Dark Messiah

Mike,

Is the DVD for Dark Messiah available in stores yet? I thought it had just shipped.

I saw it at my local Best Buy while I was picking up Medal of Honor Heroes for the PSP tonight.
 
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Make sure you check availability - for MoH Heroes only half the stores in my area had stock.
 
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Just a general comment, since my original post referred to a comment that was deleted. I don't think that open discussion of pirating games is appropriate - our genre is small enough as it is.
 
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In a general forum, a discussion of Piracy would be tolerated within reason, but NOT in a thread devoted to a specific game. For reasons explained elsewhere by both myself and Gorath, we MUST take a strong stand against piracy!! Remember, many developers visit out forums.
 
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Those who have played the demo: Is there anything remotely like the 4 person party of M&M which this is supposedly a semi-sequel to--or is it just FPS style one character?
Actually, the M&M series really basically was a first-person perspective and camera so I'm okay with that--just would like more than one character to customize.
 
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Those who have played the demo: Is there anything remotely like the 4 person party of M&M which this is supposedly a semi-sequel to--or is it just FPS style one character?
Let me see if I can answer that with a screen:
DMoMM_006a.jpg


If that isn't clear enough, think 'Half-Life 2 meets Arx Fatalis'
 
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Yup-pretty much sez it all. Clean interface, too.
Thanx.
 
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I can't stand the graphics in this game. The grainy, bloomy looks really bothers me - makes things seem almost 2D. I'm playing Arx Fatalis now and I honestly think it looks better despite the low polys.

Wish I liked it.
 
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I have no problem with the look ... I *do* have a problem that I lost half of the lunch-hour gameplay I did because it crashed entering a new Chapter ... between deleting the old save and making the new one.
 
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The game is pretty damn good; I got to hand it to Arkane for producing another winner. Combat really does take some getting used to in order to get it right. Even in light of the learning curve, I really do feel like this is the most interactive and responsive FPS combat I have every experienced. Arkane did a good incorporating the full range of defensive and offensive moves into game play. In some games certain moves are more frills than anything else. For instance, in TESIV one really could just run up to their opponent and beat the snot out of them without much thought or skill, blocking was more of an option then a necessity. In this game the enemy will parry light blows, counter, use power attacks skillfully, and give good reason to become familiar with the parry function. It may be a little frustrating and awkward in the beginning but with a little practice and time the combat really becomes addicting. Scripted sequences play more of a storytelling function than anything else, well as far as the first few levels go that is. Combat takes place extemporaneously. An enemy hears, sees, or smells you and attacks. They use the environment to their advantage as the opportunity presents itself. One doesn't simply step into a scripted trap, instead if the player just happens to be in the area of influence of a trap their assailant may very well take advantage of that opportunity. Sometimes it is unexpected, and quite surprising. Every weapon type has a very distinct feel, as such; each one takes time and practice to use effectively. With bugs and performance issues set aside, my biggest gripe with the game is in the voice acting. Some of the actors come off with the "Wow, look at me I'm acting." feeling that can be overbearing and sometimes comical. The music in the game is appropriate and moves with the flow and setting of the game, sound is up to par. Graphics wise the game is very engrossing; architecture and detail have a very gothic or medieval feel, and really takes advantage of the source engine and its capabilities. The environment is well suited for a traditional rpg; however, the placement of spiked grates is a little artificial. I get the feeling Arkane may have a few of them decorating their office due to the frequency they are implemented in the game. Weapons placement is appropriate, and without giving away too much, you may even chance upon a hammer and anvil. The class system is well balanced, however the idea that one could play the game without using a melee weapon is a little out of touch with reality. Over all it’s a great game, more action than rpg, but more fun than a truck load of puppies. If you want something better go get a sword and a suit of armor and hit the streets. I would encourage all of my nerd bretheren to buy this game.
 
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Oh ... I've posted tidbits in various places today, but nothing concise ...

My thoughts on the game are pretty much 'Half-Life 2 meets Arx Fatalis meets Blade of Darkness'. And since I love all three then you can guess that I'm completely enamored with the game.

And I'd have to be or I'd have tossed it and said 'to heck with this crappy bugfest'! I'm only on Chapter 5, but should be much further - except for the bugs. I had numerous texture crashes last night which eventually caused me to load an earlier save and repeat an entire area. Then I completed a large battle sequence which pretty much ended the chapter ... but forgot to quicksave - the game crashed before loading the next chapter but I lost the auto-save for some reason.

I agree that the combat is superb - it is a greatly visceral experience. The moves and attacks and defences all *work* ... they just work. It is great fun dropping a Fire Trap when you know someone is rounding a corner ... but when they know you're there they'll attempt to avoid such traps. Things are scripted in areas, but this isn't like one of those WWII FPS games - the AI is very advanced.

So I already consider my $50 well spent :)
 
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So far so good imo, exactly what I expected. Good break from Gothic 3 pacing, but not a game that will make you forget you started the epic G3 a week beforehand.
 
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Darn, am I the only one who feels the game is bloody difficult on hard setting? I get beaten up like around every other corner. I may have to give the normal setting a toss, although I really don't want to :\
 
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I'm playing 'normal', saving skill points and trying to go as much 'pure mage' as I can ... with as feeble combat skills as i have early on, I wouldn't do Hard. I'd need to be a balanced BattleMage for that!
 
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Enjoyed the into dungeon, but every 5 min or so the whole damned thing does the old crash to desktop. It seems that many people on the DMM&M boards are having the exact errors that I am having, so it looks like its time to wait for the patch ;-((

Its a shame, because the little combat that I did get was quite enjoyable. Wonder what they are smoking over at Gamespot to give it such a poor rating.
 
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Actually, I'm using the demo.exe to run the game. This may or may not be such a good idea, but I haven't experienced any glitches or bugs and have had no crashes so far.
 
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Enjoyed the into dungeon, but every 5 min or so the whole damned thing does the old crash to desktop. It seems that many people on the DMM&M boards are having the exact errors that I am having, so it looks like its time to wait for the patch ;-((

I took one piece of advice and turned HDR completely off, and after wasting an hour screwing around with crashing and reloading I got an hour of actual gameplay ...
 
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Furthermore, someone suggested setting textures to medium instead of high; it's said to stop crashing for them. Even though I've had no such problems, I've also done this and now I get no stuttering at all, and the game looks just as fine as before.

Also, I've restarted the game on normal difficulty, but it's like a walk in the park now. :) I think this setting should have been dubbed "easy" and an in-between difficulty setting between the current normal and hard settings should have been worked out. Anyway, I'm still at the beginning of the game, but it is miles easier than on hard.
 
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