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How Metascores Are Calculated
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Altered Beast
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games. |
In Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements, players are introduced to the dark and unforgiving world of Ashan, scarred by a bloody history and threatened by the apocalyptic prophecy of the Dark Messiah. The game sports a refined experience thanks to several improvements in gameplay, design and other technical aspects. Players embody the young hero Sareth and choose his evolution path to acquire spells, skills and abilities that will set his destiny. Experience Might and Magic like never before, with refined game mechanics carefully crafted for pad-controlled carnage, including a brand new lock-on feature and tweaked level design and game statistics. Explore three previously unreleased secret levels with new objectives, gameplay, and rewards. New multiplayer maps have been created exclusively for Xbox 360, while all other features have been completely remastered for an optimal Xbox Live experience, allowing you to play with up to 10 players. Enlist with the Humans or the Undead and choose to play as an archer, priestess, mage or knight. Make use of powerful and unique skills and spells on the battlefield, including powers such as meteor shower, berserk charge and rain of arrows. [Ubisoft]
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... 88
Pelit (Finland)
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]
85
Game Informer
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.
 60
Team Xbox
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.
60
EuroGamer
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.
60
360 Gamer Magazine UK
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.
60
X360 Magazine UK
Poor dialogue and slightly dated graphics are made up for by thumping combat and comic battles. [Issue#30, p.92]
59
Xbox World 360 Magazine UK
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.
58
Games Master UK
Just the combat would have been dumb fun. Sadly, too much clag gets in the way. [Feb 2008, p.58]
58
GameTrailers
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.
58
Planet Xbox 360
The reliance on platforming badly mars the gameplay, which never fares well with a first-person view.
57
IGN
Tells a formulaic story atop repetitive gameplay and is troubled by frequent technical problems.
56
Cheat Code Central
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.
55
Game Over Online
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.
53
Extreme Gamer
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.
50
Official Xbox Magazine UK
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]
50
DailyGame
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.
50
VideoGamer
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.
50
Thunderbolt
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.
50
Video Game Talk
While not a total loss, there's just too many other titles to choose from to give this one a slight rental recommendation.
45
Official Xbox Magazine
This mediocre trudge is definitely one you'll regret. [Apr 2008, p.79]
40
G4 TV
Dark Messiah is a frustrating title, since moments of fun are outweighed by long stretches of tedium.
35
GameSpot
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.
33
Game Revolution
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.
30
GameSpy
The staggering lack of quality apparent in Dark Messiah of Might and Magic Elements has left us incredibly disappointed.
30
GameTap
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.
20
1UP
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.
16
GameShark
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.
Mark S gave it an8: Doberwoman H. gave it a9: Ray C. gave it an8: Puya E. gave it an8: Rick G. gave it a9: Will A gave it a9: Tank H. gave it a10: |
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