For some reason, this game faded into obscurity soon after it was released, which could possibly be to do with oblivion being released at almost exactly the same time. Which is a shame, because it never got the praise that it deserved. Part of this may be to do with the series it is based on, Might and Magic. Although this is a very competent series, it started lacking a bit by the time they got to Might and Magic VIII (Sound familiar Square Enix?) and continued rehashing the same thing until everyone got bored and someone else bought the rights.
Dark Messiah is your run of the mill RPG, set in ye olde... somewhere, with these crazy nutters called 'necromancers' going around torching everyone and summoning goblins and Cyclops to ruin everyone's day. You start off with some pretentious git who is your 'master' leading you through the first level, which is essentially a very un-scary level designed to teach you how to play the game (ok, it's a tutorial, but it never tells you). After this, you have a cool cutscene where your master fellow summons this helper and then proceeds to not have any effect on the rest of the game whatsoever. But enough about the plot, let's start talking about the actual game here.
Like Oblivion and Morrowind, this game is first person. Unlike Oblivion and Morrowind, it has good combat. Very good. You first get introduced to the combat style in the first level, by kicking an undead creature to the floor and then impaling it with your sword. Which is awesome. It gets even better when you start having proper sword fights with people, creating some truly epic moments, parrying each other's blade and every now and then, stabbing them in the guts. There's also a charged 'adrenaline' move, which does different things depending on which way you are moving, and what you are fighting. But I didn't really care about that, I was having too much fun decapitating Orcs.
This game really comes into its own by the levelling system however. You get 'points' awarded by completing objectives, and you pick where they go, either to be a manly swordsman, a slightly less manly archer, a pansy mage (either protection or killing), or a sneaky stealthy person. Or, a mix of all of them. When you get the daggers (my favourite part) you can sneak up behind enemies and cut their throats for an instant kill, or just kick them into spikes, depending what you feel like. The casting system is good, but it is a little 'wait for spell, shoot spell, wait for spell recharge, use mana potion while running backwards' type fighting, which can be expected I suppose.
Altogether, it's a very good game, but not without its flaws. Beware running it on systems prone to the 'Stuttering Bug' which, although is not so much of a problem any more, it can still get annoying. Also, a few of the set pieces can get a little boring, yes it's fun to kick people off bridges or on to spikes, but they do seem to be everywhere. Also, this game is not easy. There are a few sections where the game really pushes you, ambushes you with huge amounts of firepower and you just have to hope you have enough healing spells and potions to stay alive. But look past these faults, and you'll find a good story with very good combat. Not as long or as diverse as Oblivion, but definitely a game worth playing through until the end.
Dark Messiah is your run of the mill RPG, set in ye olde... somewhere, with these crazy nutters called 'necromancers' going around torching everyone and summoning goblins and Cyclops to ruin everyone's day. You start off with some pretentious git who is your 'master' leading you through the first level, which is essentially a very un-scary level designed to teach you how to play the game (ok, it's a tutorial, but it never tells you). After this, you have a cool cutscene where your master fellow summons this helper and then proceeds to not have any effect on the rest of the game whatsoever. But enough about the plot, let's start talking about the actual game here.
Like Oblivion and Morrowind, this game is first person. Unlike Oblivion and Morrowind, it has good combat. Very good. You first get introduced to the combat style in the first level, by kicking an undead creature to the floor and then impaling it with your sword. Which is awesome. It gets even better when you start having proper sword fights with people, creating some truly epic moments, parrying each other's blade and every now and then, stabbing them in the guts. There's also a charged 'adrenaline' move, which does different things depending on which way you are moving, and what you are fighting. But I didn't really care about that, I was having too much fun decapitating Orcs.
This game really comes into its own by the levelling system however. You get 'points' awarded by completing objectives, and you pick where they go, either to be a manly swordsman, a slightly less manly archer, a pansy mage (either protection or killing), or a sneaky stealthy person. Or, a mix of all of them. When you get the daggers (my favourite part) you can sneak up behind enemies and cut their throats for an instant kill, or just kick them into spikes, depending what you feel like. The casting system is good, but it is a little 'wait for spell, shoot spell, wait for spell recharge, use mana potion while running backwards' type fighting, which can be expected I suppose.
Altogether, it's a very good game, but not without its flaws. Beware running it on systems prone to the 'Stuttering Bug' which, although is not so much of a problem any more, it can still get annoying. Also, a few of the set pieces can get a little boring, yes it's fun to kick people off bridges or on to spikes, but they do seem to be everywhere. Also, this game is not easy. There are a few sections where the game really pushes you, ambushes you with huge amounts of firepower and you just have to hope you have enough healing spells and potions to stay alive. But look past these faults, and you'll find a good story with very good combat. Not as long or as diverse as Oblivion, but definitely a game worth playing through until the end.
