A Quick Demo Review

The role-playing games (I-X) that started it all and the various spin-offs (including Dark Messiah).
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A Quick Demo Review

Unread postby Angelspit » 20 Aug 2006, 13:29

Note: I originally wanted to say more, but I didn't have enough time. The latest GameSpot preview contains much more details.

Shortly after the release of the Dark Messiah single-player demo, people were posting warnings about the size of the file (1.44 Gig) and the amount of time required to play it (between 15 and 30 minutes). So after a long hesitation, I decided to give it a try and spent a few hours downloading from a busy server. Moving the file from my computer at work to my computer at home meant splitting the file into three parts, copying each part on a rewritable CD and copying them back to my hard disk. So after a long delay, I was ready to beging my training with Master Phenrig.

The visual presentation of the game is simply gorgeous. Judging from the nice introduction movie to the menu interface to the skill and inventory screens, you could think you are playing a finished game. The feeling of awe persists as you click the New Game option and are quickly transported to the game's tutorial level, where you can have a first look at the marvels that can be done with the Source engine. Finally, after several months, you are allowed to relive by yourself what only journalists could witness and play at E3 2006 until now. The environments are a refreshing change from the typical science-fiction or urban settings -- the Half Life with swords tagline that was used by gaming sites is certainly a bit restrictive to describe the environments Arkane has created.

Quickly enough you are request to perform tasks that are meant to showcase the game's infamouse physics engine, such as moving creates and destroying a structure that's in your way. Thankfully, the controls are simple enough for anyone who has played a first-person game before. In addition to the usual commands, the protagonist can kick ('F') objects and enemies, block ('right mouse button') attacks and access his inventory and skills ('TAB'). One particularly nice touch is that when Sareth looks down, he can see his legs and lower body. What could be considered a minor detail actually contributed to the suspension of disbelief and to the "first-person" feel of the game. This was particularly true in the second part of the demo when, in the middle of an encounter with a group of orcs, one of them grabbed me by the throat and throwed me to the floor. And there I was on the floor, looking at my lower body and at that nasty orc who was wondering what else he could do with me.

But where the game truly shines is in the combat area or, I should say, to the series of actions that happen before, during and after combat itself. Dark Messiah allows for multiple solutions for each encounter, either through melee combat, magic, range attacks and stealth. You will probably use all of them while playing the final game, but choosing a course of action based on the surroundings and the situation is a lot of fun. There are always various ways to benefit from objects lying around, a strategy that's particularly appealing when facing a group of strong opponents, unless you want to end up on the floor, looking at a tall orc, like I did. Piles of woods, spiked walls, chasms, fire and various other objects can be used to defeat monsters when a simple sword isn't enough. Melle combat, on the other hand, remains the most spectacular area of the game. Very few computer games managed to simulate melee combat with enough realism and immersion, and it appears that Dark Messiah might become one of them.

Unfortunately, by the time you get the hang out of the controls and the combat system, it's all over. Once you have killed the orcs in the camp and followed the tunnel, you are rewarded with a short movie showing the Cyclop that you saw in the E3 movie, but unfortunately that's a cliffhanger and you do not get the opportunity to fight it... unless you enable a noclipping cheat and walk through the end game section. But even without any of the hidden content that the Arkane developers threw in, I think the demo easily offers a great amount of replayability, thanks to the various weapons included in the game. The second disappointment I have was about the performance of the game. I experienced several slowdowns, mainly during combat and when cutscenes were starting, even though I was using the settings recommended by the game. Here's hoping that Arkane will manage to optimize the engine further before the release date.

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Unread postby DaemianLucifer » 20 Aug 2006, 14:13

I am disapointed by just one thing,and thats the arrows physics.I wanted to shoot an orc on the far side of the chasm,so I aimed a bit higher.I missed the orc,but I did hit the rope,sending the cage down and smashing the platform the orc was standing on.Though it looks incredebly cool,its really unrealistic.

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Unread postby Angelspit » 20 Aug 2006, 14:41

Someone made the same comment on the official forum. The triggers are way too permissive. The game isn't as forgiving with the archers on the multiplayer servers!

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Unread postby DaemianLucifer » 20 Aug 2006, 15:11

Angelspit wrote:Someone made the same comment on the official forum. The triggers are way too permissive. The game isn't as forgiving with the archers on the multiplayer servers!
Ah,thats good to know.And if its adjustable by difficulty,its even better.

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Unread postby asandir » 21 Aug 2006, 02:14

may not be that realistic, but sounds like a lot of fun!!!
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Unread postby Warlock » 21 Aug 2006, 22:25

For a game that boasts environmental combat, I was actually a little disappointed that not very many things are in fact flamable. Most notably, stuff like trees, shrubs and vines. There was a little tree coming out of the cliff wall above an orc, and I wanted to shoot it with a fireball and at the very least have some cinders rain down on him. But no dice. Nothing happened :( I also mentioned in another topic that I tried to use my ice spell on that water pool and nothing happened. I was kind of hoping it would freeze over (or at least create a mini iceburg) or something :(

But it was pretty fun. I just wish the thing ran better on my system. It seems to very much be a memory hog when it comes to graphics. I need a new video card :(

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Unread postby asandir » 22 Aug 2006, 01:05

what are you running with warlock?
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Unread postby Warlock » 22 Aug 2006, 01:11

stefan.urlus wrote:what are you running with warlock?
Pentium 4 3ghz
Geforce FX5700LE (128mb vram)
512 mb RAM

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Unread postby asandir » 22 Aug 2006, 01:16

okay, thanks

I am interested cause it gives me an idea of how my athlon 3500+ with a gig of ram and my x850xt 256mb will run the thing

should be okay im thinking
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Unread postby Warlock » 22 Aug 2006, 16:57

Yeah, my only problem is the graphics card. It doesn't have enough ram. I need to get a new one, except that with Vista and DirectX10 coming out, anything I get *now* will become obsolete too fast since it won't support DX10

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Unread postby asandir » 23 Aug 2006, 02:02

that seems to be most people's concern, although Tomshardware recommended an ATI X1900GT (i think that's the card) it's a slightly downgraded version of the X1900XT - which rocks - and has an apparently reasonable price point (although i haven't checked what that might be) .... it of course doesn't do DX10, but probably would provide quite a bit of longevity, i find that even though my card isn't right up with the newest stuff, it plays the games, and provides plenty of eye candy, and waiting for the "next card" is a it of a never-ending cycle

i would also be a little concerned about the 512MB RAM you have, and would suggest upgrading that as well to at least a gig, that can help with newer games, cause the textures are getting so big that swapping them in and out with smaller RAM amounts is a bit of a bottleneck sometimes, also depends a bit on what sort of RAM you have, good timings can sometimes work better than more RAM

anyway, good luck with the release version of DMoMM
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Unread postby Lord_Haart » 23 Aug 2006, 09:50

Get an X800 or 6600/6800 - that should get these games working decently, and cover you until a few months into the next generation of GFX cards.

I'm also looking to update my AGP X800Pro to a PCI-E card - I'll probably get a 7900GT (the lowest) or 7800, for as cheap as possible. I doubt many people will get the new DX10 cards as soon as they're out since they'll no doubt be obscenely expensive, and most games in the next 12 months should support DX9.

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Unread postby Warlock » 23 Aug 2006, 19:16

stefan.urlus wrote:that seems to be most people's concern, although Tomshardware recommended an ATI X1900GT (i think that's the card) it's a slightly downgraded version of the X1900XT - which rocks - and has an apparently reasonable price point (although i haven't checked what that might be) .... it of course doesn't do DX10, but probably would provide quite a bit of longevity, i find that even though my card isn't right up with the newest stuff, it plays the games, and provides plenty of eye candy, and waiting for the "next card" is a it of a never-ending cycle

i would also be a little concerned about the 512MB RAM you have, and would suggest upgrading that as well to at least a gig, that can help with newer games, cause the textures are getting so big that swapping them in and out with smaller RAM amounts is a bit of a bottleneck sometimes, also depends a bit on what sort of RAM you have, good timings can sometimes work better than more RAM

anyway, good luck with the release version of DMoMM
Actually come to think of it - I might have a gig of RAM, I need to double check that now :P

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Unread postby asandir » 24 Aug 2006, 00:42

not a bad suggestion lord haart, although those cards are starting to show their age a little, they should improve things for those who have even older cards at a reasonable price

i hope you do have a gig warlock, it may save a few dollars :)
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Unread postby Lord_Haart » 24 Aug 2006, 18:26

Also, it's probably worth moving to Conroe (Intel's new line of CPUs) if you want to do a complete upgrade (ie new computer). Everything I've heard shows them to be superior in cost and effectiveness to AMD's new stuff, and they are priced really well - probably the best value on the market, and the price of the lowest make (which still beats the $^#@ out of the last generation) is about $150Au = $110US

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Unread postby asandir » 25 Aug 2006, 00:55

not quite Lord Haart, AMD have dropped their prices significantly and they maintain a price/performance edge in most categories except for the conroe 6400, which is an excellent choice

for pure power, intel is pretty much unbeatable with conroe, but until amd can strike back, they have reduced prices (they had to)

so it depends a little on budget, if you can afford a conroe, then get it
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Unread postby Warlock » 25 Aug 2006, 19:45

stefan.urlus wrote:not a bad suggestion lord haart, although those cards are starting to show their age a little, they should improve things for those who have even older cards at a reasonable price

i hope you do have a gig warlock, it may save a few dollars :)
I forgot to check, but I'm pretty sure now I do have two slots with 512 (aka 1 Gig :P). I don't know why I thought I had less earlier :D

Edit: Yup, 1gig.. :P

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Unread postby asandir » 28 Aug 2006, 05:47

well that's for the good
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Unread postby maltz » 29 Aug 2006, 22:26

I also DL the demo and played it. Looks like a good game:

- enemies are smart
- a lot of interactions with the environment
- beautiful, so beautiful (runs slow even on the best PC I can find)

If you like FPS you really should consider buying it. Just a few things I don't like very much:

- rapid shift of camera is sometimes disorienting
- the scrool wheel system makes it sometimes hard to switch to what you want in a hurry
- climbing is a little weird. All I can see is chains flying in front of my eyes and suddenly I lost / gain the grab of it.

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Unread postby starlady11 » 02 Sep 2006, 07:51

Angelspit wrote:Someone made the same comment on the official forum. The triggers are way too permissive. The game isn't as forgiving with the archers on the multiplayer servers!
been away a while is this going to have more than 1 chacter? i'm playing morrowwind 3 and miss the bright colors and 4-5 other chacters that m &m has. patty [starlady11]


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