Dark Messiah : Might And Magic (PC Review)

Navneet Prakash, Nov 25, 2006 1200 hrs IST

DM is one game that has the best of both the worlds leading to an FP-RPG experience, good or bad. Let's dive into the DARKness.

Expert Rating:

Great Orc-killing action, Splendid spell animation, Runs on modest systems.

Bare minimum RPG elements, Long loading times, Minor bugs (specially with the rope arrow).

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EXPERT REVIEW

Gameplay

Most RPGs are Hack and Slash, well, this one is no different. The game is all about some serious fighting; and I mean an all out skirmish of age-old creeps like Orcs and Goblins. But this isn't your regular two-shots-and-you-are-dead type of scenario; this is where you have to fight each and every individual Orc. Here, when they say you gained an experience point, they mean it; cause after all that trouble of clicking and holding, you better learn something.

The game features destructible 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.

Fight and learn, fight and learn, like a martial arts film. In DM, Sareth can wield a sword, use his mana for casting fire and ice spells. He can use various different kinds of bows to kill his enemies as well. You see, as I said this game is very much like an FPS, with the same pace and gameplay elements. Blocking, striking, and special moves all feature realistic animations. 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. So, it keeps you focused on completing more missions and not killing enemies at random.

USER COMMENTS

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by halil, ?ener, on Mar 17, 2007 02:20 PM, Report abuse Reply

how can i download this

by brij, delhi, on Dec 12, 2006 08:03 AM, Report abuse Reply

fine ok good

by sriram, varanasi, on Dec 11, 2006 06:44 PM, Report abuse Reply

how does play it

by kahlid, Bhopal, on Dec 06, 2006 10:57 AM, Report abuse Reply

To be honest, I always took a much greater interest in the multiplayer portion of Dark Messiah rather than its single player brethren. Developed by Kuju Entertainment, the company responsible for helping develop the EyeToy games for the PS2, the multiplayer mode for Call of Duty: Finest Hour, and Battalion Wars for the Nintendo Gamecube, the multiplayer mode of Dark Messiah encompasses a unique style of gameplay in a fantasy setting. The game splits between 2 factions, the Humans and the Undead. Each faction allows 5 playable classes, the Assassin, the Priestess, the Mage, the Archer, and the Warrior. The only difference between the Humans and the Undead is their physical appearance; otherwise, they are essentially the same. Now the question is, how does the multiplayer stack up? Pretty nicely, and I won?t stop there. Despite some slight conflicts of class balance, the multiplayer portion of the game leads as an excellent and worthy contender of popular multiplayer first person shooters. To begin with, the Assassin is a very fast paced and fun-to-play class. In fact, all classes are extremely fun to play, and it will only get better as Kuju decides what should be done to help make the game even better. (And they do, their commitment to the Open Beta was extraordinary, as far as updates and forum responses go). The Warrior is a tanker lover?s dream, being able to negate any spells and absorbing the most damage with its Reinforced Armor. Surprisingly, the Warrior?s attacks are powerful as well. The Priestess is most likely the main concern of many balance critics. With her instant self-heal ability and an armor buff that lowers any kind of damage, the Priestess can take on any class and win. I haven?t even mentioned the insane range of her Corrupt ability and the Bramble spell that slows ALL players to a crawl. Kuju Entertainment obviously decided that Priestesses should do more than just supporting other classes. The Mage is insanely powerful as well, but only in late levels. Finally, the Archer is a class that rewards those with practice; arrows not only take time to reach the target, but they also arc as well. However, 1 fully charged shot deals 56 damage; 2 shots will kill the player. In conclusion, the multiplayer portion of Dark Messiah is anything but the norm. It features a retrospective view of the modern first person shooter with 5 totally different playable classes. The game delivers tons of different tactical strategies, and will only get better as Kuju Entertainment continues to please its fans with updates and additions to the game.

by Gi Han, Coppell, on Dec 05, 2006 02:45 AM, Report abuse Reply

I LIKE NOKIA GAME

by nits, mumbay, on Dec 04, 2006 02:29 PM, Report abuse Reply

dj nits

by nits, mumbay, on Dec 04, 2006 02:23 PM, Report abuse Reply

good game

by brijesh, delhi, on Dec 02, 2006 02:25 PM, Report abuse Reply

The whole thing seems sick. I hate the look and apparel of the priestess, yuck. I hate games any way.

by vyjayanthi, bangalore, on Nov 26, 2006 09:16 PM, Report abuse Reply

Hi, I have finished playing this game on 1600*1200 res on 8800gtx and it looks really cool the HDR effects are really wht makes the Game hot and on the other hand the ambient sound is the best part of the gameb but this game is relly buggy......

by Xeon, Nagpur, on Nov 26, 2006 01:40 PM, Report abuse Reply

is there any website where i can download this game for free

by srinath, pune, on Nov 26, 2006 04:24 PM, Report abuse

game is very nice.too good action/adventure

by srinath, pune, on Nov 26, 2006 04:21 PM, Report abuse Reply