Game Journal: Dark Messiah of Might and Magic

Don't despair, townsperson. Somewhere, out there, Kicky McBoots is kicking goblins into campfires.


Actually, this guy got up, danced around on fire, then ran away. I didn't want to deal with him later, so I chased him down and killed him. I felt like a #*$&. As Tycho from Penny Arcade said about the grunts in Halo, these little guys need compelling afterschool activities to keep them out of trouble, not hot ugly death.

I've played past the "twist" in the game. It's telegraphed so far in advance and so often that I can't really consider it an twist. I actually figured the game would end at that point and set up a sequel. I suppose I should have realized that I had so few skill points there must be more to go.

I also now have an indestructible shield. For some reason, shields are the only thing in the game with durability. I can carry dozens of glass potion jars, take a dozen hits, and never break one, but those shields just fall apart constantly. :P Plus, one of my shields went into negative durability and can neither be equipped nor dropped. It's just wasting space in my inventory. But now that I have a proper shield, I'm blocking projectiles like crazy and shield bashing opponents to create some breathing room to charge up my power strikes. I said it before, and I'll say it again. There hasn't been first person melee better than this.

The graphics are very pretty in spots, too.

Although why this numbskull with a bow is rushing a guy with a longsword and shield, I couldn't tell you.

A lot of the game is dark, though. Really dark.


But they give you night vision.


The game uses the Source Engine's High Dynamic Range lighting so that your eyes have to adjust when going from light to dark. There is a lot of contrast in the game, and sometimes I'm flipping between the two modes a lot. When I'm exploring ruins, it's cool. I'm using magic to see what is hidden. But when I'm moving down a corridor in the fortress of a wizard who was apparently too cheap to spring for enough torches, it's ridiculous. I suppose they designed it that way to give sneaky characters more places to hide, but they probably could have used lighter shadows and still gotten the point across.