Legends of Might and Magic Preview

Released in 1987, Might and Magic was one of the first 3D first-person role-playing games. Since that time, the franchise has grown into a family of popular RPGs, and it has also evolved to include the successful Heroes of Might and Magic turn-based strategy games, as well as a third-person action game, Crusaders of Might and Magic, which was released in late 1999. Later this year, the series will spawn yet another iteration called Legends of Might and Magic, and it will be the first team-based multiplayer action game set in the Might and Magic world. It will focus exclusively on action, so if you're looking for plot and character development, you should look elsewhere. Instead, 3DO is hoping to attract all the Might and Magic world fans who also enjoy team-based action games like Half-Life: Counter-Strike. The locations in the game are all based on environments that have previously appeared in Might and Magic games, and many of the characters and wandering monsters will also seem familiar to those who have played the previous games.

Click for full size image

Legends of Might and Magic started out as an action game that included a number of role-playing elements. Last year at E3, it was promoted as a team-based action RPG in which you and other players could play through an adventure as a cooperative group or engage in multiplayer deathmatch games. As the game progressed, though, the developers decided to focus exclusively on action and dropped the cooperative adventuring altogether. The company felt that the decision was necessary to deliver a well-made and fun-to-play game. Although the scope of the game has changed significantly since last year, players who appreciate team-based action but are looking for something other than the usual modern-day or futuristic settings should enjoy the change of scenery offered by medieval environments, weapons, characters, and monsters.

Click for full size image

At its heart, Legends is a traditional first-person team-based action game in the spirit of Half-Life: Counter-Strike, Tribes, and Quake III: Team Arena. The game uses a modified version of the LithTech 3D engine, the same engine that powered the award-winning action game No One Lives Forever, as well as KISS: Psycho Circus, Sanity: Aiken's Artifact, and several other games.

Up to 16 players per server split up into two teams, the good team and the evil team. An autobalancing feature keeps the teams even in the event of connections and disconnections. You can choose one of three character classes available for your team and equip them with better weapons and armor by using a monetary system that rewards you for killing enemy characters and monsters and for winning game rounds. Each game has a time limit, which defaults to five minutes but can be adjusted by the player who hosts the server. If your character is killed during a round, you must wait until the next round for his or her character to respawn. And while waiting for the next round to begin, he or she has the option of following other characters around and watching the action.