Episode 42: Dark Messiah of Might and Magic

Retro Spectives

First released in 2006 by the now famous Arkane Studios, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic was considered a niche hit on release. Making use of the revolutionary physics of the source engine, it turned combat into an environmental puzzle of kicking, throwing objects and creating small patches of fiery death.

But is a first-person physics-based brawler still a fun thing to play today? A trip through Half Life 2 showing off the same see-saw puzzle 8 times comes across as quaint - has Dark Messiah suffered the same fate? Or is its blend of magic, stealth and general physical hijinks still a novel and exciting experience all these years later?

On this episode, we discuss:

• What is the best way to actually play Might and Magic? Swordplay, Magic, Stealth or just repeatedly mashing the ‘F’ key to kick enemies?
• How dark is the ‘dark messiah’ of the story? Does pitting inferno against necromancers lead to satisfying evil, or is this secretly a generic story of good versus evil in disguise?
• How many bugs can possibly exist inside a single 10 hour game? We’ve devoted an entire section of this review recalling the many, many issues we had with the game.

We answer these questions and many more on the 42nd episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K

Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another

Dark Messiah OST: : ‎Sascha Dikiciyan‎; ‎Cris Velasco

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Is Dark Messiah of Might and Magic a more deep game than we give it credit for? Are there any mods that fix the glaring issues with the stealth systems in the game? Is it a wyrm, or is it a worm? Let us know what you think on our text based community discord server!