Laborious and unnecessary travel is the order of the day in a game that lacks structure. The movement interface is clumsy with awkward camera angles disorienting the player at every turn, and the plot does not help matters evil armies are misbehaving, it's up to you to blah, blah, blah. Even the spell system, which is normally a saving grace, is a bit lacklustre with higher spell levels bringing new versions of existing spells as opposed to brand new ones. The end result is a game that fails to significantly impress on any level, while proving mildly playable for those who are desperately in need of an RPG fix.
This is a shame, as some of the environments are nice, prompting Mark Hill to comment on the 'pleasant architecture' of the buildings, and the gameworld is very big with ample opportunity for exploration. It's just a shame that what there is to explore is not particularly exciting, and non-player characters are a laugh-a-minute for all the wrong reasons conversational prowess is not their strong point.
There will be those who will want to play the game regardless of all its flaws. The only advice I can give you is to play Planescape instead, which may not be 30 but blows this thing out of the RPG arena in no uncertain terms. Crusaders will emphasize its level environments on wide-open playing fields but also contain plenty of dungeons for those more comfortable in dark, dank places. Combat will be real-time melee coupled with spells and a full range of weapons.
Crusaders of Might and Magic is set for release this winter. The Might and Magic series has been around for what seems like ages and although some of the earlier installments made their way to consoles before, never has one been specifically tailored for a home system. Crusaders of Might and Magic takes the action to a format Tomb Raider fans can easily identify with, but don't let that fool you into thinking this will be about moving blocks and mindless action.
Although there are dungeons with devious traps and barricades, expect a more traditional action-RPG feel to the game with vast amounts of weapons, spells, armor and magic to select from. Want more? Advanced embedding details, examples, and help!
Requires DirectX 7. Install instructions: mount the CD using a virtual drive Daemon Tools, qcdemu, etc. Game does not require CD, but cutscenes and music won't work without it, so it is sugested to leave the CD mounted while you play.
There are no reviews yet. If you've drained your Mana, waiting around or taking Mana potions and crystals will revive your status. You can even buy weapons and other items from merchants to stock up.
The inventory screen allows you to drag and drop items from a "trash bin" grid at the far right of the screen to your own inventory at the far left. It is a pain to have to drag everything all the time, and the only items that can be double-clicked to automatically obtain them are the spell books and gold coins.
A ridiculous waste of time is when you've purchased armor from a merchant, you can't drag it onto yourself right away; instead you have to drag it to your inventory storage grid first.
It takes a bit of time to get used to the inventory screen because at first you'll think you've lost an item except you only forgot to scroll down with the arrows onscreen they're hard to see. Some of the other items can be rings and shields that will help protect Drake. It's too bad the game doesn't allow him to wear helmets or another set of pants! Some of the spells are either interesting or useless.
One of the better ones such as the Fireball fries your enemies from a distance; some are even heat-seeking! The Soul Drinker drains an enemy's health and transfers it to you, with only one catch -- you can only use it against living flesh. Oddly enough, you can drain a friendly character's energy and get away with it!
The Heroism spell increases the speed of your character so that he can fight and run faster. Another one is the Lightning Bolt spell which targets multiple enemies! And the last of the best spells is the Spectral Ally, who becomes a ghost partner to help fend off enemies alongside you. Just make sure you don't attack your ally if you don't want to make trouble! All of these spells become newer spells that are more dangerous as you collect the same ones.
They build on top of each other up to three levels high. In other words, Fireball becomes Flame Strike, and then a level two Fireball becomes a Meteor Swarm, which is very devastating. The rest of the spells however, are pretty useless because you can't get them cast in time, nor would you care since they are pretty weak compared to the aforementioned ones.
The HUD display onscreen keeps track of what level spell you have prepared, or whether you have potions ready for use or not. It also shows your health and Mana status. With respect to the huge levels, detail and story, Crusaders of Might and Magic falls short of most RPGs and even action-adventure games due to all the bugs, lack of options and uninteresting features in the game.
However, it does deserve to have a look for its visual eye candy, great fight engine, amount of items and weapons, and other decent areas of the game. So if you're a hardcore RPG fan, this is not your game.
However, if you're the casual action-adventure or fantasy player, and especially if you're a Might and Magic fan, Crusaders will serve for the time being until a better game takes its place. Hopefully by that time, the minimum and recommended requirements will actually reflect honestly. Graphics: The graphics are certainly nothing new for the millenium, however it does have some nice animation including a Matrix-like effect , interesting special effects and highly detailed models and architectures.
But none of this is achieved without the right mix of CPU power, 3D acceleration and willingness to forgive some of the glitches and collision detection problems. The cut scenes including the ending are also dull and boring with uninspiring scripted camera angles; sometimes the camera never pans around and you have to watch Drake talk to others from afar.
Sound: Audibly, the sound effects are pretty clear and there are definitely a lot of channels. The music is catchy too, but is often played at random times and has a tendency to "pop". Also, the sound effects aren't always realistic or accurate to the area you're stepping over. The character voices are clean and loud enough for the most part, but unfortunately most of them contain horrible acting that doesn't really aid your player in any way.
As well, Drake sounds like he's bored all the time. Enjoyment: The fighting elements are the most fun, especially when attacking a whole group of enemies! But everything else just seems to be mediocre at best. There should have been more interactivity when conversing with non-player characters NPCs. Instead you hear just one little speech from each of them; this definitely isn't even close to a real RPG.
Also, the transitions between levels take forever on slower systems.
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