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Multiplayer Preview

Unread postby {CH}ArticleBot » 16 Jul 2006, 09:44

Ubisoft was kind enough to allow me to publish my impressions of the Dark Messiah of Might and Magic multiplayer beta test. As a veteran of the Heroes series, I saw very little Might and Magic in that game, but a very high potential. Even two months before its expected release date, the Dark Messiah beta is more polished and stable than most game demos I have tried.

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Read my report, which includes several never-seen-before screenshots, here.






















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A Class Act




Important Notes: the following article is about a computer or video
game under development. The content of the game and the visuals are likely to
change before the release of the title. The article has been published with
permission from Ubisoft.




It’s Not About Playing
Roles



Last year, when Heroes of
Might and Magic V had just been announced, there were rumors about a second
title that would use the new Might and Magic universe created by Ubisoft. Fans
immediately thought about a new Might and Magic role-playing game, the tenth
chapter of the series, as it seemed normal to bring back the franchise to its
roots. But it turned out that Ubisoft had quite a surprise for the gaming
community: Dark Messiah was described as a first-person action game with some
light RPG elements that would use the famous Source engine. Now, it's important
to note that the experience of the Might and Magic players with action games
was until now limited to a couple of failed titles, such as Crusaders, a
third-person action game aimed at the console crowd, and Legends, a
Counterstrike clone that suffered from poor design decisions, a lack of balance
and countless of bugs. But to think that Ubisoft would repeat the mistakes of
3DO would be an error: the development team that was chosen to develop the new
title was none other than Arkane Studios, creator of the critically-acclaimed
RPG Arx Fatalis. What has been shown of the game until now has been very well
received by the gaming community. The screenshots and the gameplay movies were
showing how dynamic and exciting melee combat can be in an action game.
However, gameplay is what really matters in the end, and that's what I am going
to cover.


[/url]



With a decent video card, the scenery in
Dark Messiah is simply gorgeous.


A View to a Kill


The power of the Source
engine is used effectively in Dark Messiah. While the sexiest visual effects
have been kept for the single-player portion of the game to keep the online
action fast and fluid, multiplayer matches take place in a lush and detailed
environment. Cranking up the level of detail on a powerful computer produces
some pretty Kodak moments, such as the lighting effects when a player is facing
the sun, gigantic structures that make the players look like ants, or the view
when a player looks down a cliff. The two maps were available in the beta test
as of publication:


·
The first one could be compared to the
famous Faces from the original Unreal Tournament. Two castles are facing each
others, with a series of small structures between them, the center one being on
the top of a small hill. There are lots of mountains around.


·
The second one is much larger and more
complex. Two bases are hidden behind mountains, with various entrances on two
levels. There are two paths to cross the chasm that separates the two mountains.


To some extent, the game
reuses some of the dark atmosphere that was introduced in Heroes of Might and
Magic V. The undead character models, for instance, are nowhere near the
cartoonish monsters of previous Might and Magic games. While there are no
screams and violent deaths as in many first-person shooters, you will see a
certain amount of blood stains here and there. The only drawback is that the
look and feel of the game has very little to do with anything seen in previous
Might and Magic or Heroes games. I understand that the single-player campaign
is where the new world of Ashan will be revealed, but a few subtle references
to the old game would have been a nice touch. At the moment, there is very
little Might and Magic in Dark Messiah besides the name.


[/url]



The character models in Dark Messiah are
grim and sinister... and the players behind them are even worse!


The Smell of a Fireball in
the Morning



A multiplayer game is
fast and brutal. A single multiplayer mode, Warfare,
was available during the beta test. Two teams of players, the humans and the
undead, start near their home base. The goal in that particular mode is to
capture respawn points scattered throughout the map. Reaching the opposite team
takes a little while, so each team has time to regroup in a specific area of
the map, or to rush to the nearest respawn point. Players have a limited amount
of stamina that they can use to run over a short distance – they can use it all
to sprint to a specific location, but they need to be careful not to meet an
enemy with an empty stamina bar; the results are often fatal. With a few
notable exceptions, the maps are fairly symmetric, so it's easy after a couple
of games to find our way around. Dead-ends are hard to come by, fortunately.


Just like any other
multiplayer game, there is a learning curve. The controls are easy to get used
to, especially if you have played a similar game before, but keeping up with
the speed of the melee battles and playing in a way that will actually be
useful to your team requires some patience and practice. It is advised to start
on a quiet server, gather experience by capturing respawn points in order to
learn new skills and put these skills to the test. The tips and instructions
provided on-screen by the game are very useful, but you won't have time to read
them on a populated server. The game includes a lock-on feature that allows
your character to remain face-to-face with an opponent of your choice.
Development has explained that this feature was introduced to add tactics to
melee combat, which would otherwise become a click-fest. Despite my initial
negative impressions, I got to appreciate the lock-on after experiencing and
watching a couple of brawls between knights. The battle looks more realistic
and the pace of the fight appears to be more comfortable.


[/url]



The way to the undead castle. You never know
what can come out of it.


The Players


Players are free to choose the class they want, and to
restart with a new class during the course of a game, so the team lineups are
always varied. Here are the game's four very different character classes:


Knight
and Warrior: The definitive might
class. Thanks to its intimidating speed and damage, the knight can quickly run
through a crowd and bring down the weakest opponents. It's probably the class
newcomers should choose right from the start, as rushing to the enemies and
swinging the sword madly might very well get you a few kills. Players who learn
to use the shield and the special stances effectively will become even more
dangerous. No matter what class you play, seeing an experienced knight running
your way is intimidating to say the least.


Archer:
The other might class. Unlike the
knight, the archer class takes a while to get used to. It turns out that the
bow is a little more difficult to use than what the recent Dark Messiah
gameplay videos suggested. Just like the sniper in your favorite first-person
shooter, you need to aim ahead of your opponent before you release your arrows.
That's why many players prefer to use this class at short range, a tactic that
can be especially useful against rushing knights. As the archer gains levels,
it becomes more powerful with skills such as triple, poison and flame arrows –
however, getting there takes some skills.


Assassin:
I consider the assassin class is hallway in the might and magic scale. Because
its attack inflicts less damage than the knight, the assassin needs to rely on
special tricks to defeat the enemy. Early on, he will become partly invisible
to sneak through the frontline undetected, and will try to backstab any unlucky
bystander. Afterwards, he will learn to use poison to partially blind his
enemies. However, once the assassin is spotted, he is in an uncomfortable
position. I enjoy playing as an assassin against a team filled with magic
users, entering a building using the backdoor and sneaking up on their backs.


[/url]



Fear the Fire


Mage:
The Might and Magic equivalent of artillery, the mage compensates for his
inability to fight in melee combat with an impressive assortment of direct
damage spells. While his starting skills are modest to say the least, he
becomes a powerhouse once he masters the fireballs and lightning spells. Mages
will often stand on rocks and structures to launch and direct fireballs at long
range, forcing their enemies to hide behind obstacles. But experienced players
will have no problem rushing to the front line either. Even if you manage to get
close enough to a mage to slay him, he will sometimes take you with them with a
last second fireball.


Priest
and
Healer:
Another pure magic class, the Priest is at the moment considered one of the
best classes in the game. His very varied range of spells allows him to stand
in the back and provide support to her teammates, but also to deal damage from
a very long distance. A Priest is definitely in trouble if an enemy gets close,
but hopefully a few teammates are nearby. The priest Slow spell, which drops a
large amount of brambles nearby on the group and damages any enemy that tries
to run through it, is fun to use and allows some interesting combos.


Character
development works a bit differently in multiplayer than in single-player. While
in single-player you are free to develop your character in melee, archery and
magic and make any combination of those skills, multiplayer classes come with a
predefined selection of abilities. For instance, a Priestess starts with her
staff and a Cure/Curse spell. When she reaches level 2, she learns another
spell, Slow, but cannot improve her melee skills. Later on, she will be able to
resurrect teammates, heal several people simultaneously and creates toxic
clouds on the battlefield.


The Messiah We’ve Been
Waiting For



Dark Messiah could
perhaps be the best thing that happened to the Might and Magic franchise in
years. Even in its beta stage, the game is fairly stable, offers impressive
visuals, provides a fair amount of innovation and, most importantly, is fun.
The combination of the fantasy setting, the well-executed melee combat and the
overall coolness factor are sure to attract a lot of new players to the
franchise. If any other game provides a better experience of melee combat, I
need to try it now and see it with my own eyes. Dark Messiah will be in store
in September 2006.







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