Dark Messiah: Might and Magic

One of the best games ever. You can replay it numerous time due to variable combat mechanics which almost doesn't restrict you in your ways to achive your goal. Only a decade later BotW introduced arguably better mechanics.

The game has perfectly balanced "atmosphere" which is achieved by wonderful sound design, realistic physics of protagonist's movements and proper mixture of dark and light levels. I just adore orcs island aestethics with all its cliffs, caves, sea and the blue skies. Hovewer outdated graphics is but game design easily overcomes any such shortcomings.

Aside from mechanics the game actually has involving and dynamic story with a major plot twist and choices of romantic interest as well as final decision.

The main characters are also quite interestingly written. The anthagonist is very intelligent and civil, if not charismatic. The girls are written in kind of a smrt and misleading way. I like that majority of the gamers hate Leanna and fall for Xana ignoring the in-game hints about the consequences of such choice. I mean it should be so since Xana is an experienced Succubi and players by default should fall for her sedduction. Also it can be quite challanging to protect Leanna in some missions and she may behave preachy which might lead to consider her annoying and useless compared to Xana. But if you closely pay attention to the small details in the game - rad the books abot in-game entities, carefully listen to the dialogues - you'll know what choice is right and what choice will lead to destruction of the protagonist.

The Might and Magic fantasy universe is a well-established series dating back to 1986. We've all seen many of their games on different platforms, even if we haven't all played them, but most of them have been straightforward turn-based strategy or role-playing games. However, Ubisoft and Arkane Studios' 2006 Dark Messiah of Might and Magic does not fall into any of these categories.

Like Arkane Studios' previous game from that year, Arx Fatalis, it is a first-person game. However, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic turned out to be very linear in terms of role-playing, and is instead an action-based game that focuses more on sword swinging and magic fireball throwing.

The main character is Sareth, a young half-demon raised by Phenrig, a stern mentor and devoted to his teachings. Our protagonist knows very little about his past, yet he has absorbed the lessons of martial arts mastery and has become proficient in both weapons and magic.

About 40 different weapons can be found in the game and you can learn several dozen different combat spells. This diversity allows you to destroy enemies as you please, whether in melee with a sword or dagger, or at range with a bow or spell. The game world consists of 12 large maps.

In Ashan, the forces of evil are stronger than anywhere else in the realm, and evil is rampant in the land, surrounded by fearless orcs, cruel goblins, treacherous trolls, undead, gigantic dragon-like beasts and many other monsters of great malice. Often, the only way to survive is to hide in the shadows and sneak past enemies.

In Dark Messiah of Might & Magic, by gaining experience, the player can unlock new items, specializations and abilities that can then be used effectively in battle. These are combos, spells or different deadly critical hits.

The graphics are created by an improved version of the Source Engine, previously used by Valve Studios in Half-Life 2. Additional improvements to the engine include character control, environmental physics and character models. The game's storyline, including side content, is approximately 10-13 hours long.