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Mage Knight Apocalypse

EMAIL PRINT pc

5.7 User Score:

Generally unfavorable reviews

Based on 25 critic reviews
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Based on 16 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Namco

Developer: IS Games

Genre(s): Action, Role-Playing Game

Players: 5

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: October 2, 2006

Summary

A mysterious power has issued an ominous portent and the call has gone out for stalwart heroes from all reaches of the Land to battle against an army of pure evil. Leading this army is The Apocalypse Dragon, a seemingly unstoppable five headed juggernaut of destruction that has been reborn and set loose on an unprepared populace. Taking the role of one of 5 characters, the player must band together with other legendary heroes to face this Dragon and defeat the forces of Chaos in the "Mage Knight" universe. Team dynamics are vital in Mage Knight Apocalypse, and players need to select their party carefully, combining melee, ranged and magical strikes in conjunction with overwhelming group combo attacks to triumph in battle. Players can quest alone or with friends in five-player cooperative and competitive play modes, working together or going head-to-head in the ultimate clash for battlefield supremacy. Players can choose from five distinct character classes and customize them with hundreds of weapons, armor and items, equipping the right gear for each intense encounter. Unlike other action RPGs, in Mage Knight Apocalypse, players have no need to worry about ability points or discreet levels to gain. Instead, character development depends on what type of playing style the player enjoys. Swinging a heavy sword makes you stronger, casting spells makes your magic more powerful, and shooting bows improve dexterity. The skills players use and the way they use them determines how the character develops. [Namco]

Cheat Codes & Hints: GameSpot Hints & Cheats

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

PC Gameworld

A fine game with no glaring flaws, but also offers nothing to really rev up a gamer's engines either.

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PC Gamer UK

Forgivably unoriginal roleplaying. [Dec 2006, p.82]

GameShark

The length is quite satisfactory, the inclusion of co-op play is a very good bonus, and I just found this to be a really fun RPG romp all around – which, ultimately, is the most important thing.

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RPG Fan

Uninspired slop. MKA had quite a bit of promise, and we were extremely excited to play the game based on interviews with the staff members, but issues with the control scheme and gameplay functionality killed what we were hoping would come about in Mage Knight: Apocalypse.

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Armchair Empire

Feels like a half-hearted effort in a saturated genre that won’t be keeping the folks at Blizzard up at night.

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Edge Magazine

If you find its imperfections endearing there’s much to position Apocalypse as one of the bolder attempts to further the art of the click-fest. [Dec 2006, p.85]

Game Informer

Mage Knight Apocalypse is a lot like eating the generic store brand equivalent of Lucky Charms. It has everything you expect, but doesn’t taste quite right.

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GameZone

Unfortunately the AI in the game makes it frustrating at times, and the simple hack-and-slash style of the game really doesn’t do anything to make the MK universe unique; it just offers up something we’ve all seen and done before with a couple of minor tweaks.

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IGN

Unfortunately, the game suffers from all around poor AI, several bugs like being able to blast spells through doors, and an all too beneficial save-respawn system that make it incredibly easy to beat.

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VideoGamer

A fairly average, poorly constructed game, built around some refreshing, interesting ideas, and you'll probably be frustrated at what could have been more often than you're entertained.

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GamerNode

This is just another example of how a game with apparently decent production values fails based off the lack of proper planning and design.

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PALGN

At its core Mage Night Apocalypse is, although not brilliant, at least passable. However, the fact that the game is hampered by numerous interface problems means it can only be recommended to those obssessed with the Mage Knight universe, or those that want to play every RPG there is.

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Computer Games Online RO

Even if you can escape the stupidity of the AI, you can’t avoid the other shortcomings of the game. And it’s a shame, because the story is not that bad and the graphics are sometimes enchanting.

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GameSpot

Mage Knight Apocalypse is a sloppy attempt to adapt the collectible tabletop miniatures game to a dungeon-crawler format.

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PC Zone UK

MKA's unresponsiveness and emptiness gives it the air of an MMO that was canned and crammed into a single-player format, or was designed for the soloing MMO player. [Jan 2007, p.82]

G4 TV

A good game design need to fire in all cylinders. Mage Knight Apocalypse stumbles on so many levels, it’s a wonder they ever got it out the door.

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Worth Playing

The few things the game does well (voice acting, the potion-brewing system, the item imbuing system) just cannot possibly hope to save what is, at best, a beta-release bundle of sloppy code.

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Eurogamer

The main linear quest path provides the bulk of Mage Knight, with little in the way of sub-quest trimmings, and the replay value is low despite the temptation of trying out new characters.

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GamePro

What we have in Mage Knight is a poor attempt to hop on the "WoW" gravy train. The developer clearly flayed all the depth and nuance out of the formula that made WoW such a huge commercial success, delivering instead a soulless husk stuffed with empty promises and features that you wouldn't want anyway.

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Games Radar (in-house)

Devotees of this universe's mix of fantasy staples and steampunk gadgetry might find themselves unable to resist Mage Knight: Apocalypse's dubious lure, and may even enjoy the game's character-building freedom if an effective patch comes along, but they aren't likely to stay enamored for long when this holiday season's bigger and better RPG offerings finally appear.

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PC Gamer

Tedium, interrupted by frustration. [Holiday 2006, p.86]

PC Format

We can't think of a time throughout the history of the PC when this might have been considered a well-executed title. [Christmas 2006, p.92]

GameSpy

The final nail in Mage Knight's coffin is the camera system. It's the most bizarre use of a third-person camera of any game in recent memory.

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Computer Games Magazine

One final warning to keep you from you buying this game: The sound effect you hear when you gulp a potion is a squeak akin to fingernails scraping a chalkboard or the running of unoiled machinery. [Jan. 2007 p.62]

Game Revolution

This virtual version of the Land just isn’t worth saving.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 5.7 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Kenny L. gave it a0:
Numerous bug, highly frustrating controls and camera make for one of the worst gaming experience ever. At $50, I felt totally robbed. Then the price went down to $20....still a ripoff. Not worth the disc it was made on.

Gripper K. gave it a1:
Please... Please do not buy this game. They failed at every aspect... Too linear, too boring, click fest, poor graphics, and terrible design.

Luke G. gave it a3:
Terrible controls, audio so annoying you will turn your speakers off, lots of bugs, poor graphics, etc. Stay away.

Icecold gave it a5:
I cannot recommend this game! Yes, the game looks about like what you see on the box, screenshots etc. However, EVERYTHING else appears to have been purposefully made bad. First of all don't think that you can actually play the game while viewing anything up close like you see on the box. Even this is forgiveable though. Everything else about this game looks cheap and blocky. The animation quality is equivalent to "very poor" in other games. This means that when you swing your sword (for example), in one frame you start the swing, and in the next, the swing in ends, and the enemy is on the ground. This is abhorable and takes all the fun out of the game. It is absolutely terrible, and it seems like they made purposefully unenjoyable.

Rob E. gave it a3:
Entirely deriviative, and poorly at that. Controls are awkward, skills are awkward. It looks like someone watched someone else play Guild wars, WoW, diablo, then made a game about what they saw. If you want this game, only TONS better, play Guild Wars.

Rdrunner gave it a3:
Hello... I must say I am glad i didnt buy this game. I was testing it at a Friends place and we both agree on it... The controls of this game are arkward. The game itself is not even considering being user friendly. I only managed to complete the tutorial before i decided I dont like this game. The grafics of the game are "decent" but the UI still needs improvement. It is not intuitive at all. Take the example of looting... After the tuturial I had a full inventory. But I only looted a few minor item like pots and plants. When I checked my Inventory all pots where using up a seperate slot and the game expected ME to sort them. Also the UI is not scaling with resolutions, and on a 1280er screen all items look tiny and lack details. The overal feeling is "Not ready" - So stay away!

András L. gave it an8:
Nice game, beautiful graphics. Bad things are bugs, annoying sound & music.

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