Dark Messiah of Might and Magic Retrospective

Eurogamer is offering an interesting two-pages retrospective for Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, and it’s pretty obvious that the author of the article really enjoyed the title. Here’s a sampling:

Released in 2008 by Arkane Studios, of Arx Fatalis and the upcoming Dishonored, Dark Messiah was made in Source, Half-Life 2’s engine. The similarities between them, few as they are, dwell in the strength of Source: its physics. Importantly, though, rather than go down the route of Half-Life 2’s physics puzzles, Arkane made a game shot through with that physicality, permeating the entire game world. Things that you’d expect to react to a bunch of medieval fantasy dudes duking it out do react to a bunch of medieval fantasy dudes duking it out.

Attic floors, constructed of half-rotten wooden planks placed down by some cowboy carpenter, splinter and snap when put under the pressure of a lobbed crate, taking the three guards you really didn’t want to have to deal with down to a sticky end on the floor below. A chandelier swings wildly out of control when you cut the rope that was so courageously holding it back. Men get crushed, all the bloody time, because you’re just the kind of curious sadist that Arkane made the game for.

More importantly, these tactics are all but required if you don’t want to die constantly. Dark Messiah treads the tricky line of empowering you without ever making you feel superhuman. Your opponents don’t have noticeably less health than you, and there’s rarely a time when you’ll be facing them one at a time.

Instead, you need to stack the deck against them, coupling your inherent skills with a keen observation of the surrounding environment. Figuring out where you want to fight is almost as important as how; if you lure them over to this suspiciously spiked vine-frame, you can kick one of them into it, killing him instantly, while you dispatch the other. Or perhaps you can get them dangerously close to the campfire and set them alight with a well placed Boot-to-Groin.