Legends of Might and Magic (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.5 stars OK
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 5.7 (2.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Scott Osborne
• Reviewed on: 07/06/2001
• Updated on: 05/17/2006
• Released on: 06/18/2001
• Originally published on GameSpot: Legends of Might and Magic (PC) Review

Dear Counter-Strike players: If you'd please lay down your submachine guns and flashbangs for a moment, the developers of Legends of Might and Magic have a magic wand they'd like to sell you. At least that seems to be the message behind 3DO's new fantasy team combat game, Legends of Might and Magic. With wizards and warriors replacing terrorists and counterterrorists, the game ends up a mediocre muddle rather than the novel game it could have been.

The gameplay in Legends of Might and Magic should be immediately familiar to shooter fans. This isn't the welcome kind of familiarity, though, but rather the sort that makes you groan, "Don't I already have a better version of this on my hard drive?" Up to 16 players are divided into two teams composed of, unimaginatively, the forces of good and the forces of evil. Each side has three different characters (or character classes) available, including old fantasy standbys, such as paladins and sorceresses. But there aren't enough substantial differences between the characters, since all of them can purchase and use most of the weapons and items. Only a few items are exclusive to specific characters. In fact, the whole character concept feels like an aborted attempt at including role-playing elements in a pure action game. Character classes, whether in a role-playing game or a shooter like Team Fortress Classic, need to have truly distinctive abilities and weaponry to perfectly complement each other and offer a broad variety of playing styles. You won't find that diversity and balance here.

Given the enormous popularity of Counter-Strike, the designers of Legends of Might and Magic apparently didn't hesitate to borrow a few pages--a few chapters, really--from its game design handbook. Gameplay is divided up into rounds, and at the beginning of each one, you purchase more powerful weapons and armor with the gold you've earned by vanquishing foes. Also like in Counter-Strike, you have the crystal ball equivalent of a radar to track other players. There's even a "ghost" mode for players who are sitting out the rest of a round after being killed, à la Counter-Strike.

The four game modes won't set the shooter genre on fire with their originality, though they can still be entertaining. The rescue-the-princess mode has the good team trying to rescue the eponymous damsel in distress from the evil team's lair. To rescue her, you aim at her and press the "use" key, and she'll follow you. In other words, it's the hostage rescue mode from Counter-Strike, with a clueless princess replacing the clueless scientists. The warlord-escape mode offers a medieval variation on the hunted mode from Team Fortress Classic and the assassination mode from Counter-Strike. One player takes the role of a warlord who can't purchase equipment and is escorted to safety by one team while the other tries to bushwhack him. In slay-the-dragon mode, both teams race across the map to see who can kill an ornery dragon first, though players usually end up just killing each other. In the sword-in-the-stone mode, the teams try to see who can first yank a mystical sword from a rock and return it to a designated area.

When you're out rescuing, slaying, and sword stealing, you'll have an arsenal of "might" and "magic" weapons at your disposal. Might armaments include thrown weapons such as knives, axes, and hammers, as well as three crossbows and three bows. Like in Unreal Tournament, the weapons feature primary and secondary attacks, though most secondary attacks make little if any sense, even in a fantasy setting. The secondary knife attack essentially turns the knife into a landmine. The Gatling crossbow seems like a desperate attempt at putting a machine-gun-like weapon in the game. Just like the Redeemer guided missile in Unreal Tournament, the eye bow lets you look through and guide the projectile on the way to its target. In other words, most of the weapons are just poor fantasy versions of those found in other games, and the great majority of them are ranged weapons. Don't expect many blood-spattered melees.

Continue reading

Compare prices for Legends of Might and Magic

This product is currently not in stock at any of our online merchants.

Email me when this product is available