Dark Messiah of Might & Magic: Elements (Xbox 360)

The recent attention of Valve’s The Orange Box has made some forget that another popular Source-powered title is coming to the Xbox 360 in the near future. Dark Messiah of Might & Magic: Elements is ready to take the leap of faith onto the console after blowing away many a PC gamer with its medieval setting and unique first-person bladed combat. A short demo of Dark Messiah of Might & Magic: Elements at GC 2007 running off of an Xbox 360 dev kit affirms what made the PC crowd so deeply committed to this Source-powered paladin. Those coming over from the PC side take note: Dark Messiah of Might & Magic: Elements for the Xbox 360 is pretty much the same game that you experienced on your beloved hardware. The main difference is that Dark Messiah of Might & Magic: Elements on the Xbox 360 will ship with four brand new levels, offering a marked departure in gameplay style as compared to the PC SKU. We were told to look out for an arena-style level, complete with a goblin that continuously sends monsters at you- gladiator style. We can’t confirm two of the other new levels of Dark Messiah of Might & Magic: Elements, but we do know for sure that one will be puzzle-heavy.

To show off some of the new features of Dark Messiah of Might & Magic: Elements, a special demo level was made and run by Ubisoft Annecy; the same house that gave you the better co-op modes of Splinter Cell. We immediately realized just how adventurous one will have to be to play Dark Messiah of Might & Magic: Elements well, as no task is really handed to the player. In one instance, the character had to throw a lever in order to drop a heavy block onto some unsuspecting guards. It would have been possible to just sneak attack the armored foes, but using the medieval noggin was a much cleaner way to rid the map of two nuisances. Another scene featured interactive environmental objects such as barrels and crates that could be chucked at any adversary for a crushing kill. With a host of creative kills under your mail, leveling up is a much simpler task too, so break out The Brain Game before busting into this one. When creativity falls by the wayside, a hero must stand and fight in Dark Messiah of Might & Magic: Elements. A new enemy lock feature makes it much simpler for the Xbox 360 players to keep their eyes on the prize (easier to do with a keyboard and mouse). Once some handy bladed work is sent an enemy’s way, there’s a good chance he’ll go down where a nasty finisher can be unleashed. There are several finishers in Dark Messiah of Might & Magic: Elements, with one of course involving the obligatory limb chop. These power moves come in handy when fighting end bosses such as the huge spider that appeared out of nowhere in our demo. But the chops merely set this arachnid up for a blast of fire that the hero triggered via a lever. Use that gray matter folks. Ubisoft is particularly tight-lipped about Dark Messiah of Might & Magic: Elements’s multiplayer mode, but they have confirmed that twelve players will be involved and can choose to play as one of four character classes. Twelve total players is four down from the PC version, but Annecy claims that this is a strategic move to make the experience more cerebral and less like Battlefront with swords. Look for more information in the very near future on Dark Messiah of Might & Magic: Elements, which is scheduled to ship this holiday season.