Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer

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Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer
Developer(s)	New World Computing
Publisher(s)	The 3DO Company
Designer(s)	Jon Van Caneghem (creator) Paul Rattner (director) Peter Ryu (producer)
Engine	Might and Magic VI engine
Latest version	1.0
Release date(s)	March 7, 2000 (North America) September 1, 2000 (Germany)
Genre(s)	Role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Teen USK: 12+ OFLC: M[1]
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Media	2 CD-ROMs
System requirements	166 MHz CPU, 4X CD-ROM drive, DirectX 6.1, 32 MB RAM, 375 MB available hard disk space, Windows 95[2]
Input	Keyboard and mouse

Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer is a computer role-playing game developed for Microsoft Windows by New World Computing and released in 2000 by the 3DO Company. It is the eighth game in the Might and Magic series. The game received poor reviews, with many critics citing the increasingly dated game engine, which had been left fundamentally unaltered since Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven in 1998.^[3] The character development system, spells, sound effects, many of the sprites, and even some gameplay tasks - including an Arcomage quest - were recycled from earlier games.

Unlike the previous two games in the series, however, Might and Magic VIII introduced a new party management system that allowed all but one of the five possible player characters to be dismissed at any time during gameplay. The character class system used in the previous two games has similarly been overhauled, with only the cleric and knight classes remaining. In place of the traditional class system, Might and Magic VIII features non-human player characters, including minotaurs, dragons, vampires, dark elves, and trolls, each of whom possesses traits unique to their particular race.

[edit] Plot

Over a thousand years ago, the interstellar war between the Ancients and the Kreegan drove both races off of one of the Ancients' many colony worlds. During the millennium since, the natives of that world built their own society and culture from the ruin, the stories of the Ancients and the Kreegan having long since passed into legend. A few years ago, as depicted in Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven, the Kreegan invaded the world. The heroes of MM6 destroyed the Kreegan Queen and the last of the Kreegan were wiped out in Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor. The Ancients, however, anticipating disaster should the Kreegan manage to gain a foothold on the world, had already enacted their contingency plan: rather than let the world fall into the hands of their ancient enemies, they would see it destroyed outright.

A servant of the Ancients, the planeswalker Escaton, arrives in the village of Ravenshore on the continent of Jadame. Approaching the center of town, he unleashes an elemental storm across the three continents of the planet. There is widespread destruction and the boundaries to the four Elemental Planes are breached. Now monsters from beyond the boundaries are threatening to invade, fulfilling Escaton's plan, and the player must assemble a party of heroes to prevent this.

The four elemental gateways appear in the four corners of Jadame: the Gateway to the Plane of Earth on one of the Dagger Wound Islands (southeast), the Gateway to the Plane of Water in Ravage Roaming (southwest), the Gateway to the Plane of Air in Murmurwoods (northwest), and the Gateway to the Plane of Fire in the Ironsand Desert (northeast). In each case they cause an environmental disaster: a volcano in the Dagger Wound Island chain erupts and the tremors destroy the bridges that link the islands, the minotaur undercity in Ravage Roaming is flooded, the trees in a large area of Murmurwoods are uprooted by the winds, and much of the troll settlement in Ironsand is destroyed by an explosion of fire.

[edit] Notes and references

1. ^ "Rating Systems for Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer." MobyGames. Last accessed on 19 January 2006.
2. ^ "Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer." GameSpy. Last accessed on 19 January 2006.
3. ^ Michael E. Ryan. "Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer review." 22 March 2000. GameSpot. Last accessed on 19 January 2006.

[edit] External links

• Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer at MobyGames
• Flame Stryke's Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer site Extensive maps, walkthrough, hints and tips.