 Might & Magic VII: For Blood and Honor for PC The Might & Magic series goes back a long, long time, to 1986, in fact,
when I was almost still suckling a sugar teat. Few game series have gone as
far as to have six sequels, but Might & Magic has done it, and surprisingly so,
because most of the games are exactly like each other. To be specific, the
seventh installment is essentially the same thing as the one that came
before it. However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. M&M VII is an engaging
game that takes an unhealthy amount of devotion to complete.
The game takes place a little after VI, and the plot is somewhat
related. In a nutshell, Archibald Ironfist, the evil necromancer (cripes, like
there's any other kind!) has escaped from Enroth and fled to a new
continent, Erathia. Supposedly you have to track him down or something. I
really don't remember the details; that's how irrelevant this story line is.
Maybe it's just because it's so tired.
As the game rolls along, you start to get more important quests from rulers
of two warring factions, asking you to sabotage the other
side. It doesn't matter which side you support (you can even play both sides
against the middle), because the real decision comes when the
honorable Arbiter dies, and since he's in your territory, you have to pick a
replacement. Naturally, two groups offer replacements: the dark
necromancers, and the benign sorcerers. If you pick the former's nominee,
you go to the dark side and can only use dark magic, while if you choose the
latter, you become agents of the light, wielding good magic.
Your decision doesn't really affect the flow of the game, although you
get different quests depending on what side you chose (for instance, a light
quest will have you going to rescue a princess, while the dark version will
have you kidnapping that same princess). There is also a chief city for each
side, and each group will give you a quest to infiltrate the other, so either
way, you're in for a lot of fighting.
Speaking of fighting, that's what you do most in the game. You rarely
fight just one monster – you fight hordes of them all at once. Usually, you
can stand far away and pick them off with arrows, the cheap technique we
know and love from VI, but sometimes you have to go in close, especially
later in the game. The fighting eventually takes its toll because you do it
ALL THE TIME and they throw so many monsters at you, you just start trying
to avoid them rather than clear them all out. And be sure not to accidentally
hit a bystander, as they will all turn against you if you do. Doing bad things
like that, of course, has a negative effect on your reputation, which in truth
doesn't really have an effect on the game like it did in the last one.
The graphics in this one got somewhat of an overhaul, as everything
flows more smoothly and is more detailed. Perhaps that's due to the new
graphics card I got, but I figure either way, NWC would be irresponsible if
they didn't tweak the graphics. There are some exceptional lighting effects
if you choose to turn them on, and magic spells look a lot sharper. The most
noticeable difference is that when you kill monsters, blood splatters all over
the floor, walls, and ceiling.
The music is decent and has some very memorable tunes, just like in VI. The
problem, though, is that the tracks don't repeat, so you have to either go to
another map square, or reload your game to get the music started again.
The voice acting is on par with the previous one, but they changed the
hilarious phrase the boat captain uses when you travel by sea. There are a
few FMV sequences, which although unnecessary, are short and watchable.
As for the extras in the game, you have to keep your eyes open to
fully enjoy them. As with any M&M game, this one has references up the
corn chute. In the light quest with the princess, you invade the tower of the
evil William Setag (get it? Bill Gates? Do you get it? I got it.). At the end, you find a sunken ship
with a "temple in a bottle," which, when used, takes you to the Strange
Temple, which is a cave shaped like the New World Computing logo. Then a
transporter takes you to a dungeon in the form of their offices, with tons of
peasants walking around, all with names of NWC employees. The game's
creator can be found in one office, and is represented by the same sprite as the most
powerful, evil guy you fight in the game. If you've played M&M VI, you've seen
all this before, because they did the same thing in that one. Anyway, in the
end, they actually tie together all of the M&M games, so hopefully the eighth
episode will have nothing to do with the first seven, because frankly, they
rehash the same plot every time.
So let's say you have a choice – your mom gave you $50 with the
stipulation that you have to buy Might & Magic VI or Might & Magic VII – I say
you opt for VII, for a few reasons. One, because the graphics are nicer, it
loads a little faster (I think it does, anyway), and it has a cooler cover. Well,
that's three reasons when I said I was listing just one, that's another reason
why your mom would think this game's a bargain (?). If you want a game that
will tide you over for a few weeks, pick this puppy up. And then pick up your
real puppy to show him you love him, because he'll think you're neglecting him
when you're staring at the computer for 17 hours a day.
Review by Eggle |