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.

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.

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.

Game Types and Character Classes

Legends offers some new twists on a few tried-and-true team-based game types. The game features four basic modes, each of which relates to a standard type of game that you would expect to find in a team-based action game. The most basic mode is called sword in the stone. It is most closely related to capture the flag, but, in this case, the flag is a powerful two-handed sword that's set in between the two teams. Once it's located and picked up by a character, the sword can be used as a weapon. Until the carrier makes it back to his or her team's designated base point, the sword is the only weapon that character can use.

The rescue the princess mode is Legend's version of a hostage rescue, except there is only one hostage in the evil team's possession, and the good team must either free the hostage and take her to the drop-off point or kill the entire evil team. The escort the warlord mode is similar to a VIP escort, in which one team must help the warlord get to the designated safe zone before the other team kills him or her. The warlord, however, is an extremely powerful character that automatically gets his or her class' superweapon in addition to the highest armor class possible for his or her character class. One of the most interesting game modes is called slay the dragon. The object is to deal the killing blow to a powerful fire-breathing dragon that is waiting patiently in the neutral zone. Once the dragon is made aware of any hostile presence, though, it will vigorously defend itself. In addition, both teams must try to avoid getting killing each other before killing the dragon. While it might be an obvious strategy to hunt down the opposite team first in order to avoid getting caught in a two-way battle, the dragon must be killed in the allotted time so that either team can win the round.

The six character classes featured in the game each have different strengths and weaknesses. On the good team, the paladin uses the strength in his body and the faith in his heart to defeat his enemies in hand-to-hand combat. The druid is an elf that has a natural affinity to magic. He uses his knowledge of nature and power over the elements to engage his enemies with both melee and ranged weapons. The sorceress attacks her enemies from a long range by using powerful magical abilities, but she is fairly weak in close-range combat.

The evil team has a similar mix of characters. The warrior is the evil counterpart to the paladin. She prefers to use her strength and fearlessness to take on enemies in close-range combat. In contrast, the archer is best suited to attack his enemies from a distance by using several types of bows, and his ranged attack skill is matched only by the sorceress. The heretic, or evil cleric, uses a combination of bodily strength and dark spirit magic to become an effective fighter in both melee and ranged attacks.

The Weapons

Legends features 18 different types of weapons, including swords, hammers, staves, bows, and other types of medieval weapons that you would expect to find in a Might and Magic game. Many of the weapons have both primary and secondary attacks, and some have other functions. For instance, the gravity hammer normally acts as an ordinary hammer, but its secondary function lets the player throw it, and when it lands, it generates a gravitational field that sucks all surrounding characters and creatures toward the center. This is useful for gathering enemies into a handy central location so that you can attack them with a weapon that causes area damage. Several weapons are reserved for a particular character class, although other characters can use those weapons if they pick them up after the original owner is killed.

New World shared some specific details with us about the staves and bows available to the druid and archer characters, respectively. The druid begins the game equipped with a scimitar and a staff. This staff fires a magical projectile for its primary attack, and its secondary attack is a cloud of poisonous gas that is released directly in front of the druid. The staff of shocking is an upgraded weapon that fires an electrical bolt as a primary attack, and it can fire a group of electrical bolts that will bounce off walls, creatures, and other solid objects, as well as cause damage to each object they hit. The staff of the fire ring has a powerful primary attack that shoots a fiery bolt directly at a target, and, as a secondary function, the staff creates a temporary circle of flame around the druid. This circle of flame will do damage to any players, monsters, or objects that get within range. The staff of the dragon is the most powerful staff available. It launches at its target a large fireball, which will explode on impact and deal damage to everything within a given area. As a secondary attack, the staff of the dragon will shoot a continuous stream of dragon fire, which causes a devastating amount of area damage.

The archer's melee weapon at the beginning of the game is a lowly spear, but his initial ranged weapon is the bow of true sight. This bow fires an ordinary arrow as its primary function, but its secondary function lets the archer zoom in on his target, much like a scope on a sniper rifle gives the sniper better long-range aim. There are several upgraded bows available to the archer as well. The bow of the fire arrow fires an ordinary arrow directly at the target as a primary attack, and, as a secondary attack, it fires an explosive arrow that is affected by gravity and causes area damage upon impact. The bow of the death blossom has a primary attack that launches a magical arrow directly at the target, and its secondary attack fires a magical arrow that is affected by gravity and will explode in midair and unleash a magical fire that rains down across an area and causes damage to everyone it contacts. The bow of the wizard's eye is one of the most interesting and versatile weapons in the game. It fires a magical arrow directly at any target as a primary attack. As a secondary attack, the bow fires a magical eyeball that you can then guide toward your intended target. It is especially useful for scouting ahead around corners, up stairs, and in other areas where enemies might be lurking. The guided eyeball explodes upon impact; if it gets hit by enemy fire, it causes area damage to everything within its radius.

Legends has come a long way since we saw it at E3 last May, and while it hasn't turned out quite like we expected it to back then, it certainly looks as if it will make a nice addition to the selection of team-based action games on the market. It makes good use of the Might and Magic setting, which provides a much needed contrast to the various futuristic and modern-day team-based action games. We'll bring you more details and impressions as the game gets closer to its public beta test, which is expected to begin sometime in February.