Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements Preview

GameSpot is next in line with a hands-on preview of Ubisoft’s Xbox 360 iteration of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.

After the prologue you’ll finally meet Master Phenrig, who sends you on a second mission to the town of Stonehelm to deliver the Shantiri Crystal to another wizard, Lord Menelag. Before you set off on your next mission (The Gates of Stonehelm), Phenrig summons your companion, Xana, a spirit that inhabits your body and serves as a guide.

Throughout your quest you will acquire experience points, which will result in unlocking new skills and abilities. You’ll also gain adrenaline when fighting enemies. A bar at the top-left of the screen also shows how much you’ve gained, and once it’s full, you can use X to unleash a powerful, brief attack in slow motion.

There wasn’t a lot of interaction with non-player characters from our experience, other than a few passing remarks. The soldiers that we did interact with had a vocabulary range on par with the commentary in a low-budget sports game. From what we’ve seen it seems that the game is mostly driven by the overall mission, rather than encouraging interaction with townsfolk and free exploration. Another point of contention with this preview build was the long load times between–and within–stages at several points. At least it gave us ample time to read the onscreen text.