Dark Messiah of Might and Magic pre-release Interview

[Blín D'ñero]

September 19, 2006 John JCal Callaham

Introduction

UbiSoft bought the Might and Magic game franchise rights from the now defunct 3D0 some time ago but it's only been in 2006 that they have used it for all new games. Earlier this year the publisher released the turn based strategy game Heroes of Might and Magic V but this fall the publisher, working with developers Arkane Studios and Kuju, take the franchise in an all new direction with the first person action-RPG Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. FiringSquad got a chance to chat with UbiSoft producer Waubert de Genlis to find out more about their plans for Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.


FiringSquad: First, how did the idea behind Dark Messiah of Might and Magic come about?

Waubert de Genlis: Dark Messiah of Might and Magic was born from the meeting of several factors/ideas. First Arkane Studios was working on a new game after Arx Fatalis, and they were looking for a technology and a publisher. They got in touch with Valve and soon they had an agreement with them to use the Source engine. In the meantime, Ubisoft had bought the Might and Magic brand and was looking for original titles to revive the franchise. Ubisoft and Arkane Studios eventually got in touch and found a mutual interest in giving birth to Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.

FiringSquad: How did Arkane Studios get the gig to actually develop the game?


Waubert de Genlis: It didn’t really happen like that. Arkane Studios already had a concept, and Ubisoft had a brand and a will to promote it with high quality projects. This is how the game was born.


FiringSquad: How hard was it to create a first person action-RPG that still retained the Might and Magic content and themes?


Waubert de Genlis: Dark Messiah of Might and Magic does not really retain the content from old Might and Magic titles, as the universe has been totally reworked. There are still some elements, such as factions and the importance of dragons in the world’s mythology, but the rest of the universe is much more mature in tone and more cohesive.
The universe was created keeping in mind that it should be useable for all kind of games: strategy, action, RPG… Because of this, creating Dark Messiah of Might and Magic and making it fit into this universe was actually fairly easy.


FiringSquad: What can you tell us about the storyline for the game and how it fits into the Might and Magic universe?


Waubert de Genlis: The story of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic starts 20 years after the conclusion of the events described in the Heroes of Might and Magic V campaign, which revealed the first steps towards the realization of the Demon Messiah’s prophecy.
In Dark Messiah of Might and Magic you will see the prophecy begin to come true, and you will have to take steps in order to prevent the rise of the demon messiah.

FiringSquad: What sort of playable characters will be available in Dark Messiah?

Waubert de Genlis: There is only one playable character in Dark Messiah as it is an action game. You play as Sareth, a young apprentice sent by his master to deliver an artifact to a friend in Stonehelm, a free city of the East.

During the game you will have the opportunity to evolve Sareth. Each time you complete a mission, you will earn skill points which you can spend to acquire new abilities, skills and spells. Thanks to these skills you can adopt different play styles ranging from mage to warrior and assassin. There are not fixed classes though, as you can arrange you skills the way you want, choosing to grow, for instance, your warrior and mage skills.

FiringSquad: What kind of locations and missions will the player get to see in the game?


Waubert de Genlis: The locations include a temple, a city, catacombs, caves and a boat. Examples of mission objectives range from recovering an item, chasing down an enemy, defeating a boss or protecting an NPC.


FiringSquad: What are some of the more memorable creatures that the player will encounter in the game?


Waubert de Genlis: Cyclops, Paokai (a blind dragon that lives in orcish regions)…but of course we hope that all creatures will be memorable! We worked a lot on the AI to make it act and fight in a realistic way. They can sense the environment and use it against you and most of them will have some competencies in combat allowing them to dodge, parry, and develop tactics…


FiringSquad: The multiplayer features in the game sound pretty interesting. What can you tell us about the dev team's plans for multiplayer in the game?


Waubert de Genlis: The game will provide deathmatch, team deathmatch and the brand-new Crusade mode, all of which support up to 32 players on the same map. The team at Kuju in the UK has been solely dedicated to that part of the game.

In the multiplayer part of the game you will play character “classes”, similar to what can be found in games like Battlefield 1942. The classes will have the opportunity to evolve during online campaigns.
The Crusade mode will be more of mix between Battlefield and WoW Battlegrounds. The rounds will take place on huge maps where you have “reinforcements” (or spawn point). You have to capture flags on the map to make the opposite side’s reinforcements decrease, and the game ends when there are no spawn points left or when all flags on the map have been captured.

On top of that, players will be rewarded with skill points for each “Act of Bravery” they perform. An act of bravery could be to kill and enemy, of course, but also capturing a spawn point, healing a teammate or assisting with decisive help in a battle (like blinding an enemy to allow a warrior to kill him for instance).

The skills you earn allow you to purchase new skills or to strengthen existing ones. The skills will be class-dependant.

FiringSquad: What other unique gameplay elements do you consider to be important?


Waubert de Genlis: Dark Messiah of Might and Magic provides a unique experience thanks to its innovative context-based first person melee combat system. It really allows you to feel sword combat like never before in a game.

Then of course the fact that you can use the environment as a weapon is a key aspect of the game, because it fits into our goal of letting the player experiment with several ways of completing a mission.

FiringSquad: Why was the decision made to use Valve's Source engine and what modifications were made to it for Dark Messiah's use?


Waubert de Genlis: Arkane Studios decided to use the Source engine to be able to concentrate on the game itself rather than to share their efforts on an engine too.

On top of that the Source engine allowed Arkane to create a highly sophisticated game world, including physics and a realistic look. It was also the perfect engine to create an action-oriented and immersive experience for the player.


FiringSquad: Are there any plans to release mod tools for the game at some point?


Waubert de Genlis: We have plans to release a map editor, and maybe other mode tools in the future, but our priority is currently to complete the game.



FiringSquad: What is the current status of the game's progress and when will it be released?


Waubert de Genlis: The game is 90% complete and will release this fall.


FiringSquad: Finally is there anything else you wish to say about Dark Messiah of Might and Magic?


Waubert de Genlis: We hope players will enjoy the Dark Messiah of Might and Magic experience, both online and offline, of course

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