Dark Messiah of Might & Magic
X
Forgot password? Recovery Link
New to site? Create an Account
Already have an account? Login
Back to Login
0
5.00
Edit
Discover a new breed of Action-RPG game powered by an enhanced version of the Source™ Engine by Valve. Set in the Might & Magic® universe, players will experience ferocious combat in a dark and immersive fantasy environment. Swords, Stealth, Sorcery. Choose your way to kill.
- Cutting-edge technology: Experience an enhanced version of the famous Source™ Engine created by Valve. Discover the fresh perspective of a view with complete body awareness, realistic movements, physics rendering, and a complete first-person melee combat system in a fantasy setting.
- Never-ending action: Challenge the forces of evil in 12 huge levels and learn to master over 30 weapons and an arsenal of devastating spells.
- Evolve your character: Extend your gameplay experience without being limited to a single discipline. Learn powerful new spells and attacks using Dark Messiah’s unique Skill Evolution System as you progress through the game.
- Revolutionary multiplayer mode: Get ready to battle with up to 32 players in the revolutionary Crusade mode, which will enable players to gain experience and new skills across dynamic online campaigns. Enlist with the humans or the undead and choose among five complementary character classes.
© 2006 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Dark Messiah, Might and Magic, Ubisoft and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. Developed by Arkane Studios.
Steam User 63
Keep in mind: the game is not plug and play. !
you will need to patch the game in order to run it on a 64Bit machine
------------------
The 2 Patches you will need.
1# Large Address Aware
2# 4GB Patch
You need to patch the Game.exe
So the game can use more than 2 GB of memory
-------------------------
Is it worth it. "Yes it is" it only takes 2 min
Remember that the game is 18 years old
The graphics are still quit decent. even when compared to new games.
It is definitely a game that was way ahead of its time. when it came out
You should expect about 12-20 hours of gameplay to complete the story line
all game dialogue is fully voice actors.
it has a great storyline.
So if you want an Action RPG hack and slash.
This is close to a perfect game.
Steam User 77
A complete unbalanced mess. Unpolished in every way.
It has a dedicated button for kicking enemies.
Objectively it is the best game ever made.
Steam User 123
this was made when games were fun
Steam User 54
It's a testament to Dark Messiah's qualities that despite the fairly harsh enemy damage output even on just "Hard", extremely stringent skill point distribution, and occasional melee jank, there isn't really another game that has handled an "action RPG" that's focused on combat while still offering up genuine RPG character building this well almost 17 years after release. Solid swordplay, ridiculously fun magic and environmental interactions, linear but intricate level design that rewards secret hunting, and a succubus who wants your semen and attention all for herself, what's there to hate?
Much as I can rag on all day about Bethesda strangling Arkane overtime, it's disheartening to know Valve rejected Arkane from making an official Half Life game when Dark Messiah was as good of a resume as they could've shown off in terms of what they were capable of with Source Engine... maybe they'd be in a better place if that happened.
Steam User 46
**Disclaimer: I have played through this game many times over. I even have the retail game box at home in real life, still.**
TL;DR: Having replayed the game a few weeks ago, I have to tell you, I have had the time of my life with it, yet again. 'Dark Messiah of Might and Magic' is one of the greatest videogames of all time, and easily in my personal top ten (a 10/10).
Now for some more detailed remarks, especially some technical advice.
'Dark Messiah' is a game I wanted to come back to for quite some years, but it always crashed after the title sequence, this goes for the retail version as well as the Steam version. The latter now works again, curiously enough, so I suspect this may ultimately be a drivers' issue.
*IF* your game doesn't work, go to the 'properties' tab in Steam, then to 'launch options', and add the command line
-novid
Then it will at least start up properly; and I cannot believe it took me years to find this. While you're at it I actually recommend adding all of these:
-novid -heapsize 1048576 +exec autoexec.cfg -console
and maybe
+map_background none
if you still have trouble. You may also add these to the Desktop Shortcut Properties, if you have the retail version. Also note that the game, in any version, forgets some settings (AA, VSync, HDR, Tex.Filter) and you have to apply them *every* time you restart the game. The settings are written into the registry entry, believe it or not - and it still doesn't work. 'VSync' by the way is an absolute must. VSync or perish in stutter.
'Dark Messiah of Might and Magic' suffers from a badly chosen title - I think the 'messiah' in it put many people off, and ultimately the game failed commercially. This is too bad, because it has some of the best exploration and combat mechanics to be found anywhere. It offers a comprehensive, yet versatile tool-box to get through the levels. The story is solid, and basically what you get is a single-player roleplaying-campaign that is thought through very well, and it is intense fun. I love every aspect of 'DMoMM' and my only complaint is that it could have been a little bit longer with just two more levels against human enemies, because that was fun as hell. In the long-run, 'Dark Messiah's imminent rival 'The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion' set the new standard for RPGs (open world with simplified fighting mechanics). That is, until 'Skyrim' came along which gave us basically more of the same with inferior quest design, but a way better PR campaign. It took many years until someone tried to combine 'Dark Messiah' and 'Oblivion', and that game was the greatest of the last year. It is called 'Elden Ring', and maybe you should check it out, if you haven't. But get a divorce first and burn down every bridge behind you: That boy is gonna eat your time. Still, there is one thing, 'Dark Messiah' does better: It is the comprehensive scope of the game combined with outstanding level design that makes everything useful and meaningful in this game, there is no single moment or pathway that doesn't belong where it is. Replaying is great, since there are many ways to accomplish the things the developer has you to accomplish.
One final word, because it is necessary, and sadly that is: Dear Arkane Studios, please rethink your current course. 'Deathloop' was a jumbled mess I didn't even finish, and 'Redfall' is the interactive catastrophe incarnate. I stayed away the hell from it, and everybody should. Arkane, look back at 'Dark Messiah' and 'Dishonored' and 'Prey' - I feel a great age ending, what have they done to you?
One last final word: 'Dark Messiah' has one of the best lines in videogaming even before the tutorial ends. "Physical obstacles are the easiest you will have to overcome in life." What's not to like, if a game starts like this?
Steam User 32
Awesome game. If you want to prevent crashes, right click the game in your Steam library -> Properties -> Launch options and add the following (adjust width/height for your resolution):
-width 2560 -height 1440 -dxlevel 90 -heapsize 2097152 -novid +datacachesize "128"
You can also get a mod on Nexusmods to toggle crouching rather than hold. To run the script for it, also add this to your launch options:
+exec crouchlock.cfg
Google the 4GB patch to let the game use more memory and use it on mm.exe in the game folder. It is a universal patch and works for all executables.
Don't exceed the graphics options even if your PC can handle it, the high memory requirement would make it crash. I stopped crashing since turning it down to the following:
Model detail - High
Texture detail - High
Shader detail - High
Water detail - Reflect world
Shadow detail - High
GFX detail - Medium
Anti-aliasing - None
Filtering mode - Trilinear
V-Sync - disabled
HDR - None
There is no need to set CPU core affinity to Core 0, worked fine with all cores assigned.
---
Pros
- Graphics - Visually still looks good even without graphics mods, though some are available on Nexusmods.
- Combat - It is engaging and varied. It's not a hack and slash, you have to think about it and adapt. Kicking enemies off ledges is a valid strategy. So is slamming them with objects using telekinesis.
- XP - It is awarded per objective, not per kill so you can avoid enemies or selectively pick them off as needed rather than trying to kill absolutely everything.
- Rope arrows - They give you lots of exploration freedom, they stick to anything made of wood.
- Secrets - The levels are littered with secret rooms cleverly hidden.
- Environments - Many ways to travel through a level, many ways to use the environment to kill enemies.
- Story - The story is engaging, voice acting is great and you get a lot of funny remarks from your "follower".
- Price - Best £1 I spent, the game was discounted.
Cons
- Crashes unless you apply the right settings.
Steam User 59
betetr combat than skyrim