Steam Roundup: Dark Messiah of Might and Magic

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic is a 2006 game developed jointly by Arkane Studios and Floodgate Entertainment (odd to see two developers on one game - three if you count the separate multiplayer developer). It is a first-person action RPG, Oblivion style combat if it was trapped in smallish, linear FPS levels. You have the choice to spec your character as a warrior type, rogue type, or magic type with skill points you earn from completing objectives.

The thing most people will remember from hearing about this game was the much touted kick button. You can hit a key at any time (if you have enough stamina, that is) and kick enemies. You can kick them off cliffs, through boxes, and into conveniently placed spike racks found all over the game. It seems like a dumb idea but it is actually quite a bit of fun. I once kicked three enemies in a row into a campfire and couldn't help but giggle as they all burned with the same animations. It does get old rather quickly and later enemies seem much less susceptible to it.

Now, let's talk about the story. There really isn't anything too atrocious about it but it all feels so...predictable. Master who sends you on a quest that is more than it seems? Check. Sexy sidekick who is more than she seems? Check. Love interest who falls for you in roughly ten seconds? Check. It's all quite laughable at times but I have seen much worse portrayals of these stereotypes before, so I can't condemn the game entirely. The voice acting is extremely hit-or-miss but luckily, the main characters are decent enough (although your character's voice hits some low points).

The game starts with a decent amount of challenge as you learn to fight carefully with your easily-drained health pool but it gets fairly easy by the midpoint of the game. Enemies start to fall more quickly but by that point, the combat is repetitive enough that I was glad for it. The boss fights are extremely simplistic, consisting of patterns of 'hack-hack-hack, avoid attack, hack-hack-hack, win' and repeating quite a bit.

As for the levels themselves, they are very linear but extremely confusing in places. For one thing, the default brightness is nowhere near good enough. I could barely see without my Night Vision in one or two places, which I'll admit, may have been the developer's intent. Unfortunately, too many of the areas look like other parts and I got turned around more than once. A complete lack of a map or any kind of waypoint system meant I had to poke around longer than I liked to find the right path. Not the worst thing in the world but hard to get used to again after today's hold-you-by-the-hand level design.

One other small thing I really liked about the game was the Rope Bow. It is what it sounds like - a bow that shoots a rope. For such a simple idea, I found it really cool, creating my own ways out of situations. Of course, you can only use it in preset places and it isn't always entirely clear when to use it in some of them, but it was still a neat concept.

This is a game I picked up years ago on a Steam sale because I had always wanted to play it. I remember downloading the demo when it came out, being the year that I had my first computer, and having a great time with it. While it couldn't possibly live up to the expectations I formed at that time, it was a fun romp that I feel good about recommending for anyone interested in this type of game.