Dark Messiah Might and Magic

Timmay · #1 (**permalink**) 10-28-2006, 05:42 PM

All I can say is wow. If you have Steam, download the demo NOW. The combat is amazing in this game. If Oblivion used the combat system it would be the greatest game ever made. The way you move and position yourself in space effects how your enemy attacks you. Say they draw their sword back for a big blow. Block the blow my hitting the right mouse button, then hit F to kick him down to the ground. Run up to him and face down while holding down the left mouse button to drive your sword through his chest. The combat is amazing, it's like nothing I've ever experienced before. If really feels like you're sword fighting. With the Source engine, the game looks amazing too. I upped all the settings and my rig performed flawlessly. I probably won't eat brand name food for a week to pay for this game.

Check this HD trailer...

http://www.gametrailers.com/player.p...e=wmv&id=14376

z00b · #2 (**permalink**) 10-30-2006, 02:36 PM

Yeah. Holy crap. Not much else to say.

I preordered the game and downloaded it two days ago. I was busy this weekend and have only just gotten out into the actual game, but damn. I think that this may be the most immersive visceral first-person game yet. Brilliant use of the engine, and I look forward to replaying this with different builds.

More later ... I also have some hardware I'll mention that make this even more interesting.

z00b · #3 (**permalink**) 10-30-2006, 02:39 PM

Oh yeah, between this and the Medieval II demo I'm gladly able to give a big finger to EA and its Master Server disconnects. I'll play 2142 just until I get disconnected once and then it's back to games where I don't have to deal with that crap.

So much gaming goodness right now!

boomheadshot45 · #4 (**permalink**) 10-31-2006, 02:16 AM

I loved the demo but I heard that the game crashes alot and that its really buggy. Alot of people had have only played like 15 min. of the game between its crashed all the time. This was probaly my most anticipated PC game but i don't have alot of patience...

z00b · #5 (**permalink**) 11-01-2006, 10:49 PM

I have to post a few (possibly harsh) things:

A) Yeah, apparently a lot of people are having problems. I have had it crash a few times while reloading a savegame (after getting my butt kicked usually). But never while actually playing. I have a video card with very overclocked memory that is right at the limit of artifacting/corruption. It's about as stable as any other source-based game for me, so I don't know what to say about that. I won't discount the reports I'm hearing, but I guess I can assume that some people don't have their systems in order. I barely use my windows partition except for gaming, so it's pretty clean compared to the morasse that some people call an OS.

B) I don't know what game some of the reviewers out there are playing, but it's not the same one I see. I'm well beyond the beginning of the game, too. It's been a blast so far. Running around in rooftops in the rain, jumping from chains, tossing everything around, trying out the skill trees, etc. Great immersion, great ambience, nice world design. It is pretty linear compared to Oblivion, for instance, but it's basically a showcase of what can be done with the engine. *flame alert* I guess if you sit around all day with your thumb up your butt doing nothing but playing games and writing poorly-written reviews to take out your aggression, then nothing is capable of providing you with any fun short of a seratonin injection straight into your brain. Sometimes it really amazes me how jaded and cynical some professional peripheral game industry types are. I was a graphics coder (3d and 2d algorithmic) before 3d cards existed and up through OpenGL on SGI hardware. I switched fields right around when the Verite and Voodoo first came out. The stuff we can do now is amazing, and I keep up with the field in terms of what is being done. I also don't think that game design has gone downhill over the years. People tend to view the past with very rose-colored glasses. Yeah, I enjoyed MULE too. And the SSI gold box games, and Ultima and all of the other games through the 80s. And Pong before that. Games today encapsulate the gaming from them and extend it to a whole new level.

Some of the stuff we are seeing right now on the PC is truly astonishing stuff:

Medieval II: Total War

Battlefield 2142

World of Warcraft (I'm not into MMORPGs anymore, but WoW is right)

Civilization 4 and expansion

(just out, haven't played yet)Neverwinter Nights II (a _lot_ of people still play and develop for NWN, I am in a few gaming groups of adults that have split apart geographically but still play D&D together)

Supreme Commander!!! (I don't remember NDA wording on this, so I won't say more.....)

And I have to throw Dark Messiah in here since it's what I'm loving at the moment. There are probably a dozen other games like Galactic Civilization II, Darkstar One, Company of Heroes, Oblivion and other that are REALLY REALLY GREAT games that extend their particular genre well beyond past exploits. And more I haven't had a chance to even try.

And if you're a console gamer (which I am about 1/10 of the time), the next-gen stuff for the x360 is pretty mind-blowing and best-of class (racing/sports/fighting/whatever). And the Wii looks to be ridiculously fun for a group of friends/family to play on.

So it's a great time to be gaming. I just don't get why some people spend all their time bitching about GAMES which are meant to just be pure FUN. If I was so disappointed and whiny about my gaming time I would find another hobby and go at that instead. As it is I have to really justify my time gaming due to other passions, but right now the time is really well-spent in my book.

*semi-flame rant off*

z00b · #6 (**permalink**) 11-01-2006, 10:49 PM

And maybe that should be moved to its own thread ...Feel free.

Timmay · #7 (**permalink**) 11-02-2006, 01:27 AM

Got the game the other day. I'm not experiencing any crashes. Works flawlessly. Love the game-play. Nothing like kicking enemies onto a wall of spikes.

z00b · #8 (**permalink**) 11-02-2006, 04:01 AM

I'm glad at least someone else has a sense of perspective .. Sheesh..

z00b · #9 (**permalink**) 11-02-2006, 04:03 AM

And to get on topic ....

My main character is going with a melee-heavy, magic-support build. Being able to heal yourself up while fighting is great. Weilding the reflection staff and then heading in with sword and shield to finish the enemy off with a killing blow is great. Usually in an RPG I will choose one tree and max it out, but the hybrid route is just too much fun. I don't really care about multiplayer yet.

gerryjoson · #10 (**permalink**) 11-18-2006, 07:34 PM

I have to say playing this game,I love it and hate it.
Pro's...
Once again we have the beautiful source engine that looks wonderful even on mediocre GPU's.
Pretty good storyline and characters.
Neat weapons.
Awesome variations in dealing to enemy's
Con's...
Player control isn't that good,too much delay recovering from powerstrikes,general slow movement,trying to jump up onto things is infuriating.
Up to chapter 8 and have had a few crashes,certainly not in the league of GRAW's crashing.
Footstep volume is very annoying.

Generally a very enjoyable game apart from the fact that I die way too much.