Crusaders of Might and Magic Preview

The action-RPG Crusaders of Might and Magic takes the M&M series into the third-person action genre. You assume the role of Drake, a mercenary obsessed with exacting vengeance on the army of undead that murdered his family. You control Drake via a Tomb Raider-like third-person view and make him run, jump, scale walls, solve timed puzzles, avoid traps, attack with his weapons, and cast magic spells along a nonlinear storyline in a fully 3D environment. In his travels across 15 huge areas consisting of 90 different zones, Drake will encounter more than 30 kinds of monsters, some of which will no doubt be familiar to fans of the Might and Magic and Heroes PC games.

3DO seems to be trying to let players customize Drake to their own tastes by means of in-game decisions left entirely up to the player's discretion. For example: A defensive player, faced with the choice of either heavy plate-mail armor or lighter leather armor may opt for the former, which will afford Drake excellent protection but hinder his movement. In another situation, Drake may have to decide between either that shiny new sword or that one really great spell. How Drake turns out in the end will be up to the player.

The developers remarked that while there are RPG elements in the game (such as taking on quests and buying items from merchants), it's really more akin to a 3D Golden Axe in nature, making it sound like another attempt at the Deathtrap Dungeon-style hack and slash. The quests themselves stem from ongoing events that take place in the game world, such as the dwarven civil war and the plague of madness that's struck the insect warrior clan, which you must help rectify while continuing the crusade against the undead. And to battle those nasty skeletons and lichs, you will have the ability to cast spells, such as those that will let you invoke lightning, killer swarms, mana shields, or fire blasts. Higher spell levels will affect more enemies at once, and there are three spell levels each comprising a dozen spells in all.

One of the main complaints about Eidos' Deathtrap Dungeon was its flailing cinematic camera, but those interested in Crusaders will be glad to hear that the view stays simple. The camera remains fixed directly behind the character unless he's in battle, in which case it moves a bit higher above, looking downward and giving you a better view of the action. A look function will also double for a spell/projectile targeting system.With the most recent build of Crusaders of Might and Magic, it seems 3DO has managed to squeeze out a competent and playable 3D engine, a feat others have failed at miserably (Deathtrap Dungeon for example). As soon as you fire up the game, an in-game tutorial walks you through the moves and spell commands. It's a little tedious to anyone who can read an instruction book, but fortunately you can skip past the cinematics if you want. Control is responsive, and the analog works well. Sometimes the camera sways a little stomach-churningly quick, but you get used to it. At the beginning, you can either engage the enemy in hand-to-hand combat, with the help of a mace to the skull or, if you have enough mana, light your foes up with fireballs. More spells and attacks will come your way as you progress through the game, but the learning curve is designed to keep things challenging yet manageable. The graphics are a little grainy, although it suits the dungeon levels well. The colors are somewhat muted, giving COM&M a grayish, drab look. Again, this is appropriate for the dungeon levels, but it would be nice to see some variation in the color scheme. From the looks of things, 3DO seems to have a good game engine in place, something that couldn't be said for some of its Army Men titles. So, if you've been hoping for some Might & Magic action on your PlayStation, it appears you've got a lot to look forward to.

Crusaders of Might and Magic is due out for the PlayStation in the fourth quarter of this year, with a Nintendo 64 version following sometime in 2000.