Gamespot down on Dark Messiah

[mkreku]

http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3154749

 

4/10. Apparently there's a lot of kicking and a lot less sense to anything in this game.

[@\NightandtheShape/@]

http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3154749

 

4/10. Apparently there's a lot of kicking and a lot less sense to anything in this game.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yay! more proof that reviewers are indeed morons!

[Morgoth]

I bought the game today and played till Chapter 2. So far it's really very exciting! And I love the morbid atmosphere...

And as opposed to the whiney reviewers, I didn't have any trouble with the game yet. No sound stutters or extraordinary long loading times (mine between 10-15 secs. Make sure to defrag your HD after the installation). Playing with 1024, Textures on medium, HDR off, AA off, everything else on HIGH with an ancient GF6600GT, 1Gbyte RAM, 3Ghz. Runs super smooth.

Thumbs up for Dark Messiah!

Edited October 31, 2006 by Morgoth

[Dark_Raven]

http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3154749

 

4/10. Apparently there's a lot of kicking and a lot less sense to anything in this game.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A 4? Not very good.

[Morgoth]

Forget that. Only trust uncle Morgoth! This game is awesome!

[@\NightandtheShape/@]

Forget that. Only trust uncle Morgoth! This game is awesome!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

It's really sad that the reviewers, with the influence they have, cannot seem to fathom that in terms of first person gaming experiences, fantasy influence, DM M&M is actually groundbreaking.

 

Physics based magic system! (first time I've seen it done, far as i am aware first time it has ever been done)

 

Vitrol Sword Combat! (Melee DONE RIGHT! Better than oblivion by far, and better than any other Melee implementation in any game)

 

Thieves that climb and jump around in the roof of levels! Also Sneaking about and backstabbing usual theif stuff. (It may not be as good as the thief series, but still it's a fair enough implementation)

 

It's the first fantasy attempt at such a game to ever actually work.

 

And what do the reviewers go and do? Proove they know next to nothing about games, technology, and gameplay.

 

Reviewers just wanna whine about, *sigh* something that is pretty hard for even huge developers to avoid, that of bugs, I can't think of a single game that hasn't suffered on release due to the vast myrid of different compter setups.

[@\NightandtheShape/@]

http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3154749

 

4/10. Apparently there's a lot of kicking and a lot less sense to anything in this game.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A 4? Not very good.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Do you know the person who reviewed the game personally?

 

My guess is no,

 

Would you let a complete stranger tell you what music to listen to? Who to date? what kind of car/motorcycle to drive? who to have as your friends? what kind of movies you should watch? etc...

[Morgoth]

Agreed. While DM isn't necessarily absolutely groundbreaking, it's still the first game this year for me that doesn't have this "Play and forget" feeling. Somehow it reminds me a bit of Thief3, which is always a good thing. There's just this joy to feel "What's next around the corner? How do I take that guy out?", more kinda like a game that let me do some experimental stuff.

Some trivia: The sound designer who works at Arkane was formely an Looking Glass employee who did lot's of sound FX for Thief: The Dark Project too.

As for the reviewers: That's a common problem in this industry: There's no such a thing as professional journalism, only some coddled nerds who don't appreciate hard work.

[mkreku]

Well, I've finally gotten the chance to play this game for myself, and I happen to agree with the most of the reviewers.

 

The game is stupid, plain and simple. The story is only there to.. actually, I don't even know why they have a story in the first place. It's so blatantly obvious what's going to happen from the moment you step into the game until the (I assume) end. I'm on Chapter 9 or 10 (I think, it was late), but I don't figure it'll change much after that.

 

What's most annoying is that while the combat felt rewarding and interesting after the first few fights, it has now turned into such a ridiculous state of affairs it's actually painful to play. The game basically consists of "fight arenas" connected by really ugly corridors. These fight arenas can consist of a town square, an underground cavern, a courtyard, whatever, but what connects them all (except for the corridors..) is that they're all placed there for you to fight in and nothing else. I mean, you walk through the boring corridor (where nothing happens) until you see the arena. When you step onto the arena, you immediately see what looks like beds of spikes.. everywhere. There are swing traps.. everywhere. And last, but not least, there are rickety wooden ledges holding tons of barrels on their weak legs.. everywhere. No matter if you're underground, in a temple or on a courtyard, these elements are always present.. for no apparent reason. Absolutely ridiculous. It's like the designers didn't even try to make the decorations in the different arenas plausible. Apparently all orcs/goblins/undead just enjoy setting up death traps all around them, waiting for a happy adventurer to come and kill them in a showcase of Havok physics. It's impossible to believe in the game or the game world because of this.

 

And the boot function.. Geez, I don't know where to start. I have a sword. A big fire-earth sword I built myself. I also have a bow. A nice bow that.. uh.. shoots fire or something. Then there's magic. Lots of cool spell effects.. and stuff. Do I use it? NO! Whenever there's a fight, all you have to do is boot everything around, and I mean everything! I can kick a stone sarcophagus 20 meters across the room to crush three orcs at once. I can kick a wooden barrel 50 meters across a chasm and crush a goblin. I can kick a skeleton halfway across the room to be impaled on spikes. And oh boy, are those enemies fond of standing near high ledges with their backs turned at you. I've lost count of how many enemies I've just booted off the map without even the slightest struggle. Because of this, the game is fast; there's simply no challenge you can't kick your way past. The "hidden" parts were fun to try to find at first (especially after you got the rope bow), but after a while you'll notice that the developers, in their eagerness to show off everything in the game at once, actually gives you all these hidden bonuses.. albeit at a somewhat later time.

 

On to the boss fights. These too take place on really obvious arenas (you always know when something is up and have plenty of time to save beforehand), filled with all manners of deathtraps. Not that you'll ever need any of those. Meet a cyclops? Gee, what luck that there's a ballista here in this protected area. Another cyclops? Gee, I'm lucky that there's a protected area where I can shoot my bow in its eye without ever getting hit. It's either that or you just run. The game will clearly show you which option it wants you to take. No. Challenge.

 

Another pet peeve of mine is the graphics. Some levels are brilliant, no doubt about that. But often they're extremely repetitive, with bland textures and not enough details. Some places actually look like they've use one or two textures for the entire level! The character models are the typical clich

[Loof]

Doesn't sound that fun...

But most of your complaints seem to be rooted in level design or enemy design. If someone was mainly interested in the game so they could look at the new ideas for the combat system. Would you say that its a complete failure? Or are the basics of the system sound and just badly implemented?

[@\NightandtheShape/@]

Wow! You totally wasted your time writing that.

[Loof]

huh me or mkreku??

[Sand]

I will trust Mkreku's assessment of the game. Definitely staying away from DM M&M.

[@\NightandtheShape/@]

huh me or mkreku??

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

not you.

[Morgoth]

Now I'm in Chapter 4, entering the ship. Stabbing enemies into the throat makes tons of fun, and I like the different solutions the levels offer. The level design is not too linear, god thanks. So far, it seems the game just gets better and better!

I loved the one guard when he told to another: "Yeah, and my fortune teller told me I'm gonna die today! HAHAHA....".

I just love these little allusions. This game is full of little surprises! So far the best thing I've experienced since Thief3.

[@\NightandtheShape/@]

Now I'm in Chapter 4, entering the ship. Stabbing enemies into the throat makes tons of fun, and I like the different solutions the levels offer. The level design is not too linear, god thanks. So far, it seems the game just gets better and better!

I loved the one guard when he told to another: "Yeah, and my fortune teller told me I'm gonna die today! HAHAHA....".

I just love these little allusions. This game is full of little surprises! So far the best thing I've experienced since Thief3.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

It get's better after the boat!

[Morgoth]

Well, I've finally gotten the chance to play this game for myself, and I happen to agree with the most of the reviewers.

 

The game is stupid, plain and simple. The story is only there to.. actually, I don't even know why they have a story in the first place. It's so blatantly obvious what's going to happen from the moment you step into the game until the (I assume) end. I'm on Chapter 9 or 10 (I think, it was late), but I don't figure it'll change much after that.

Well, it's certainly not for the story to me why I enjoy this game so much. If you like story, go play NWN2 or Torment or whatever. The Gothic series had sucky stories too, but were still enjoyable for another reason.

 

 

But the main problem with the game is that it quickly ceases to be fun. It was fun experimenting with the kill moves you have at your disposal.. for the first fifteen minutes. Then you move onto the story, which dies very quickly too. So you fiddle around with the character development, but it's so shallow you'll lose interest after a few minutes. So what's left? Combat and jumping puzzles. Kick, kick, kick.. jump around! Oh, another arena.. sigh. Kick, kick, kick. A boss! Oops, he died before I could have any fun. Damn. Kick, kick, jump, jump. WHEN DOES IT END, DAMMIT?! I've reached a point where I have

Edited November 1, 2006 by Morgoth

[Sand]

If a game doesn't have a good story to it then there is just no point in playing it.

[Loof]

"""

I think most reviewers just don't see the entire strength of the game. If you just keep running and screaming frontal at your enemie like this is Quake or Doom, you certainly don't see the whole aspects that the game offers you.

"""

 

I agree that this is probably not how the combat was suposed to be used. But a good combat system should make that tactic a sure death for the player. Having many options in your gameplay looses its point if there is a simple tactic that always results in victory, wouldn't you agree?

 

PS: hypothetical argument as I haven't played DM yet...

[Morgoth]

If a game doesn't have a good story to it then there is just no point in playing it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wrong.

 

But we all know your attitude towards gaming, Hades.

[Morgoth]

"""

I think most reviewers just don't see the entire strength of the game. If you just keep running and screaming frontal at your enemie like this is Quake or Doom, you certainly don't see the whole aspects that the game offers you.

"""

 

I agree that this is probably not how the combat was suposed to be used. But a good combat system should make that tactic a sure death for the player. Having many options in your gameplay looses its point if there is a simple tactic that always results in victory, wouldn't you agree?

 

PS: hypothetical argument as I haven't played DM yet...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm playing as an assassin who is armed with two simple daggers, and simple tactics (I guess you mean the frontal attack) just doesn't seem to work for me. This is not KOTOR where there's just no point caring about all the options you got. In DM you have choices you have to make, not your stats sheet.

Edited November 1, 2006 by Morgoth

[Loof]

Ok so you and mkreku disagree about the power of the charge kick,kick,..., sounds like I will have to try the game myself to find out =)

[Morgoth]

Well since mkreku is already in Chapter 9, there's no denial he enjoys the game.

[Sand]

If a game doesn't have a good story to it then there is just no point in playing it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wrong.

 

But we all know your attitude towards gaming, Hades.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Correct.

 

Simple jumping and kicking and blah blah blah is pretty boring. One of the reasons why I don't bother with normal FPS games. Absolutely detested Halo. If a game doesn't have an engaging story it just doesn't grab my attention enough to play it.

[Sand]

Well since mkreku is already in Chapter 9, there's no denial he enjoys the game.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Wrong.

 

He is a game reviewer for a European gaming site. Its his job to play through games, even those he doesn't like.