Dark Messiah of Might and Magic

[Antagonist]

A demo was released for this game a few days ago, anyone else playing it? It's basically an first-person action game set in the Might and Magic universe, uses the Source engine. Superficially it plays pretty much like Oblivion or Gothic 2, without most of the RPG elements, but it's also heavily influenced by the games of Looking Glass studios: the developer's previous game Arx Fatalis was a spiritual sequel to Ultima Underworld, and the influence of games like Deus Ex and Thief is also very apparent, with a lot of emphasis placed manipulating the environment and AI, rather then a linear, cinematic style.

The demo should be available on most of the main websites by now. It's extremely large, especially considering that the demo itself is so short, but by it's nature it encourages replaying it using different strategies.

Personally I never particularly like the MM/HoMM games and universe, but the talk of similarities with Looking Glass games piqued my interest and I really enjoyed it.

Antagonist

[Kekvit Irae]

I absolutely loved M&M6 and M&M7, but M&M8 didnt cut it for me (one character?) and M&M9 was worse. I can only hope they go back to the enjoyable gameplay from 6 and 7

[Antagonist]

I absolutely loved M&M6 and M&M7, but M&M8 didnt cut it for me (one character?) and M&M9 was worse. I can only hope they go back to the enjoyable gameplay from 6 and 7

I haven't followed the series in thorough detail, but IIRC the company that developed the original Might and Magic games, as well as the Heroes of Might and Magic series and various other spin-offs went bankrupt. Recently Ubisoft acquired the rights to the franchise and oversaw the creation of HoMM5 (by the famed Russian strategy developer Nival) and now Dark Messiah, which is another spin-off type thing, by Arkane Studios. So it isn't really that related to the original games as I understand it.

Antagonist

[DisruptorX]

I've had more fun in this demo than I have with the entire game of Oblivion (complete waste of money).

This game contains the best, most complex melee system I've ever seen in a video game. The demo level is stuffed with traps of all kinds, and all sorts of useful objects. Every single time I play it, I find something new and new ways to kill the monsters.

I haven't been this excited about a first person game since Halflife 1.


. Superficially it plays pretty much like Oblivion or Gothic 2, without most of the RPG elements

This doesn't look like its going to play anything like Oblivion or Gothic, which is a very good thing. Looks more like a current gen version of heretic or hexen. And it looks like it will completely own.

[Kekvit Irae]

Looks more like a current gen version of heretic or hexen

:loveg: :loveg: :loveg:
I still have fond memories of both games.

[Antagonist]

This doesn't look like its going to play anything like Oblivion or Gothic, which is a very good thing. Looks more like a current gen version of heretic or hexen.

I have to say that at first glance it looked a lot like Oblivion or Gothic to me, but it only takes a minute of playing it to realise the difference, which is the stripping down of role-playing elements to a minimum and focusing on combat. Heretic or Hexen are good comparisons. The combat with the orcs and such also reminded me of Severance, although that wasn't first-person.

The main thing that remains to be seen from the demo (maybe previews and such tell this, I don't know) is whether the game will be pure combat, or will feature exploration/conversation elements as well. Maybe not in the open-ended manner of Elder Scrolls or Gothic, but using a more focused approach like a fantasy Deus Ex.

The other notable aspect of the game which doesn't feature in the demo is the multiplayer, which sounds like a potentially very different experience and is supposed to play something like a fantasy Battlefield 2. It'd be nice to have that in the demo, but alas...


And it looks like it will completely own.

I wholeheartedly agree.

Antagonist