Last year's Dark Messiah promised- as have many others- to revolutionize combat in the RPG format. What it did was provide great cast-and-slash action. Decapitations felt deserved, magic was enjoyable and sometimes cleverly used, and the game took the concept of environmental weaponry to its absurd conclusion. The first thing you'd do when you entered a room was look for a chandelier tied precariously to the ceiling or barrels on a curiously high shelf. But if you're thinking about taking a late journey into the Source-powered world of Might & Magic, there are a number of ways you can make your journey less grueling...
Softly not catchy monkey:
Stealth is the choice of a few earnest role-players who like to imagine themselves as skipping stones across the puddles of night. Sounds lovely, but Dark Messiah isn't the best game for rogues and burglars. The game is weighted towards action rather than RPG, and your efforts to create a crafty assassin will be rewarded with slow progress. You'll miss out on the best spells and slicey-dicey weapons, and face a final boss battle that's totally tilted towards projectile attacks. If you still stubbornly insist on creeping around, make sure you invest in your archery skill.
