare Mode
In warfare battle mode the goal is to seize the opposing team's castle. The warfare battle mode is described as being similar to the conquest mode found in Battlefield games. There are two teams of 16 players each battling for control of the map, and each side has a limited number of respawn tickets.
[edit] Crusade Mode
In crusade mode, the online campaign, the results of online matches carry over to the next round. If a team wins, they advance into enemy territory, and the next match will take place on the next map closest to the team's ultimate objective. Lose a round, and the team will be pushed back towards the other team's base. The deeper a team gets into an enemy's territory, the tougher it gets to progress because there are more defenses to aid the defenders. A character can level up and gain skills over the course of the campaign, so new skills and abilities carry over to the next battle. In effect, a character becomes tougher and more powerful.
[edit] Release Problems
According to many reports on the Ubisoft forum the initial release of this game (both retail and on Steam) are ridden with bugs that make the game unplayable for some. On the same day as the initial Steam release (October 25, 2006) there were already two patches released via Steam, but most reports on the forums indicate that these have not helped. Although a patch has been released with an extensive list of fixes, many of the game's major problems remain unfixed.
[edit] Critical reaction
Critical reaction to the game has been fair with the game attaining an aggregate rating of 77% on Metacritic.[1] Praise for the game came from PC Zone (UK) and PC Gamer (UK) which awarded the game 84% and 88% respectively, with praise going to the game's innovative and responsive mêlée combat. GameSpot gave this game a review score of 6.7/10 stating that it had many technical issues, repetitive gameplay, predictable story, and poor mutiplayer. Gamespy cited similar problems, giving it 3 out of 5 stars respectively. IGN gave mixed reports, with their Australian team awarding the game 8.8/10 whereas their American team only awarded it 7.0/10. 1UP.com was more critical in issuing the game a 4/10, criticising the over reliance on using the kick as a weapon and dubbing it "The Adventures of Sir Kicksalot Deathboot in the Land of the Conspicuously Placed Spike Racks". GameInformer, however, praised Dark Messiah for the sheer fun factor and beautiful graphics, awarding it 9.25/10.
[edit] Different Versions
Despite having received a "not under 18" rating from the USK, Ubisoft announced that the two German versions of Dark Messiah will contain some changes from the internationally released version. Specifically, the German version does not allow for enemies' heads or limbs to be severed, enemies cannot not be impaled after death, burning enemies will die immediately and their corpses cannot be mutilated further after death. Ubisoft seperately released a limited edition "International Version" of the game (playable in English only) which is identical to the version of the game released in most other countries.
[edit] References
- ^ Dark Messiah of Might & Magic Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2006-10-28.
[edit] External links
[edit] Official
- Official Dark Messiah Website
- Official Steam website
- Disciples of Sareth - Dark Messiah Fan Community
[edit] Fansites
- Celestial Heavens - news, features and discussions about the whole Might and Magic series (see Celestial Heavens)
- Dark Messiah Source - news, downloads, features and discussions about Dark Messiah
- FileFront's Dark Messiah Files - One of the largest Dark Messiah of Might and Magic download resources on the web
[edit] Forums
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| Heroes of Might and Magic | I:ASQ | II:TSW | II:TPoL | III:TRoE | III:AB | III:TSoD | Heroes Chronicles | IV | IV:TGS | IV:WoW | V | V:HoF |
| Spinoffs and related titles | Arcomage | King's Bounty | Quest for the DragonBone Staff | Crusaders | Warriors | Legends | Dark Messiah | MM Mobile | HoMM Online |
| Fanmade titles | Swords of Xeen |
| CCGs | Heroes IV |
