Dark Messiah of Might and Magic PC review

Recommended PC specifications:
AMD Athlon/Intel PIV 3ghz, 1gb Memory, 256mb DX9 Video Card 7gb HDD Space DX9 Compliant Soundcard.

Developer: Arkane Studios
Publisher: Ubisoft

Test System: Intel Core 2 Duo X6800 (@ 3.5 GHz) 2gb OCZ Memory, 2xX1900 Crossfire, X-Fi Platinum Pro, Logitech Z680 Speakers.

Introduction

Being English, you’d think I would be used to the rain by now, but every year, as the days draw in, become altogether gloomier and more depressing it’s easy to get frustrated (and wet!). It was on one such morning, that a package dropped onto the door mat. Eagerly unwrapping it, I stood staring at a gate into a world of devilry, sorcery, Orcs and villains. ‘Ahhh....’ I thought to myself... that’s just perfect for a winter escape! So, in I jumped (well, actually I pressed the ‘on’ button), readying myself for a heroic quest against all that is evil, and a self gratifying amount of time slaying foes by my bloodied sword... Orcs of the world beware!

Game play

Dark Messiah sets you off on this world of adventure, as an inexperienced apprentice on a quest to find the illusive ‘skull of shadows’. Many question marks are left hovering over what exactly your purpose is on this quest, where you come from, and exactly what your destiny maybe. The choices laid out to you are also confused by the voice of your guide/helper Xana, who has been imposed upon you by your mentor and the conflicting role of Leana These to generally act in akin to your good conscience vs bad conscience. Their role in your future is played out across the game, as is the ambiguity over whether you are in fact good or evil. Ultimately you decide, and the choices you make, while generally quite obvious and arbitrary, do impact on the conclusion and a few of the events within the game. There is a major twist around half way through the game that I won’t go into, so as not to spoil the surprise, but is a welcome change from the norm. In amongst this setting, you will land yourself in numerous situations, which will require all of your skill and power to fight your way out of.

You see this is what makes Dark Messiah, Might and Magic tick more than anything else – the gritty, full filling combat. There is no generic hack ‘n’ slash game play here. No, this is a gratifyingly grounded affair, which makes you recoil in your chair as an Orc crashes his mighty sword into your shield, born about by a fantastic and natural control system. Arkane must have spent many hours really perfecting the feel and control of Mêlée combat more than any other game of its kind. The weapons are perfectly weighted in the most part, hold the left mouse button for a more powerful swipe, or just tap it for smaller stabs. Moving from one direction to another while attacking can give you a variety of moves too. As you play around, you become aware of various combinations and forms of attack that are open to you. These, rather obviously, also differ according to the weapon you chose to equip yourself with.