MIGHT AND MAGIC III, A DIFFERENT VIEWPOINT (PERHAPS) 


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   I have just finished reading a review of Might and Magic 3 written by Gus
  Wrethman in MD 29, and felt that he was very hard on the game, to say the
  least, especially when compared to Might and Magic 2.

   Graphics:

   Unfortunately, I do not agree with Gus overall.  The graphics in the
  cities were reasonably dull.  Has Gus ever driven through Melbourne or
  Sydney?  Most cities do not have irridescent pink walls with orange and
  purple borderings and green roads, (Thank goodness!!!).  Nor does Might and
  Magic III.  Where brighter colors are required, they are given.  I agree
  that they are not perfect, but then again, I don't think I have seen one
  yet that is!  M&MIII at least tries to give "realistic" colorings. (If
  realistic colorings can be given in a totally fictional game set umpty-dum
  years into the future which exists only on computer systems here and
  now!!!!)

   Sound:

   I must admit, I turned the sound off after about an hour, as much for
  speed of processing as anything else, but the music was probably as much as
  could be expected.  I mean, the thing takes 6 floppies as it is.  How many
  more would be needed to give a different sound track for every facet of the
  game?  Still, I admit it could be better.

   Rules:

   Like Gus, I was unpleasantly surprised when I first opened the box and
  began to read the rule book.  My reaction was also "Hey, they've left
  something out of the box!!!"  However, after playing the game for a brief
  time, (probably about 3 hours), I realised this game really needs rules the
  way the A.C.T. needed self-government.  In other words, not much at all.
  The explanations for the spells, for example were given at the time of
  purchase of each individual spell.  The "cost" of each spell (in spell
  points, gems) is listed when the spell list for the individual charactor is
  shown.  I prefer this system to the system of looking up a spell in a list.
  For starters, if I write something down, I tend to remember it, whereas if
  I just look it up......  (Mind you, for those people who DO use up a forest
  or three keeping notes, New World Computing actually give you a blank
  notepad with your first 10 tree's worth of paper)

   Setting Up

   Here, I agree with Gus.  The rolling-up system for your own charactors is
  clunky and very user unfriendly.  I was actually happy when this section
  was over.  I had played Might and Magic II, so was familiar with the
  general idea, and I didn't even look at the pre-built charactors supplied.

   Gameplay:

   The first thing that strikes a player is the lack of "things to kill".  I
  mean, how is a body supposed to go up levels if you can't find anything to
  gain experience points with!!!  In actual fact, the game is fairly cleverly
  set to a reasonable level, to provide a challenge with a minimum level of
  risk of actually losing a charactor.  This level continues right throughout
  the game, and I actually only had a charactor eradicated once, and the game
  required that I have one eradicated at that spot. (A sort of sacrifice;
  lots of games require it.  Anyway, you can get the charactor back).  Saving
  the game is a real problem.  I luckily have a hard drive, so saving was not
  as much of a problem as it would have been on floppy.  I looked at one save
  game early on, and it took up either 218k or 282k, I can't remember which.
  So playing to and from a floppy could be a real problem.  Actually, a
  friend of mine bought the game, but does not have a HD.  He has refused to
  play the game until he gets a hard drive, because of the time required to
  save the game.

   I must say something on behalf of the programmers at this time.  The box
  the game comes in clearly indicates "HARD DRIVE RECOMMENDED".  Now, I
  realise that a lot of people do not have a hard drive, but if I see that
  sign on a box, and I do not HAVE a hard drive, I for one think twice about
  buying that particular game.  The same condition applies for the sign "1
  MEG REQUIRED".

   The game interface is much easier to use as a combination of both keyboard
  and mouse.  Gus recommended keyboard only, and was most critical of the
  mouse interface.  I disagree, primarily because I have a tendency to use
  the keyboard for most adventure games, EXCEPT FOR COMBAT, where I tend to
  use the mouse.  I found that M&MIII was no exception to this.  Moving
  around the various screens, I used the keyboard, and fighting, I used the
  mouse.  For other functions, I used either mouse or keyboard, depending on
  how lazy I felt or how late it was.

   Gus complained at length about the spell selection and casting, and I
  agree with him to a certain extent, but he forgot to point out a couple of
  things that DO save time.  Firstly, every charactor has a "pre-set"
  command, that is for use in combat.  If I wish "Spellcaster" to cast the
  spell "Lightning Bolt", and to keep casting that spell until he runs out of
  spell points, I can simply set him up to do this, and then he will cast
  that spell every time I give him the order to "attack" in combat.  In
  addition, the game remembers which spell each charactor last used, and if
  the charactor is required to cast a spell, either in combat or in normal
  adventuring (say, "Light", for example), there is no need to re-select that
  spell if it is already selected.  This is a big improvement over most of
  the adventure games.  (Even if my explanation isn't).

   Bugs:

   Gus mentioned that "one particular...square in Fountainhead causes the
  screen to go haywire and....."  Sorry Gus, but I didn't have that
  particular problem at all.  Perhaps it was just your system.  Also, I
  wonder about the "crashes" that Gus mentioned, because I didn't have that
  problem either.  I only have 3 Meg total memory, but I didn't have any
  crashes such as Gus describes.  So much for Bugs 2 and 3.  Bug 4 that Gus
  mentions is the lack of sound noted in the Arena.  It is a deliberate
  design of the game that the music cuts out during battles in the arena,
  because all other sounds remain!!!  How can something that the programmers
  put in deliberately be called a BUG!!!

   This gets us to bug one, the displacement of the "blades" mentioned.  This
  actually happens right throughout the game, especially in the area where
  lots of levers must be thrown.  The further away from the actual location
  of the object viewed, the more displacement occurs.  However, as you
  approach the object, it shifts back into position.  By the time you are
  actually "on top" of the object, it is in the correct position.  So where
  is the problem?  It can even be a small plus under certain circumstances.
  Agreed, it shouldn't happen, but it doesn't detract from the gameplay.  Bug
  5 is that Ziltar gives a garbled message.  No question about it, the
  writing is garbled.  All that is required to note is that someone forgot to
  hit the return key when putting in the last two lines of the text.  But it
  IS a bug.  (It tells you about the Vampire King's empire).

   Gus also mentions that some of the clues given in the game are wrong.  In
  actual fact, I only discovered one which I thought was wrong, and when I
  went back through my notes, and followed the instructions given on the
  walls for that particular area, I!!!! turned out to be wrong, not the
  game.  Gus also doesn't mention that the actual SOLUTIONS to the various
  puzzles are included AS PART OF THE GAME (although you will probably have
  completed the puzzles before you find the answers).  How many games include
  a "checklist" so you can find out if you have completed a section
  properly!!!

   Also mentioned was the fact that "obsidian" weaponry gave a magic user the
  same hitting advantage as a fighter with a double handed axe.  If I give a
  5 foot wimp a crowbar, and a 6 foot 4 inch weightlifter a boxing glove,
  which one will hit harder????  I rest my case!!

   General:

   This game is, by all admissions, HUGE!  There are 64 maps, and it is not
  strange at all, given the size, that some charactors are going to have
  amazing stats by the end of the game.  (I had one charactor with 2500 hit
  points - and he did actually still die).  The game follows a fairly
  straight forward progression.  In other words, don't try to take on
  anything on the second map until you have completed the first map; you
  probably won't be up to it.  The interface takes some getting used to, but
  makes sense when you use it.  It is DIFFERENT, not unusable.

   I give a different rating to the game than Gus:

	Graphics	 7
	Sound Track      4
	Sound Effects    3
	Playability      6 (remember, it is DIFFERENT)
	Play Again?      2
	End Sequence     9
	OVERALL 	 7.5

   The "play again?" is only two because, like most adventure games, once
  you figure out the solutions, it becomes almost boring to do it all again.
  This is a problem common to most adventure games or RPG games, not just
  M&MIII.

   Just a quick comment on Black Crypt.  Gus raved about it already.  I have
  only looked very briefly at mine, but find it hard to relate to a dungeon
  with soft looking stone walls that seem "fuzzy".  Stones are HARD!





   Might & Magic 3 V's Might & Magic 2

   I believe one of the tests that should be applied to a software company is
  how much improvement they make to programs that are sequels to others of
  the same genre.  In this case, New World Computing deserve some sort of a
  pat on the back, for the improvements made in M&MIII compared to M&M2.

   GRAPHICS

   As soon as MM3 is loaded, the differences begin to become apparent.  The
  graphics have become sharper and certainly more colorful.  They are also
  more animated, moving considerably more than MM2.  The individual sprites
  are easily clearer.  The improvement in graphics continues right throughout
  the game, from start to finish.  MM2, however, does not suffer from
  "distant sprite displacement" the way MM3 does.  This is a definate fault
  in MM3, although it doesn't interrupt gameplay at all.

   SOUND

   The sound in MM3 has improved over MM2, but only because MM2 didn't really
  have any, whereas MM3 at least TRIES to provide some sort of sound effects
  and background music.  There is still considerable room for improvement.


   DEAD THINGS "STAYING DEAD"

   This is a weird sort of heading, but anyone who has played MM2 will know
  what I am talking about.  In MM2, I finally got my charactors up to the
  stage where they can take on the jouster (map B2, I think...I played it a
  long time ago.) and finally killed it.  I got some great weapons, etc, and
  wandered off, finishing the rest of the map on the way.  Later in the game,
  I had occasion to pass over the same spot, and, lo and behold, there was
  the jouster again, in the same spot.

   I checked the rest of the "reward combats" just to be sure, and yup, the
  baddies regenerate every time you leave the map they are on!!!  This is
  great if you want to take your charactors up fast, but gets really boring
  after a while.  In MM3, however, once a monster is dead, IT STAYS DEAD!!!!
  I think this is a definate plus, and makes the game that much more
  challenging.

   I could probably go on for hours about this, but I won't.  Let's just say
  that the programmers still don't quite have it right, but they are
  definately on the right track.


   Greg Leggett

   Canberra

   P.S.  I saw MM4 out for the IBM (yeah, I know, wash my mouth out with soap
  and floor cleaner) yesterday.  The interface, judging from the pictures on
  the box, is the same as MM3, but it looks like the "monster pics" sometimes
  appear on the whole screen, instead of just a quarter of it.


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