Dark Messiah: Might & Magic

INTRODUCTION

Dark Messiah is set in the great universe of Might and Magic. This universe hosted so many great games in the past, games that are now considered classics... I can’t count all the sleepless nights I had, playing the nostalgic Might & Magic series, let alone, the amazing Heroes of Might & Magic series… Although not all the games were successful (Legends, Crusaders, Warriors etc.), I am always excited to examine yet a new game set in this fantastic universe.

So, when I heard Dark Messiah was out there, I decided to put on my shining plate armor, place my magical sword in its curved heavy leather scabbard and go out to face my next dangerous quest to conquer my copy and bring it back safely into my DVD for installation.

The Storyline

The storyline of a game, that considers itself as a role-playing one, must be deep and fascinating. In this aspect, I was a little disappointed since the background story of Dark Messiah is a little shallow and predictable, although getting slightly better as you advance towards the end.

A long long time ago, about thousand years to be exact, the wars of fire took place on the grounds of Ashan. Bloody battles were fought between Humans, elves and their allies on one side and demons, living dead and dark creatures on the other. The fire wars caused massive destruction and took many casualties.

Eventually, the allied forces were the ones who prevailed thanks to Sar-Elam, a powerful wizard known also as the Seventh Dragon. He chose to sacrifice his own life in order to banish the demons from this world into a place of eternal fire and trap them in a magical cage.

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A prophecy foresees that thousand years after the fire wars ended, a young man, half man / half demon will be born – the dark messiah. He won’t know it at first, but his destiny is to find the only remaining of Sar-Elam, an ancient artifact called The Skull of Shadows. This artifact has the power to permanently seal the barrier created in the distant past by Sar-Elam or, on the other hand, destroy the barrier unleashing the dark armies upon the world.

Once the dark messiah will obtain the magical artifact in his hands, the world’s destiny will be sealed for better or worse. Will the barrier be shattered into pieces, freeing all those vile creatures to devour all that stands in their way? Will it be sealed forever, keeping the creatures behind bars of fire, freeing the world of their threat? Those questions are actually up to the Dark Messiah to answer, and guess what… YOU are the Dark Messiah!!! This means that Dark Messiah is an open-ended game. You can complete the game rescuing the world from the dark and evil forces or unleash them to carry out their evil deeds upon Ashan.

When the game starts, you’ll find yourself in control of Sareth, a young apprentice to Phenrig, a powerful wizard. You were raised into the art of magic and war and now the time has come for you to use your training in the real world… After a short tutorial that helps you understand the basics of the game, you are sent to Stonehelm to your master’s friend, Menelag. Your mission is to help Menelag retrieve the magical artifact of Sar-Elam, The Skull of Shadows. Think it’s going to be easy? Think again…

A huge army of orcs, ghouls, ghosts, demons and other horrifying living dead, led by a bunch of necromancers is marching towards the town, searching for that exact same artifact you are tasked to retrieve. Now things get nasty…

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