I enjoy the immersive sim subgenre of video games, focused on player agency and interlocking systems. I’m also a fan of the games of Arkane, who have made many of those over the years. While Dishonored and Prey rightfully get a lot of love, I haven’t checked out their earlier titles. I decided to give one of their early games, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic a shot. Is it actually interesting? Let’s find out!
The gameplay
The combat is the main draw of the game. Unfortunately, this is a mixed bag. There are multiple play styles it encourages; using melee and bow weapons, using stealth, and magic. You can freely spec your character as you see fit. Some abilities are locked behind a skill tree, unlocked with skill points earned by progression.
The melee system is what the game encourages you to use. You can always kick people. It’s great for getting them into conspicuously placed spike traps or falling off ledges, where they ragdoll hard. The weapon choices mostly consist of bows, swords (which can be paired with shields), daggers (for backstabbing, with the right skill), or staffs. There’s an emphasis on parrying (which can be done with all but bows) to block hits, and striking foes in particular ways to maximize damage. Unfortunately, I never found it clear how exactly to hit people or get into a rhythm of combat beyond mashing buttons.
The magic system is mostly unremarkable except for the more creative abilities. Telekinesis can lift guys out of the air, and the ice spell can either turn people into ice or make the ground slippery. Composing the abilities is where it shines. Creating a rube goldberg system of skill pairings feels fun and makes you feel like a genius. For example, using ice to make people slip, and then have them fall off a ledge? Comedy.
There is a stealth system, but it feels more like “we have to have this” than something the game design embraces. While you can use stealth occasionally to sneak around and get the drop, you aren’t going to be evading everyone. You will have to fight, so stealth is merely a drop of flavour than anything worth building a character around.
The world (or lack of one)
The plot and world is unfortunately immaterial. One of Arkane’s strengths is their worldbuilding (in spite of their plots and writing), but there’s only hints of that (such as in books around the world). This is technically a spinoff of the Might and Magic series, but the world is generic enough you wouldn’t care or notice. It’s mostly just your typical swords and sorcery, with an emphasis on the dark magic part. Despite the blah nature, I can forgive this aspect. It’s hard to do worldbuilding or stories when you’re shackled by someone else’s IP. Things like Fallout: New Vegas that take full advantage of the situation are rare.
What was, what will become
The most striking thing is how it resembles the games Arkane was inspired by, and what they would later go on to do. The real-time inventory and a bit of the skill system of System Shock 2 are present. There’s heavy inspiration from Thief, with the games’ surprisingly focused yet clumsy stealth system (light gem included!), rope arrows, and dimly lit medieval rooms.
There’s also a ton of elements that would become part of Dishonored, which takes heavily after Dark Messiah‘s focus on melee combat, magic, and interlocking gameplay systems. Things like “adrenaline kills” with the spectacle of finishing blows, or telekinetic abilities show up in both. It wouldn’t be off base to call Dark Messiah a Eurojank Dishonored. However, Dishonored had a lot more innovation, such as a focus on movement abilities. One of the good things about that period’s parkour trend. It was also far more refined, putting Arkane’s level design and worldbuilding on the map.
Another amusing comparison is how it reflects a lot of societal changes on women in video games. In Dark Messiah, you’re basically given a choice between “Lawful Good human woman that crushes on you” and “smokin’ hot demon babe consort” as implied romantic interests. I’m not a feminist academic, but you could call this “objectifying” and just lazy. Compared to Dishonored, the relationship with the female character you interact with the most (the princess) is changed to an implied-then-confirmed father-daughter relationship. Women receive more emphasis than being just objects (other than well, that bathtub incident). In Dishonored 2 and Death of the Outsider, the focus is moved to female protagonists.
Should I play it?
I think it’s more of a curiosity than an undiscovered gem. If you want to see what became Dishonored or what a 2000s Gamer Brown of Thief would look like, it’s worth seeing. But keep in mind you will have to power through a ton of 2000s jank and bland to see it. For everyone else, maybe just play Dishonored again.