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Dark Messiah Might and Magic: Elements (Xbox 360) Review
Posted by Ty Huston on 03.19.2008
Vitals
Genre
Action RPG
System
Xbox 360
Release Date
02/12/2008
The PC game powered by Valve's source engine is ported to the 360. How does it stack up? Click here to find out.
Game: Dark Messiah Might and Magic: Elements
System: Xbox 360
Developer: Arkane Studios
Publisher: Ubisoft
Before I signed up to review this game, I thought I�d do a little research and see what it would be like. First of all, I downloaded the demo off of XBLA. The demo was pretty fun, so I went to some other game-related websites to check out what their reviews had said.
Needless to say, the overall impression of this game was not good. On average, the game scored exactly that � average. So I assumed the game would be sort of fun, but not really and since by that time I had already signed up to review it, I�d just be a trooper and go along with it.
Honestly, I�m glad I did.
From now on with my reviews I�m going to include a section called �The One Word.� This premise is that every game has �one word� to describe them.
For Dark Messiah Might and Magic: Elements, that One Word is linear.
Has anybody told Frank he�s wearing his mom�s dress again? Anybody?
Now typically, when one says the word linear in relation to a game, they shiver these days. No many games offer a giant sandbox, that people get a bit spoiled into being able to do whatever they want, whenever they want. When I started the game, I was pretty sure I was going to hate it by the second chapter due to its linear nature, but � I didn�t.
The storyline is driven well, the content of the conversations is good and overall it�s a pretty enjoyable story.
This thing is a pain in the ass.
Gameplay
DMMM:E is built on the infamous Source Engine; the engine that brought us such classics and Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Portal, Counter-Strike, Vampire the Masquerade � Bloodlines, etc. Therefore, the controls are pretty easy to use and that bumps up the fun factor significantly.
What hinders the gameplay on this version is that some of the mechanics are really broken. Several times, when jumping onto a rope I created with my rope bow, I�d get stuck in a wall or I�d get stuck under the sane underwater. Another quirky problem is that in certain areas there are so many obstacles and the clipping mechanic is so tight that it�s a serious struggle to get through certain areas � such as when I was running from a gigantic sea worm while escaping the goblin tunnels and it took me probably an hour to get past that one area simply because I kept getting stuck on one small piece of log as I was trying to jump from one bridge to the next.
You know, I understand that timing is everything in videogames. But one small obstacle causing so much grief is nuts.
God, I hate spiders.
Graphics
There�s not a whole lot to say about the graphics and animations except they are great. Facial expressions, body movements, attentions to detail � they all look great in this game. If I could have chosen anything to change about the graphics, it would be incorporated with one idea as a whole for the entire game; this game should have had a more diverse group of monsters.
Don�t get me wrong, fighting a huge pack of goblins or orcs is fun � the first three times. Same with black knights and ghouls. It would have been cool to have a handful more types of monsters.
Get out of the way, there�s a fire on the bridge!
Sound
The voice acting is quality, with both some funny likes (�Float like goblin, sting like bee!�) and some quality interaction through the tones and pacing of the voice tracks. Through it you can easily tell that Xana is an evil temptress obsessed with you, while Leanna is just a normal human mage � who has the hots for you.
Sounds effects are good as well, along with the music. One issue I had was that I had to turn the sound effects and music down significantly so I could hear the voices better, but it didn�t break the game for me.
Fun Factor
Personally, I thought this game was a lot of fun. Sure, the story is linear, but sometimes you just need one good adventure � not picking up pieces of 15 of them along the way. Of the four classes the game came with for single player, my favorites were the Archer and Assassin � although the Warrior and Mage were both good classes as well. Multiplayer is pretty fun and offers some new challenges for the people who get burned out of the single player campaign.
Lasting Appeal
While the game is a fun linear thing, it is pretty short. Beyond fighting through the few very hard parts (mostly due to mechanics issues and not actual game difficulty), you can complete it in about 20 hours. One plus side, is that Ubisoft has already added some downloadable content to the XBLA and for 400 Microsoft Points ($5.00), you can add some new weapons and maps to your game.
Somebody needs to tell these damned Cyclops to stop wearing their SpaghettiOs.
The 411
My personal take is that this game has received a bad wrap from most reviews. Dark Messiah is a fun game, but I personally won�t buy it until it comes down in price or I can get a used one for cheap. It�s not the kind of game that defines a system (like Halo), but it is a quality piece that adds to the 360s growing library. Some may doubt the game and hate on it because the PC version is better, but porting games are not easy and they�ve done a fine job with this one.
All in all, it won�t break any records, but Dark Messiah Might and Magic: Elements is a fun game that I recommend.
Graphics
8.5
The graphics are good, clean and crisp. The only issues are with random clipping into objects and that is one of the reasons other reviewers have bashed the game so hard. Mostly, it's exaggerared, however.
Gameplay
8.5
Gameplay is a ton of fun. The controls are easy to pick up and start playing, which is always a big plus.
Sound
8.0
The sound effects and music were both good, but the voice acting was really top notch other than your character who always sounds constipated.
Lasting Appeal
7.5
The single player campaign is short and the multiplayer side can get boring fast - however, they are already releasing DLC for the game so that may very well change soon.
Fun Factor
8.0
Quite the fun game, with a few minor bugs, but I definately enjoyed it and plan on picking up a used copy to add to my collection.
