Crusaders of Might and Magic
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| Crusaders of Might and Magic | |
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| Developer(s) | 3DO |
| Publisher(s) | 3DO |
| Release date(s) | NA 1999 (WIN) NA 2000 (PS1) |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: T (Teen) USK: 12+ |
| Platform(s) | Windows, PlayStation |
| Media | 1 CD-ROM |
| System requirements | 32 MB RAM, 4X CD-ROM drive, DirectX 6.1, Windows 95 |
| Input | Keyboard, mouse, or gamepad |
Crusaders of Might and Magic is a third-person action/RPG game developed and published by 3DO's Austin, Texas studios. Different versions of the game were released for both Microsoft Windows-based personal computers and for the Sony PlayStation.
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[edit] Development
Crusaders PC was intended for simultaneous release with the PlayStation version, targeting the 1999 Christmas season. However, while the PlayStation team had been working on their version for several years, the PC team was given only 7 months to generate a full-length game's worth of assets and retrofit an existing first-person shooter engine to handle third-person combat. In the end, the game did ship for Christmas, though the result was widely regarded as sub-par.
[edit] Popularity
The game received a good amount of hype, especially as a result of being considered true 3D, the ability to "cast spells without using mana," and its supposedly revolutionary ideas. However, most reviews were lukewarm, making the game a flop before it was ever released. They also reported that the game's graphics were of a high quality, whereas the fighting and general gameplay were substandard. It was one of a number of terrible miscalculations by 3DO, and was a factor towards them declaring bankruptcy in 2003.
[edit] Plot
The player begins the game as Drake, a grey-haired warrior of an ancient order, who has been captured by a great skeletal army. His mission is to escape prison, kill his captors, and eventually defeat the central villain thereby stopping corruption and restoring peace to the region. Although there are non-player characters with whom a character may interact, the story is linear and is lacking in sidequests of any substance. Some players have jokingly claimed that even games such as Diablo were more akin to true role-playing adventures.
[edit] Game play
Drake starts with no weapons, but you can quickly find a sword and shield. These weapons form the basis of all combat. If you use your shield, you can completely block all blows (unlike many other games in which the use of shields only reduces the damage). However, to do this effectively, your character must face the right direction, and, as a result, you often spend a great deal of time turning around in circles, requiring delicate little mouse movements. In order to hit the enemy (mostly skeletons until right towards the end) your character needs to face the right way. Most computer-controlled enemies can be defeated quite easily, as the algorithms are mostly simple and thus predictable; simply blocking for a while and then striking while the enemy pauses to aim usually does the trick.
Every so often your character will find a spell book, which will allow them to learn a new spell or upgrade ones they already possess. It has been criticized that such events are seemingly random, rather than gradually enhancing the character throughout the progression of the game. Many players have commented that this frustrating, as it leaves them feeling that the strength of the character depends on luck rather than on the player's skill. The spells themselves do not use mana in a traditional sense; after each use, a spell requires a cooling down period before it can be used again. The spells also have a casting time, during which the caster is unprotected. This is why spells are most effective when shooting from long range or when used for protection.
The player advances through levels as he/she progresses through the game. With each new level, the player's character regains full health and gains an increase in maximum hit points and maximum energy. The game has three difficulty ratings. An increased difficulty rating means that the player's character will find it harder to hit enemies, and the enemies will more frequently be able to hit the player's character.
[edit] Criticism
- The storyline is considered slightly linear.
- Many players have been known to complain about the ambiguous and sometimes non-existent hints as to where they should go to next.
- Movement can be disorientating, as the character often needs to rotate during fighting, making it easy to lose ones way. The game also lacks an automap feature, which further exasperates the frustration.
- It is told by a mad dasher to acquire a rune & a spell from the glacier but nothing was available there
- Appearance of spell books seems to occur at random.
- The voice acting is considered substandard.
- The game requires extensive backtracking through extremely long areas, which can get very tedious.
[edit] System requirements
Minimum System Requirements:
- System: Pentium-166MMX or equivalent
- RAM: 32 MB
- Video Memory: 1 MB
- Hard Drive Space: 200 MB
Recommended System Requirements:
- System: PII 233 or equivalent
- Video Memory: 4 MB
[edit] External links
- Crusaders of Might and Magic at MobyGames
- Gamespot review, cheats and hints
- Game winners review
- Game stats review
- File Planet review
- The Spoiler.com spoilers
- 3D Gamers review
- Screenshots from Gamershell
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