Seems there have been a lot of problems with the release. For example, if you buy a copy in the store, go to install it, and choose to install the multiplayer portion of the game...Steam goes ahead and downloads EVERYTHING, including the singleplayer stuff.
GSpot don't dig it. (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/darkmessiahofmightmagic/review.html) I don't know what to think. I honestly don't really care about it that much, so this sorta' doesn't matter to me either way... but I liked what Arkane did with Arx Fatalis, so this makes me sad. Then again, reader opinion seems higher, and most other publications seem higher. Go figure.I love how on the side "We say 6.7" and right below it 355 votes "You say 9.1" :P
GSpot don't dig it. (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/darkmessiahofmightmagic/review.html) I don't know what to think. I honestly don't really care about it that much, so this sorta' doesn't matter to me either way... but I liked what Arkane did with Arx Fatalis, so this makes me sad. Then again, reader opinion seems higher, and most other publications seem higher. Go figure.
I love how on the side "We say 6.7" and right below it 355 votes "You say 9.1" :PIf the IGN boards are any indication, people would buy and love any POS game as long as it used the Source engine and Steam. Seriously.
If the IGN boards are any indication, people would buy and love any POS game as long as it used the Source engine and Steam. Seriously.
The biggest inherent problem with Dark Messiah's multiplayer is that all the cool Source physics elements have been gutted from it. You can't kick enemies off of cliffs or crush their skulls with rocks. You'll take to the air like a sack of potatoes when you get blasted by an enemy's fireball, yes, but only after you're dead. It's sad that the element that the single-player most meaningfully hinges on couldn't be exploited for the multiplayer.Sucky.
At this writing, however, Dark Messiah's multiplayer faces a much more serious problem -- balance issues. Depending on whom you ask, priestesses are indestructible, assassins are over-reliant on poison bombs, mages render archers obsolete, and ranged classes render warriors completely impotent. Regardless of who you think is right, it's hard to deny that there sure are a lot of priestesses out there on the battlefield.That's not good....
On a more concrete level, many players are reporting all manner of gameplay bugs and performance issues with the game. These include freezes, crashes and memory leaks plus less serious but still annoying stutters and frame rate drops -- two issues that we experienced first-hand during our play time. Ubisoft has acknowledged an issue with Nvidia Series 6 cards, though the currently offered solution (to revert to old drivers) is hardly advisable. If you're unsure as to whether you'll encounter problems with your system, the best advice is to wait until Ubisoft issues a patch (currently under development).I own a GF 6 series card. Skip reverting back to older drivers. No thank you. This is rediculous -- and I definitely will be waiting for patches to come out -- and a very nice price drop -- before I pick up what sounds like "Beta in a box."
It's easy to be disappointed with Dark Messiah, given that it had so much potential. There is absolutely some compelling content in here, though you'll frequently have to exhibit a good deal of patience if you want to enjoy it. As for the multiplayer, well, it's anyone's guess what till happen once fans get their hands on the SDK. Right now, though, Dark Messiah's multiplayer is little more that a novelty. Still, it's hard to deny that the game has some immensely enjoyable moments. It's just too bad that they're too often surrounded by so much clutter.That's a shame.
The visceral thrill of this clang and slash is pretty much the only thing that keeps Dark Messiah moving forward.The combat in the demo was awesome, to say the least.
Because it's certainly not the leveling, and it sure as hell isn't the storyline, in which you're lead by the nose through a rigidly linear world that quite literally is about going there and back again.Damn.....
It even reuses every boss creature at least twice. Remember that dragon you killed? Well, you didn't.Ouch.
The demon who loved meIt sounds disappointing that the story is weak. I did like the story that Arx Fatalis, Arkane's other game, had going on.
There's a slutty demon chick in your head (and eventually elsewhere, too) who reminds you things like, "Use the rope bow" if you get stuck and occasionally offers droll single entendres. This Cortona wannabe is a foil to the girl-next-door mage chick you'll have to rescue a few times. You can easily guess where the ham-handed love triangle is going, and the Dark Secret (TM) is pretty obvious early on.
The visuals are as uninspired as the story. The Source engine has never looked worse than it does in these dimly lit, rotely drawn dungeons infested with technical glitches like stuttering sound and disappearing polygons.I dunno', but the demo did look, graphically, good -- I thought so.
At least the multiplayer is an attempt at something different (i.e., something that hasn't been done in the series since 2001's Legends of Might and Magic). You'll have to install Valve's Steam and you'll have to power through some absurdly long loading times. No, your system hasn't crashed.Damn Steam...always causing issues....
But once you get past these hurdles, you're in a refreshing fantasy take on Unreal Tournament's assault mode. The multiplayer goes back and forth over the course of several maps, which increasingly favor the losing team. The whole time, you're earning experience for new abilities, which change up the gameplay. Immediately after Dark Messiah's release, there was a lot of fumbling around, with most players inclined to play warriors wildly swinging their swords. But there's lots of tactical potential here that should appease anyone interested in getting more than a few kicks from Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.I do want to try the MP, though -- despite it REQUIRING Steam....
In preparation for a multiplayer patch coming soon to a computer near you (via Steam), below is the list of fixes to expect.
When we have a firm date for the patch, this thread will be updated with the new information.
********************************************************************************************
MP Update 1.01 changes and bug fixes
********************************************************************************************
- ‘Can’t find background image materials/console/startup_loading.vtf’ error: Due to incorrect registry key setting for Steam language, now fixed
- ¾ Loading Progression lockup: Fixed
- Loading bar: Now displays progress information
- Remembering skills on disconnect: When a player reconnects to a server the game should return him to his previous level. This will not work across campaigns (new campaign wipes all skills).
- Scoreboard fonts: Changed the scoreboard to ensure it displays 32 players even at low officially unsupported resolutions (e.g. 640x480)
- Main Menu: We have made sure the main menu displays even at low resolutions (e.g. 640x480)
- Battle Begins Message Flicker: Fixed
- Backstab improvements: We have made yet more improvements to the backstab system, making it smoother to trigger and preventing 'lockup' situations
- Assassin cloak / capture points: Now the action of taking a point is considered an 'aggressive' act and will de-cloak an assassin
- Stoneskin damage change: Stoneskin now lasts less long on priestesses than other characters. Stoneskin will slow a staff user's attacks down while stoneskinned.
- Leaping attack bug fixed. Knights must now sprint up to a minimum speed before triggering Leap Attack. Sprint forwards for 1/2 a second or so, jump and press fire to trigger the attack.
- Nvidia antialiasing code: Prevents users selecting an antialiasing mode their card does not support
- Alt-Tab is now re-enabled: This is officially unsupported and the users’ mileage will vary depending on drivers/cards etc.
- Windowed Mode: Entering a command line parameter of ‘-window’ will enable the game to be played in a window.
- ‘-width’ will specify a standard resolution (such as –width 800 for 800x600): Again, this is officially unsupported and mileage will vary!
- Game Servers in Steam Browser: Should now be visible in the standard out-of-game server browser.
Consider it done.
Well, temptation and curiosity got the better of me. I downloaded the ripped version of DM (it's basically the single-player files from the Steam installation). It runs very nicely. I got it because I had to see for myself the issues everyone was complaining about, and the gripes with the 'linear' gameplay.So, there are "some" decisions along the way. Cool.
After playing through the game several times, and seeing 4 endings (similar but with subtle differences), I've come to the conclusion that it is a great game. It is fairly linear, but there are a few moments where you can create a turning point. The locations will be the same no matter what choices you make, but how they fan out may differ. Your choices can make an ally who may aid you in a coming battle, or an enemy that will obstruct your path. So it's not as strictly "linear."
This is the first game in which I was more tempted to be "dark" despite my classic tendency to be "the pure of heart" hero. Basically there are 3 paths: be with the "good" girl, be with the "demon" girl, or be alone. Each path is relatively obvious, though there are some interesting revelations along the way. The 3 paths can also be considered as for the greater good, for the greater evil, or for yourself. Normally I'd be the "I shall do it for the greater Good" sort, but in this game, I was way more emotionally agreeable with completing tasks for myself! Call it sinful, but damn it, it made more sense! The "evil" was purely evil, and had no interest in keeping me around, and the "good" were stuck-up, self-righteous bastards! So screw 'em both!Hehe!
The gameplay was very enjoyable! As usual I played it in a very stealthy fashion, so making good use of the traps laid out about the environment was truly satisfying! Whether it's cutting rope which releases a swinging slab, breaking a weak support pole, or simply shoving an enemy on a trap-platform to activate a deadly trap, it was all good fun! The rope-bow is a really handy tool, giving you a greater command over the places you can reach. This is one game where paying attention to your environment will reward you handsomely!The gameplay and combat -- like Arx Fatalis -- is excellent. The violence and fatalities are there --- so are one-shot kills when you fill the power swing meter up, too.
Obviously, the bugs are a drawback. Some can seriously deteriorate the gameplay, especially when it stalls and stutters rendering it unplayable! Fortunately that was a rare occurrence, but it should be addressed! The other tedious bug is the HUD corruption. Sometimes (usually during the stuttering) the HUD will just appear corrupted with a lot of magenta overlaying the slots (probably where the transparencies are supposed to be). Luckily, this can be easily alleviated by quicksaving and quickloading. Another slight issue is the lighting. In some areas you enter you'll notice the lighting/shading flickering as you move or look around. One more irritating bug has to do with clipping; sometimes while I'm attacking an enemy and I back him up to a wall, he'll just suddenly fall through the corner of the wall and floor, and I can still hear him for a little while before he suddenly disappears. That's as far as I've noticed in graphical bugs. The A.I. is decent, but I've noticed that sometimes when you press 'use' on an ally to tell him/her to stop, they'll stay in place (as expected) but you'll be unable to click 'use' again yo get them to follow you again. It's very frustrating when a certain NPC is needed later for some dialogue in a cutscene. There are a few other minor bugs here and there, but nothing serious.W/ its current patch, 1.02, I am happy w/ the in-game performance for Dark Messiah, to say the least. Looks great and runs great. Never below 30 frames for me w/ most graphical settings on "high." I even have shadows to reflect the entire world, too.
Other than all that, the game is very well done, and a big step for Arkane. I think you'll especially appreciate it if you've played Arx Fatalis. You will note the improvements, and really respect Arkane for their development :DI do agree w/ this.
Well, damn. I guess I'll have to try this out, then. Arg. But it's Steam-only, correct?
Well, if I can avoid Steam for SP, then this isn't so bad. Now I wish I'd jumped on that $30 deal...If you don't install the MP, you can avoid it.
Nice! I'm glad you're enjoying man :) I thought Xana was pretty hot for a video-game chick :P
I'm pretty sure there was a flight of stairs around the corner.. There were some goblins there too. I just love kicking them down the stairs :PAround the corner of where I killed the Cyclops??[
Anyway you go up there, and walk through the halls. There are some secret and trapped rooms up there too. Eventually you get to the other side and continue.Let's see if I can find it.
But I have no monies!Ah, yes. The traditional human condition. I spent the better part of monies on travelling and moving all the way to the other side of the globe :P Hopefully soon the job will kick in, and some cash will roll in.
Haha! Que you have to at least try it :P I don't think the Singleplayer part of the game demands Steam to be installed.
Que! RESIST! I didnt like the demo, it ran poorly.I have played the demo -- and well, yuh -- performance was all over the place.
I hear theres a lot of obviousness in the game. Like dudes standing on cliffs facing away from you or near spike walls...like, "Hmmmm, I wonder what they want me to do here?" I noticed that kind of thing in the demo as well.Honestly, there's enemies walking around, talking in conversations, etc etc -- just like any other FPS/TPS/action based game, Idol.
Besides...You'll have much more fun playing Guild Wars with me. :PGuild Wars is good stuff, as well.
Sweet! This flying dragon type thing was after me that seemed impossible to kill and was firing lightning. Check out the first screenie to see what it looked like and the second to see the creative way I found to get rid of it. :POh yeah -- that Pao Kai dragon fight was awesome.
http://cc.1asphost.com/Pugnate/DM16.JPG
http://cc.1asphost.com/Pugnate/DM17.JPG
Fuck YEA!
Just fought another cyclops. Enjoyed it so much decided to quick load and fight him again. Used arrows on his eye to knock him down, and when he keeled over I finished him off with my daggers.That fight was awesome, too.
Look at the blood shower:
http://cc.1asphost.com/Pugnate/DM18.JPG
Before you leave, the boss sticks you with a lady named Xana, who is some kind of guardian creature who lives inside your head. This lets her act as the game's Cortana, speaking to you frequently and acting as the game's "what should I do next?" device. The difference between Xana and Cortana, though, is that Xana's quips are too frequent and immediately annoying
So I finished the game and it was quite good. The storyline was a bit crap though. It lacked subtlety and elegance.I really like Dark Messiah SP -- almost done w/ it.
Can't wait to give multiplayer a shot though!
edit:I don't think the storyline's crap. It's typical fan-fare for fantasy and does stay interesting, but it doesn't suck either.
Going through the G-Spot review. 6.7 seems 10 points harsh, but I agree with the crap storyline, and how some of the gameplay was repetitive.
I think that's pretty unfair. It wasn't like Xana was chattering in your head 24/7. Her comments gave the game some personality, and I think it is a pretty sad observation from GSpot. Her comments only came during dialog situations, so it is hard to understand where they found it to interrupt the flow of the actual game.Oh, she comments more than you make it sound like. :P
Plus I love how they mention Cortana without introduction, like they are talking about a celebrity.The demo did NOT run so great, on high -- w/ my PC.
Also I experienced zero bugs, though it could be because I had the game patched a bit through. :P
Anyway I would give the game a score in the late 70s... though I think one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much is because of the lack of fantasy themed first person action games.The SP would definitely scoring in the mid-80's for me.
You mean you beat the 3 Liches with the assistance of the first.
Aww you left the poor Lichee hanging?I bet you get at least a few extra "skill points" for saving him, right???
So you've obviously finished it, what'd you think? I thought the final cut scene was a bit of a disappointment. Well there are four final cutscenes.
This was the first game where it made more sense to be "bad."(click to show/hide)
I haven't tried MP myself yet.
I have the game off the disc installed, but I am just wondering about multiplayer and if I have to install that through steam?
Aww Jeebus. Now I have to have steam download it. :(
No I mean I will have to let steam download the multiplayer component.
Why were you forced to download the SP?
So you didn't download it, and instead lied!Well, it connects you to a STEAM server transfers your files over into STEAM files -- so, it is a download, actually.....
Well I will download the MP portion. You and Xessive want to deathmatch a little? :P I imagine the melee will be a lot of fun.
Sounds like a blast! The only "magic" I can see myself using is Poison-blast balls! But I can't play, it's not installed.. 7 gigs is a little too big for me right now, and I've only made just enough room for NWN2 and Oblivion. I had to take out Double Agent (10.5 GB install!!!). Besides that my connection is too slow for decent gaming.. I have a 256k connection here, beats dial-up but I tried some HL2DM and CS;Source and the latency is craptastic.
I think you can install the MP alone; the MP's like 3.5 GB.That's not too bad. I wish I could do that with SCDA though! The MP is only 2.5 GB and I don't need the extra 8 GB from the singleplayer, but for some retarded reason you can't install separately.. In Chaos Theory it was nice and easy, I could just cut and paste the multiplayer folder and it worked beautifully.
Sounds like a blast! The only "magic" I can see myself using is Poison-blast balls! But I can't play, it's not installed.. 7 gigs is a little too big for me right now, and I've only made just enough room for NWN2 and Oblivion. I had to take out Double Agent (10.5 GB install!!!). Besides that my connection is too slow for decent gaming.. I have a 256k connection here, beats dial-up but I tried some HL2DM and CS;Source and the latency is craptastic.
I am disappointed. You had a 120 when 10 was considered sufficient!Haha I have a total of 240 GB, but I need to manage my space to squeeze out the most of it. I have a lot of videos (taking up approx 90 GB). I should start burning DVD's. Well, first I need to buy some blank DVD's.
Now I am the master. I have a total of 400 GB wheee and I need more :(. Hurrah for Bit Torrent.
Get a sweet 200GB SATA if the opportunity presents itself.I just might, considering harddrive prices are pretty good here!
Coming back to Dark Messiah, I just found a GeForce 8800 and DM is the bundled software :PYou make it sound like you have one of those cards just lying around somewhere in your house! :P
Yea my that's how I got my Dark Messiah.That might be a sexy idea.. I'm considering the Athlon64 X2 Dual-Core 4800+ (it should be around $200 USD).
Anyway man what processor are you looking for? They still have them here, you can buy it through me.
Yea definitely OEM is fine in most cases though in video cards they are sometimes castrated a bit.I'm gonna poke around here some more, and I'll let you know if I've found it or not. Thanks though :)
Anyway you have to keep in mind that there is usually a 15% tax on that and shipping. :P
Still $250 is good. Yes that is a fantastic processor. I will see if I can find it for you here ok bro?
I can also ask a friend who is a seller. You can Western Union him the payment and stuff. But the best thing of course would be to find it locally because of warranty of course.
Just checked my email and it looks like the GoGamer.com 48 hour madness sale has Dark Messiah for $15.