Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.

Hiya. I'm new so I'd first like to say hello to everyone.

I'm playing this game and I have to say it's pretty great. If you haven't played it give it a try, it's basically a FPS set in a medieval sword and sorcery world.

If you have played it I have a question. I'm posting here because the only forum I could find that was still alive (over at Ubisoft) is very nearly dead and no one's much help.

I've been saving up my skill points and now have enough to purchase all the stealth skills, I just don't know if it's worth it (single player by the way).

The primary and most fun use for the skill set as I see it is the back stab with the daggers. But playing on Normal difficulty you can accomplish the exact same thing with any weapon by using a power attack in the head. That was a bad decision on the part of the designers as it makes back stab redundant.

The other stealth skill is hiding in shadows. I tried it out hiding from a zombie and it didn't have any trouble detecting me even with the stealth meter completely filled in. Maybe it was because it was a zombie, maybe they can smell you.

I really like the idea of a stealth/archer type but is it worth all those points? If you play that way what are some strategies that you use?

Also is the burglar skill worth it? So far I haven't found a single door or chest that could not be opened with a key.

Thanks very much.

Originally Posted by human_male
Hiya. I'm new so I'd first like to say hello to everyone.

I'm playing this game and I have to say it's pretty great. If you haven't played it give it a try, it's basically a FPS set in a medieval sword and sorcery world.

If you have played it I have a question. I'm posting here because the only forum I could find that was still alive (over at Ubisoft) is very nearly dead and no one's much help.

I've been saving up my skill points and now have enough to purchase all the stealth skills, I just don't know if it's worth it (single player by the way).

The primary and most fun use for the skill set as I see it is the back stab with the daggers. But playing on Normal difficulty you can accomplish the exact same thing with any weapon by using a power attack in the head. That was a bad decision on the part of the designers as it makes back stab redundant.

The other stealth skill is hiding in shadows. I tried it out hiding from a zombie and it didn't have any trouble detecting me even with the stealth meter completely filled in. Maybe it was because it was a zombie, maybe they can smell you.

I really like the idea of a stealth/archer type but is it worth all those points? If you play that way what are some strategies that you use?

Also is the burglar skill worth it? So far I haven't found a single door or chest that could not be opened with a key.

Thanks very much.

Hey, welcome.

I recently got the game too and I was pretty disappointed in it. I played more so as a warrior and found the game incredibly easy and short. I think the ability to simply kick enemies into spikes and chasms is WAY too common and really took the strategy out of the game. Basically, there's no point in sneaking around since you just rush people and kick them.

I was hoping this game would be like Blade of Darkness, but sadly it's just kinda pretty looking, but shallow imo. I'll always love Arkane for making Arx Fatalis, but this was a big disappointment.

FEAR DAS BOOT!!!!

It was fun but, yeah, kicking was horrifically unbalanced. Especially after about, oh, two thirds of the way through when you get some electric shield thing that paralyzes just about anything that hits you. By now, though, the price has got to be cheap enough that it would be worth it just to say you kicked your way through an entire fantasy shooter game.

Human - don't worry about it. Get whatever sounds fun. If it doesn't work out, just use DAS BOOT and you'll be fine.

Hey guys.

Yeah the kicking thing was a bit silly how they placed spikes everywhere for you to use. Using it now and again to kick people off ledges and whatnot would have kept it fresh. The same with the boxes and barrels precariously piled on rickety platforms. It's an example of a good idea that was overused. It's something I can overlook though.

The only things I didn't really like was performance (low framerate) and the difficulty settings. I started out on Hard and found it to be quite challenging. But when I got to the island with the orcs it became impossible for me. Kicking or no. So I had to start again on Normal and it was too easy. Whenever I got hurt there was the Heal spell so I basically didn't have a use for all the health potions and things. But I discovered you can drop spells like you can items so I dropped Heal and now it's a bit more challenging.

And stealth was kind of ruined by allowing you to use any weapon, including a bow to get an instant kill if you hit them in the head provided they hadn't spotted you. Thus completely negating the Back Stab skill which was stealths biggest draw card.

So it's not perfect but I'm just such a sucker for adventuring in this sort of sword and sorcery kind of world and I think it was done really well, cool monsters and stuff (spiders, goblins and ghouls were particularly cool). Plus I haven't seen a game like this since Hexen. I think there should be more. Unfortubately Blade of Darkness isn't available over here otherwise I would have definitely checked it out.

And plus there's Xana. You've gotta love Xana!

Yeah, I thought the atmosphere was really well done. As much as I dislike Half Life 2, I think the Source engine is pretty damn good. It's so crisp and everything just seems so clear.

I don't think the game would be so bad if it wasn't so short. I remember looking at a walkthrough when I got stuck looking for some spider gems or something and realizing that I was actually on chapter 7 of 9. I got pretty pissed that I was already nearing the end since I'd been playing the game for only like 2 days or so.

Blade of Darkness is an old game (2001) but it had some of the greatest combat imo. It was like a fighter game, but in third person like the Witcher with combo moves and a few RPG elements.

Not sure why some people think DMoMM is too short, it really isn't. I thought it was the perfect length for what it is, a first-person action RPG. Had it been any longer, I would probably have gotten tired of playing it before the end.

That being said, it's a fun diversion for a few days. It's actually pretty good as long as your expectations aren't too high.

Heh, I just bought this game. I'm curious how it will be. At least I know that it doesn't have any relation to the Might and Magic titles.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Not sure why some people think DMoMM is too short, it really isn't. I thought it was the perfect length for what it is, a first-person action RPG. Had it been any longer, I would probably have gotten tired of playing it before the end.

That being said, it's a fun diversion for a few days. It's actually pretty good as long as your expectations aren't too high.

I agree, I don't think it's too short at all. The first five chapters are very short but the rest of the game isn't, so maybe that gives people the impression the game is quite short when it's not. Or maybe they're comparing it to an RPG that you would expect to be much longer. But for a first person, err… shooter, it's not.

I started a short way into the game, and it didn't completely convince me so far. The motion sickness I sometimes get from first person perspective kicked in early. The color palette was somewhat drab, but that might get better. The voice-acting is absolutely grating. I guess it's the last point that made me put it aside for the moment.

Edit: That sound very negative, but I got Mount&Blade in the same order, so it's a competition .

The trick that made Dark Messiah so enjoyable for me (I've completed it about 6 times by now) was to pick a path from the beginning and then sticking with it.

When I wanted to go the stealthy way I threw away the swords, shields, armour and whatnot and focused on stealth and daggers. Doing that will allow you to play out each level in 3 completely different ways.

Oh and the whole kicking thing was heatedly debated when the game was new as well and my answer is still the same as it was back then: If the kick feels unbalanced, then don't use it. The only one you're cheating/annoying by overusing it is yourself.