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Might
& Magic 6 ©
3DO
It's
only fair that I cut right to the chase. I am not a big fan of
sequels, whether you are talking about movies, video games, or
whatnot. Usually they are not nearly as entertaining or engaging as
the original, but once in a while there are a few exceptions to this
rule, and I would have to say Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of
Heaven, by New World Computing, happens to be one of those
exceptions. The funny part about this situation is that I wasn't
really impressed with any of the previous Might and Magic games (with
the exception of M&M2), but this one easily tops them all.
The
Mandate of Heaven, very simply put, is to do what is morally right
instead of what is most profitable or perhaps the easiest course of
action. In order to be fit for the throne, the King must follow this
pact between mortals and gods. Unfortunately the man with the plan,
King Roland, has been kidnapped, and the evil Temple of Baa appears
to be the culprits. While the king is gone, they scheme to convince
the people that Roland has lost the Mandate of Heaven and if they can
accomplish this objective, then the followers of Baa intend to
destroy the Mandate itself and bring a reign of evil to Enroth for
all time. At the urging of one of the kingdom's most powerful
sorcerors you become involved in this conflict, and it is up to your
band of four hearty adventurers to put an end to Baa's evil machinations.
While
that is an oversimplified version of the story, and you can take my
word for that, the game is as engaging and addictive as any other top
notch RPG I've played. This doesn't only stem from the good story,
however, but also from a great statistical system and controls that
are easy to learn and play with. To be honest, after only 15 minutes
I considered myself to be fully proficient with the games control
system. There is a point and click interface for most anything you
would want to do in the game. Combat, on the other hand, is a little
tricky if you use the mouse, but is a piece of cake with the
keyboard. That's because the game uses hotkeys, allowing you to
attack or cast spells with the push of a single button. There are
also fairly realistic maneuvers that can be used in combat, which
make it a much more entertaining experience. For example, enemies
don't automatically know where you are; you can attack from surprise
in many circumstances. Another nice feature is that you can switch
between turn based and real-time combat, and while I personally
preferred the real-time mode because it worked so much better with my
hit and run strategy for killing monsters, most players will likely
wish to stick to the traditional turn-based system.
The
character generation system is also simple to use, but very effective
at the same time. You only have six different classes to choose from;
the knight, paladin, archer, cleric, druid, and sorcerer and
obviously each class has its own strengths and weaknesses. Once you
have decided on a class, a portrait for your character, and his or
her name, you must then choose their additional two skills. After all
of that, you have a pool of 50 bonus points to distribute amongst
your party to improve their attributes, and this system gives you a
fairly wide range to customize your party for your particular style
of play.
Basically
the only fault I found with were the graphics, as the artists seem
to have gotten caught in a time warp and stuck in 1993. While the 2D
visuals aren't horrible, they just aren't anywhere near up to the
level we've seen in recent RPGs. This is quite surprising if one
considers how the rest of the game is so good. The sound effects
weren't very impressive either, though they were somewhat more
palatable than the visual presentation.
To sum
things up, Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven was one of the
better games that I have played this year, and a welcome addition to
the series. It's not a perfect game by any means, but it's one that
deserves to find a home in the collection of any RPG fan. Don't let
the previous titles in the series fool you, this one's a winner. |
GAME
TYPE
RPG
REQUIREMENTS
P133,
100M HD, 32M RAM
PRICE
$39.99
REVIEWER
P.L.
INFORMATION
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Published |
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Demo? |
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Release
date |
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80% |
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Quick
Summary:
One
of the better M&M Games to date |
SCREENSHOTS
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