• Publisher: Ubisoft
  • Release Date: Feb 12, 2008
  • Also On: PC
Metascore
52 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 27 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 27
  2. Negative: 8 out of 27
  1. A well-polished remake of the excellent action RPG from PC. It is only due to the far too simplified and illogical character class system that the new version falls slightly behind the original. [Jan 2008]
  2. If you can put up with the game's complete and total linearity and don't mind a largely forgettable multiplayer offering, there is a ton of brutal amusement to be had with Dark Messiah's excellent melee combat.
  3. I love and hate Dark Messiah: Elements. For everything that's good about the combat intensity, the flexibility of the skill system, the quality of the puzzles and the brooding, engaging atmosphere, it's undone by massive technical problems.
  4. Poor dialogue and slightly dated graphics are made up for by thumping combat and comic battles. [Issue#30, p.92]
  5. The multiplayer seems to work well enough and we hope for some tasty downloadable content to coax us back in later in 2008. However, it's a tough market out there right now for average fantasy fayre and as a single player game, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements just doesn't quite have the spark to stand out.
  6. For a game that originally hit over a year ago, it's surprising to see how rushed the console version feels. Still, if you're hard up for adventure, you could do worse ... but you could do a whole lot better as well.
  7. Out-dated and out-gunned, Elements feels like a failure on 360. It may have been a hit on PC two years ago, but since then gaming has moved forward, leaving us wishing for a true sequel to Dark Messiah rather than this half-arsed port.
  8. Just the combat would have been dumb fun. Sadly, too much clag gets in the way. [Feb 2008, p.58]
  9. Dark Messiah certainly had potential, but poor decisions and a sloppy conversion put a damper on what should have been an improvement over the earlier PC game. Oddly enough, we found ourselves continuing to play just to see if it got any better. Unfortunately, it didn't.
  10. The reliance on platforming badly mars the gameplay, which never fares well with a first-person view.
  11. 57
    Tells a formulaic story atop repetitive gameplay and is troubled by frequent technical problems.
  12. This not a good game. It's not an outright right failure either, but with limited gaming funds and time I suggest giving this title a wide berth.
  13. When the PC version of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic was released late in 2006, it had issues with both single- and multiplayer. Here we are a little over a year later, the Xbox 360 version doesn't fare much better.
  14. In translation from the PC it seems the evil porting gremlins have infected another PC-console port leaving gamers with experience that makes Dark Messiah really hard to love.
  15. An interesting experiment in genre-bending. Unfortunately, the process wasn't handled with enough care for the result to be anything more than an interesting interlude in between sessions of Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3.
  16. There's no denying that Dark Messiah has a certain bloody charm, with battles against numerous enemies being both challenging and rather gory. By the end though, things do become a little repetitive, and this prevents the game from being anything truly special.
  17. A poorly executed game that suffers from just about every malady known to gaming, from bad plot to sketchy gameplay. Best to avoid this one entirely.
  18. It's just a bit shallow, and technically flawed with it: the frame-rate is nowhere near as solid as you'd expect from a game that looks only "all right" and the physics system is prone to craziness. Despite all the time in development, it lacks polish. [Feb 2008, p.96]
  19. While not a total loss, there's just too many other titles to choose from to give this one a slight rental recommendation.
  20. This mediocre trudge is definitely one you'll regret. [Apr 2008, p.79]
  21. 40
    Dark Messiah is a frustrating title, since moments of fun are outweighed by long stretches of tedium.
  22. Nearly two years after its buggy debut on the PC, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic comes to the Xbox 360 with even more problems.
  23. I could inundate you with tales of vital objects disappearing, level-ending enemies failing to appear, and an A.I. that fluctuates between omniscience and fetal stupidity.
  24. 30
    While the content is a mediocre for-gaming-babies version of a solid game, the technical issues are a whole new drag. In kind words: This is a pretty terrible port.
  25. 30
    The staggering lack of quality apparent in Dark Messiah of Might and Magic Elements has left us incredibly disappointed.
  26. 20
    Of all the painful aspects of Dark Messiah, the bulk of the problems lie with the controls. It feels like you're moving through a bowl of thick, hearty pea soup; simply walking through the game is exhausting.
  27. It's sad to see a beloved series sink so low-like watching a childhood friend fall to drink and destitution, stumbling into the street to be hit by a truck.
User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 31 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 14
  2. Negative: 1 out of 14
  1. JackJ.
    2
    This game is awful, it is an abomination of the pc version. The game is changed to the point where it should not be called the same thing, the levels and story are twisted and distorted from the pc version, which wasnt exactly a masterpiece, but was still clearly better than this trash. Full Review »
  2. I originally played this on PC, being a fan of Might & Magic 6,7,8 & 9. Note , this is NOTHING like the original turn based RPGs. This is a first person action/rpgs using the same engine as Half Life 2. Come into this game expecting any similarities to the titles above and you will be sorely dissapointed. Come into this game with an open mind however, and there is a long and interesting campaign to be played here on the Xbox. Having literally just sat through my second run through on xbox 360 ( completed it at 19.18 hours 1st November 2011 ), I thought I would bring this game up to date with a more recent review. On Xbox you are confined to one of four character types, Warrior, Mage, Hunter, Rogue ( I play a lot of WoW so whilst this may not be their exact titles, this is what the classes are ). This time I played through as a warrior. As I should've realised, warriors are a pretty dull class to play. This didn't stop me enjoying this detailed and visually attractive action/rpg lite on the xbox 360, but it made me wish for ranged weaponry for most of the playthrough. Note to self, never play a role that has no ranged abilities. Good fun, approx 20 hour campaign and plenty to explore, especially once you get access to the rope firing bow, that lets you scale otherwise unreachable places. Overall, this plays like a quality FPS or hack n slash with some RPG lite elements thrown in. Very enjoyable, in that 20 hour play thru it crashed/locked up on me twice. Just save regularly and there's no issue. The multiplayer is now non-existent due to the age of the game, and you can probably pick it up for a very low price and it is seriously worth your time if you like fantasy game scenarios. The PC version is vastly superior, with detailed character design decisions made by the player, allowing you to make hybrid classes, whereas this version on xbox 360, is a straight line for the one class you choose. The PC version is also on Steam , with all the advantages Steam and it being a PC game brings to the table. But the xbox 360 version is great fun as well. Go for it. It's a big game with good acting. Full Review »
  3. Very fun game, The Combat is very immersive and diverse and fun to pull off, currently ive been playing the game as a warrior and it is pretty fun. Im kind of disappointing about the class system though such as assassins can only use knives, that's dumb, why can i be an assassin and use a bow as well? Or like Mages can only use stave's and cant use swords. It dumbs down your class to an unnecessary level. The voice acting is ok for the most part, sometimes it feels too scripted but its not too noticeable. Also the lady that speaks to you while your on your journey is VERY annoying and i wish she was removed or i could mute her because it is really damn aggravating. But i also loved that you spend a lot of time exploring and looking for potions, armor, weapons, and other forms of loot. There is a lot of cool puzzles and exploration to be done to find better armor and such witch makes the game feel more adventurous and exiting. If you like adventure action RPGS you will most likely enjoy this great game. Full Review »