Like its predecessors, it was well received by both critics and players for its large game world and graphics, and was among the earliest games to make use of both animated cutscenes and PCM sound-based speech. Its unique integration mechanic with the game world of Clouds of Xeen, allowing both games to be played in a combined format – World of Xeen – was considered revolutionary at the time.
Gameplay
A typical screenshot
Might and Magic V uses a game engine based on that used by Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra, and the general gameplay is therefore similar. Because it is designed to be played alongside Might and Magic IV, with characters that have obtained some levels and other enhancements through play in Clouds of Xeen, gameplay is considerably more challenging for starting characters.
Plot
Darkside of Xeen concludes the story arc started by Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum – the interstellar campaign against the Ancients' renegade creation, Sheltem.[1] Picking up where Clouds of Xeen left off, the adventurers take King Burlock's advice and follow Prince Roland's trail to the other side of the world, where they find the rogue Guardian of Terra has already conquered its inhabitants, under the pseudonym of "Alamar" (the name of the king he impersonated on VARN in Might and Magic I).
Meanwhile, the Guardian of the Darkside – the Dragon Pharaoh – contacts his rebel allies one by one, discovering that all have been imprisoned or converted to Sheltem's cause. In a desperate gambit, the Pharaoh sends a dragon hatchling into the night skies of Darkside, carrying a command orb holding some of his power. The hatchling is killed in flight by a magical bolt, directed by Sheltem, from his castle. The orb survives its fall to earth and is discovered by the adventurers. Passing through the city of Castleview, they scale the tower of the elvenwizard Ellinger Hofenhager, an ally to the Pharaoh.
Because Alamar moved Castle Kalindra, seat of power to the eponymous Queen of the Dark Side, out of phase with the physical realm, Ellinger instructs the adventurers to gather enough energy discs to power a spell capable of restoring it to reality. They travel the realms of Darkside, liberating the city of Sandcaster from Alamar's sorcerer agents Morgana and Xenoc, collecting discs along the way. With Castle Kalindra restored by Ellinger, the heroes enter, only to find that Queen Kalindra has been defeated and captured by one of Alamar's minions, the vampire Count Blackfang.
Invading Castle Blackfang with the aid of the knight Ambrose and his griffin, the adventurers slay the Count only to find Kalindra has been turned into a vampire. They restore her from undeath using her lost crown's powers, and with her aid are able to reach the Ancients' pyramid where the Dragon Pharaoh resides. After they return the Pharaoh his command orb, he explains that Alamar holds the Ancients' Cube of Power, which enables him to direct the dual-sided nacelle world of XEEN (Xylonite Experimental Environment Nacelle) through the Void. Using the Cube, he plans to land Xeen on his homeworld, Terra, and continue his rampage against the empire of the Ancients.
The Pharaoh reveals that when Alamar fell to Xeen in his "shooting star" (in actuality an escape pod), a second pod also landed, but was snared in the volcanic mountains of the northeast. Investigating this second pod, the adventurers discover Corak, Sheltem's nemesis from Might and Magic II and III. Corak instructs them to somehow teleport him into Castle Alamar so that he can put an end to his old enemy once and for all. The Dragon Pharaoh leads them to the airborne city of Olympus, where they obtain a Soul Box.
Transferring Corak's essence into the Soul Box, they fight their way to Castle Alamar and, battling Sheltem's hordes, manage to reach his throne room. Casting the Soul Box inside, they retreat as Corak emerges to battle his old foe, though the two are evenly matched. After a destructive skirmish, Corak is defeated, but compels Sheltem towards him and sacrifices himself, initiating their dual self-destruct command. The resulting explosion of power destroys both Guardians along with Castle Alamar, bringing the threat of Sheltem to a bittersweet end.
World of Xeen
World of Xeen CD box cover
If Might and Magic IV and V are installed on the same system, they can be combined into a single game. The combined game contains all of the content from IV and V, as well some additional quests,[2][3] and is known as World of Xeen. In 1994, NWC released an enhanced World of Xeen CD, which expanded the amount of digital speech in the game.[4]
The combined World of Xeen game contains a series of additional quests providing an epilogue to the events of Might and Magic IV and V. After Sheltem is defeated the party is summoned to the Ancients' pyramid by the Dragon Pharaoh to complete the quest that Prince Roland had been on all along: the uniting of the two sides of Xeen into a single, continuous world. Once the remaining quest lines are completed, Roland and Queen Kalindra are wed in a ceremony[5] that invokes the world's transformation.
MacUser named World of Xeen one of the top 50 CD-ROMs of 1995, and gave it a score of 3.5 out of 5.[6]
Swords of Xeen
Swords of Xeen is a bonus game in the 1995 Might and Magic Trilogy compilation (the trilogy refers to Might and Magic III, IV, and V).[7] It was developed by Catware.[8] Subsequently, it was also included in several series anthologies. The game was never published in standalone form.
The game began as a mod based on the Might and Magic V engine. Personalities from Catware were responsible for leading the modding effort, with story contributions from Ellen Beeman. As development progressed, collaboration with New World Computing was established, and the mod received publishing support. Swords of Xeen exploits some quirks of the engine to great effect, such as morphing monsters by using the regular animation of one monster and the attack animation of another. The game also contains bugs in scripting, which allow the player to bypass many encounters by walking sideways.
Swords of Xeen takes place on an entirely new world that is under attack by 'The Source', which claims to be the genius behind Alamar, the main enemy of Might and Magic V.
The game's graphics and sound, which had not changed from Might and Magic V, were dated.[7] However, the game was praised for its gameplay, receiving a 4/5 from one review.[7]
Reception
Computer Gaming World's Scorpia wrote in 1993 that Darkside had "almost trivially easy" puzzles, criticizing some as "pointless and boring", but nonetheless concluded that the game "is a satisfactory conclusion to the current Might & Magic saga".[3] She advised players to install and play Darkside and Clouds together for "the most enjoyment", and stated that the game was "a must for those who have followed the series since its inception".[9]Darkside of Xeen was a runner-up for Computer Gaming World's Role-Playing Game of the Year award in June 1994, losing to Betrayal at Krondor. The editors called it "the most impressive linking of two CRPGs in computer game history" and "a major step in the advancement of virtual world building".[10]
Might & Magic: The World of Xeen (comprising Clouds of Xeen and Dark Side of Xeen) was reviewed in 1994 in Dragon #201 by Sandy Petersen in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Petersen gave the compilation 3 out of 5 stars.[11] In April 1994 Computer Gaming World said that the CD version's "enhancements make it the preferred choice".[12] In CD-ROM Today, Neil Randall praised the World of Xeen compilation as "fun, consistent, and addictive." He awarded it 4 out of 5 stars.[13]
Related Research Articles
Might and Magic is a series of role-playing video games in the science fantasy genre developed by New World Computing, which in 1996 became a subsidiary of The 3DO Company. The original Might and Magic series ended with the closure of the 3DO Company. The rights to the Might and Magic name were purchased for US$1.3 million by Ubisoft, which rebooted the franchise with a new series with no apparent connection to the previous continuity, starting with the games Heroes of Might and Magic V and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.
Eye of the Beholder is a role-playing video game for personal computers and video game consoles developed by Westwood Associates. It was published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. in 1991, for the MS-DOS operating system and later ported to the Amiga, the Sega CD and the SNES. The Sega CD version features a soundtrack composed by Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima. A port to the Atari Lynx handheld was developed by NuFX in 1993, but was not released. In 2002, an adaptation of the same name was developed by Pronto Games for the Game Boy Advance.
Might and Magic Book One: Secret of the Inner Sanctum is an early role-playing video game, first in the popular and influential Might and Magic franchise. It was released in 1986 as New World Computing's debut, ported to numerous platforms and re-released continuously through the early 1990s.
Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra is the third game in the role-playing video game series Might and Magic. Released in 1991, it is the predecessor to Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen and the sequel to Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World. A Sega Genesis version was developed, but never released.
The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight is a fantasy role-playing video game created by Interplay Productions in 1986. It is the first sequel to The Bard's Tale, and the last game of the series that was designed and programmed by Michael Cranford.
Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World is a role-playing video game developed and published by New World Computing in 1988. It is the sequel to Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum.
Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen is the fourth installment in the Might and Magic series by New World Computing.
Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven, commonly abbreviated to Might and Magic VI or simply MM6, is a role-playing video game developed by New World Computing and published by 3DO in 1998. It is the sixth installment in the Might and Magic series, the sequel to Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen and the first of the Might and Magic titles to take place on the same planet as Heroes of Might and Magic. It continues the storyline of Heroes of Might and Magic II, and takes place at the same time as Heroes of Might and Magic III in the series chronology. The game was compared favorably to its peers, role-playing video games such as The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. Critics praised it for its non-linear, user-friendly premise, an interactive, detailed game world and a polished, bug-free initial release. A Limited Edition version of the game was also released, including a cloth map of Enroth, a strategy guide and the first five games of the series on CD-ROM. It was followed by three sequels, with Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor directly continuing the story arc.
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands is a turn-based role-playing video game that takes place in the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting of Dark Sun. It was developed and published by Strategic Simulations in 1993. It received positive reviews although released initially in an unfinished state. The game had a sequel, Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager, in 1994. An online MMORPG taking place in the same setting, Dark Sun Online: Crimson Sands, was released in 1996 and hosted on the Total Entertainment Network.
New World Computing, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1984 by Jon Van Caneghem, his wife, Michaela Van Caneghem, and Mark Caldwell. It was best known for its work on the Might and Magic role-playing video game series and its spin-offs, especially Heroes of Might and Magic. The company was purchased by and became a division of The 3DO Company on July 10, 1996 from NTN Communications, after NTN purchased New World Computing for $10 million in stock.
Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor is a role-playing game for Windows published in 1999 by 3DO and developed by New World Computing as part of the science fantasy series Might and Magic; it was re-released in 2011 on GOG.com. The game follows on from both the events of Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven and those of Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia. Players form a party of four characters who win a castle in a scavenger hunt and soon become embroiled in political events on the continent of Antagarich, on the world of Enroth, before eventually choosing one of two paths and working alongside a number of characters whose storyline continues on from the events of Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra. The sequel to For Blood and Honor is Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer.
The Magic Candle: Volume 1 is a role-playing video game designed by Ali Atabek and developed and published by Mindcraft in 1989.
The Elder Scrolls: Arena is an open-world action role-playing video game developed and published by Bethesda Softworks. The first game in the Elder Scrolls series, it was released for MS-DOS on March 25, 1994. The game follows the player trying to uncover a conspiracy against Emperor Uriel Septim VII.
Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom is the fifth scenario in the Wizardry series of role-playing video games. It was published in 1988 by Sir-Tech for the Commodore 64, Apple II, and IBM PC compatibles. A port for the Super Famicom and FM Towns was later developed and published by ASCII Entertainment in Japan. Wizardry V was released in the US for the Super NES by Capcom in 1993, and subsequently re-released for the Satellaview subsystem under the name BS Wizardry 5.
Legacy of the Ancients is a fantasy role-playing video game published by Electronic Arts in 1987.
Questron II a 1988 role-playing video game published by Strategic Simulations for the Apple II, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, Commodore 64, IBM PC compatibles, and Amiga. It is the sequel to 1984's Questron. The story and original design is credited to Quest Software, while the programming and artwork is credited to Westwood Associates.
Menzoberranzan is a 1994 role-playing video game created by Strategic Simulations (SSI) and DreamForge Intertainment. Menzoberranzan uses the game engine that was used previously in SSI's Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession (1994), and is set in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
Realms of Darkness is a fantasy role-playing video game developed by Strategic Simulations and published in 1986. It was developed for the Apple II and Commodore 64.
MegaTraveller 2: Quest for the Ancients is a 1991 space science fiction role-playing video game produced by Game Designers' Workshop licensee Paragon Software and distributed by MicroProse and Empire Software. It is the sequel to MegaTraveller 1: The Zhodani Conspiracy. Designed by Marc Miller, an original creator of the Traveller series, the game is set within the Official Traveller Universe and features a character creation system and other elements of game mechanics compatible with previous Traveller products. The game's plot centers on finding a way to stop the flow of slime issuing from an ancient ruin on the planet Rhylanor before it inundates the entire world. Gameplay involves controlling a party of up to five adventurers who engage in real-time exploration, trading, interaction with non-player characters, combat and problem solving on the surface of over a hundred planets and in spaceships journeying between these worlds.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
