Average Customer Review: ( 19 customer reviews )
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· The graphics may not be the best in the business, but there are plenty of snazzy colors that catch the eye, and each new environment generally has something different to offer. Having just finished "Drakan: The Ancients' Gates" a few weeks ago, it is nice to find some variety in the visuals. Although "Drakan" is astoundingly beautiful out of doors, the indoor dungeons become very repetitive, and offer only a few different textures.
· "Warriors of Might & Magic" throws new foes at you almost every time you enter a new area, which works wonders on the pacing of the game.
· The voice-acting and rendered cut-scenes are pretty well-done. The hero of the game, Alleron, may not have any backstory to speak of, but the actor that portrays him breathes some life into an otherwise dull character.
· "Warriors of Might and Magic" offers a variety of weapons, armor, and shields for you to choose from, and most of them are quite nifty. Weapons like the "double-mace" come in handy for pounding your foes into dust.
· As Alleron slays his enemies, he gains experience points which he can use to make himself mightier, faster, smarter (which is handy for casting spells), or more durable in combat. This seemingly crude dab of role-playing really does keep things from becoming boring.

However, "Warriors of Might & Magic" is certainly not to be everyone's cup of coffee. While I enjoyed my stay within the world of Ardon, I did encounter several annoyances that kept me from complete and total addiction. They are as follows:

· The graphics are crisp and colorful, yes, but once Alleron heads outside, it all gets pretty ugly. The game's engine is clearly more adept at producing garishly lit dungeons (albeit pretty ones) than it is at capturing wide, open spaces. The few levels in the game that attempt to depict outdoor locales are pretty darn bland.
· Alas, not all of the indoor locations are pleasers either. The dungeon quality is all over the board. Some areas are atmospheric and interesting, while others are dull and unconvincing in every way. The best locales come later on in the game, though, which should add that extra bit of incentive.
· Combat in "Warriors of Might & Magic" is extremely basic, though somewhat enjoyable at times. Alleron can lock onto his enemies, attack them, and defend himself from attack as well. As long as you hold the defense button, you're untouchable (provided you're facing your foe), and the same is true of your opponents. Combat animations are also pretty scarce, so it leaves something to be desired. On top of that, fighting multiple enemies at once is a nightmare. What I wouldn't give for a "Mark of Kri" fighting system in multiple opponent situations!
· Enemy AI is weak, to put it gently. Your enemies generally just stand there as you pound on them, or if you decide to run from combat, don't expect them to care all that much about chasing you. It's inconsistent behavior, though. In some instances, monsters will pursue you until you're cursing in frustration - but most of the time they'll just give up and return to their posts as if nothing at all is amiss. Still, the game can hardly be considered a cakewalk as a result of its poor multi-opponent fighting scheme.
· There are a lot of "find this key" and "pull that level" puzzles. Blah.
· Though the locations in the game are thankfully diverse, they don't always make sense within the context of the (very slim) storyline. For example, after escaping the confines of a minotaur-infested underground city, Alleron appears in a monestary that's being attacked by undead. Naturally, the monks want Alleron to exterminate all of the undead before he can move on to the next level. This has nothing to do with the overall plot, and it is pretty jarring as well. "The Mark of Kri" always explained where you were going and why, and the knowledge would have helped "Warriors" to gel.
· NPC interaction is severely limited. For some reason, most NPCs talk in gibberish with subtitles. Worse, they're not big on dialogue. For example, "Find my magic rune and my magic staff and I'll give you a key." That's it. And then there's the merchants, who hang around in the craziest of places selling their wares. Why would a merchant sell his goods only a few feet from a hellish cult's evil temple? Goodness knows - and they won't tell you. In fact, they don't say a word.
· There's a very annoying glitch later in the game that will force you to visit the "Warriors of Might & Magic" website Q&A for a solution (unless you're really, really lucky).
· Final boss is a letdown.

As you can see, the list of negatives outweighs the list of positives. Despite this, however, "Warriors of Might & Magic" can be addictive in its own curious fashion. Despite my niggles, I kept playing... and playing... and playing. I can see how "Warriors" wouldn't satisfy just any gamer's needs, but for those who can get past its problems, there is some fun to be had - especially given the price, which is nearly pocket change now that the game has been on the market for a while. If you like hack-and-slashers and have some time to kill, you could do worse.

Final Grade: C (or 4 stars at [Amazon.com] on a curve - it's not as bad as some would have you believe, after all...)

12 of 14 found the following review helpful:

This game is a Blast!Mar 30, 2001
By Richard Williams
This is a really fun game. I bought myself a PS2 for Christmas, and some of the early games, but I found them to be short and the gameplay was disappointing. My girlfriend bought this for me last week as a present, and we've been playing ever since. The game started out pretty slow, and the controls took a while to get used to, but after 20 minutes, I was running around picking up stuff and fighting these big green trolls and swarms of insects in this really creepy dungeon. There are tons of items to collect, swords and shields, and magic potions, as well as a bunch of cool spells that you can use to fight with. I like to use the swords and maces to beat everyone up and my girlfriend prefers to use the spells. Her favorite is the ring of fire that gets everybody around her. Savegame is cool as well, since it has a picture of where you were, so we can switch and not confuse our games. Puzzles aren't too tricky, but they make a good break in the combat. Story is pretty simple, a mix between Conan the Barbarian and Evil Dead. Graphics in the first level are pretty drab, but later on, there are some stunning levels. So far we've seen about 20 or 30 different kinds of monsters to fight. Like I said, it starts out slow, but just keeps getting better and better. Best fighting/adventure game on the PS2 so far. Not a 5 star, better than 4, but there is no 4 and a half.

6 of 6 found the following review helpful:

Fun, Action Filled Adventure GameApr 23, 2001
By Adam B
I have never been a big fan of quest games for the playstation or nintendo. I typically prefer to play these types of games on a computer. Warriors of MM however is an alsome combination Hack-n-Slash and Quest game. I think the storyline is good (not great), but the controls and fighting are alsome. The monsters are cool (If you are a fan of D&D type fantasy), the graphics are beautiful, and the sound is good. I have been playing this for 4 days now and my wife wants to play when I'm done! This is highly unusual as she typicaly hates ever game I play (Except Spyo) :p So if you're a fan of Hack-n-Slash and/or Quest games, I highly recommend you check this game out.

6 of 7 found the following review helpful:

Addictive fun for daysApr 15, 2001

After finishing Final Fantasy 9 and Legend of the Dragoon on PS1, I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of Warriors of Might and Magic as my next RPG conquest, this time on PS2. I was a bit disappointed when I began playing and realized it was closer to Gauntlet then FF, but that feeling quickly disappeared as I got further into the game. The graphics are good- not up to John Madden 2001 standards (but what is?), the monsters are believable enough, and the landscapes are impressive. Simple but effective. The eerie sounds are reminicent of horror/suspense films and I found myself tensing up on several occasions as I neared an ominous looking scenerio, whith the life like sounds of Orks, Golems and Gargoyles lurking nearby. I'd just recieved the game 3 days ago and haven't stopped playing it yet. The play control takes a bit of getting used to, and the camera angles/scrolling can be a bit tricky, but overall I find the M & M to be highly entertaining and fun.

7 of 9 found the following review helpful:

THIS IS ACTUALLY A REALLY FUN GAMEApr 04, 2001
By Tom Johnson
With Might and Magic subtitled under the Warriors header, fans of 3DO's long-standing successful Roll Playing Game (RPG) series may be mislead as to what Warriors is all about. It was quickly evident this game attempts to mix RPG elements with that of a fighting game. There is a very diverse set of combat maneuvers which Alleron can perform with innumerable types of medieval bladed and staff-like weapons. By mid journey, he'll also have at hand many types of spells to cast, with many more to come. The player may choose to hack and slash his way through a situation, or stand back and cast spells or use is trusty crossbow to shoot magical bolts at his enemies. Since Alleron is your only player-controlled character, he becomes a jack-of-all trades as a spell caster and a fighter. So the player has to make good use of all of Alleron's talents to take full advantage of what he's got to offer. There are many main-line quests along with side quests that have Alleron exploring a cavernous dungeon, fighting through an orc inhabited canyon, meandering through vast caves, into an expansive underground temple of sorts, to do action with the main character and hopefully defeat him and save the world...for now. If the gamer realizes this game is attempting to stride the middle of a Fighting game and an RPG game, this game makes total sense. And if you're into it like I was, it's a total blast to play. Graphically, the large fully 3D environments, along with the colored lighting effects, are nicely done and help set the mood effectively. The FMVs, though not 'Final Fantasy' quality but nice anyhow, portray the relatively thoughtful storyline well. The spells each have their own special effect that makes good use of the PS2's graphics engine. The ability to control your point of view by manipulating the camera with the left analog stick, and simultaneously control Alleron's directions and speed with the right stick took only a few minutes to master. Once done, it was a nice touch to help explore your surroundings. My only comment there was that close-quarter combat was a bit tricky at times since the camera occasionally jittered, or spun around, temporarily disorienting me. Clipping is handled nicely by rendering close up object semi-transparently so they don't impede your view. Alleron's animations are good. Some of his combo moves are extremely acrobatic. But at times a lower frame rate makes his movements appear somewhat jerky. And sometimes, though he was moving straight, his body appeared to want to move right. Though this didn't effect game play, it looked a bit funny. Sound is adequate, but leaves room for improvement in the variety area. One type of monster had only one type of grunt or scream, which sounded repetitive at times, especially when there were many creatures in a single area at once. The ambient music was appropriate and helped set the mood of the present environment. Hearing an occasional groan off in the dungeons or echo way off in the caves could actually make things a bit spooky. I found this game to be a very enjoyable experience. If one takes time to do the majority of side quests with the main-liners, playing time should appease most gamers. It took me close to 20 hours to complete, compared to just 6 hours with Oni, which I think is more suitable as a rental. The ability to save at any point in Warriors, and to revisit previous levels later, is awesome. After repeating some of the levels I found I'd missed quite a few things the first time through. A cursory run through will not do the things this game has to offer justice. Overall, a solid, fun game.

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