Dark Messiah of Might & Magic Demo

The Might & Magic universe has given birth to some very interesting tales, thanks to the mountains of lore that sit at its core and the conflict that scars the land on a regular basis. While the title at hand introduces an entirely new world, the atmosphere and the creatures that are part of it are very similar, as are the wars that are waging throughout the land.

Dark Messiah of Might & Magic is a first-person RPG developed by the studio that came up with the brilliant Arx Fatalis as well and it features a curious view on the Might & Magic universe. While it certainly keeps the first-person perspective that characterizes the franchise, the actual world in which the events take place is an entirely new one and it is called Ashan. Just like all fantasy worlds, Ashan is under a great threat, in the form of the Dark Messiah, who is prophesied to return and bring the apocalypse along with him.

In the game, you play as Sareth, who is a worthy warrior trained in the art of war and also the one who was chosen to fight this Dark Messiah when the time comes. Along the way, you get to explore ancient ruins, dungeons and various other such dreamy locations, where a wide range of enemies await you. Naturally, you can choose to train your character as either a warrior, a mage or an assassin, each one of which comes with different advantages and disadvantages in battle.

In order to render the magical world of Ashan, the game uses the Source engine to render the environments, which is the same one used by Valve in their games since Half-Life 2. Thus, you can admire the same level of detail in the form of castles and dungeons, as well as make use of the brilliant physics system to push your enemies off ledges, impale them into spikes and tumble shaky structures on top of them.

The actual combat mechanics, on the other hand, could have used a bit more work, since it can get quite chaotic at times, especially in the case of melee weapons. The crossbow is much more accessible than in other titles, though, especially because it is very accurate and you can even set the arrows on fire, by simply holding their tip over a torch for a few seconds.

Dark Messiah of Might & Magic may have skipped a few pages when it comes to staying true to the old franchise, but it managed to overcome those minuses with the help of a heavily improved gameplay, which is now based on a different set of mechanics. This, coupled with the new world of Ashan, make the game a unique experience, that should be regarded more of a stand-alone title than part of the series.