Legends of Might and Magic
Encyclopedia
Legends of Might and Magic is a first-person shooter
video game developed by Jon Van Caneghem
through New World Computing
and published by the 3DO Company
in 2001. As a spin-off
of the Might and Magic
franchise, Legends has a fantasy
theme. Reviews likened the game to a medieval Counter-Strike
, but criticized it for being a mediocre clone.
to simulate actual gameplay conditions. Players pick a server, and then choose from 6 classes of either the evil team or the good team. The evil team consists of the Heretic, Archer and Warrior, and the good team of the Paladin, Druid and Sorceress. The players then enter a map. Each map exhibits one of four game types:
In addition to the opposing team, hostile creatures
may be present for players to fight (the host of each game decides whether or not there will be monsters). By killing monsters and opening treasure chests found on the map, and also by winning rounds, players earn gold with which to buy equipment. Players lose these items when they die or at the end of a match, whichever comes first. This was another flaw attributed to the game; as players lose everything once matches end and start with only basic gear at the start of each new one, there was no long-term reward and no way for more experienced players to gauge their skill against the less experienced.
s of the time, but it also included 16-player deathmatch, a random adventure generator, and a player vs. monster arena. The game would allow characters to choose one of six classes with differing proficiencies in might and magic before embarking on a quest to collect four artifacts from four worlds to defeat the deranged advisor to the king before he can alter history. The assignments given to the players would depend on their level and how far they had progressed.
By the beginning of 2001, however, the game had abandoned the Action/RPG elements and had become a deathmatch game, with six proposed gameplay modes, 25 maps from Might and Magic history, and the ability for weapons, skills, abilities, and equipment to carry over between games. The move was defended by Executive Producer Jeffrey Blattner, who said:
A demo for the game was released on April 18, 2001. On June 8 it went gold. The first patch (Version 1.1) came out on July 20.
said that Legends "pretty much blatantly rips off Counter-Strike." IGN also criticized the game for its lack of strategy, lack of differences between classes, and unbalanced weapons. GameSpy criticized the game for its poor implementation of single-player gameplay and lack of a map editor. The LithTech-based graphics were praised, however, and the game was said to have potential to grow. Gamespot criticized the game for its uninspired similarities to Counter-Strike, saying "If mediocrity and complacency were crimes, Legends of Might and Magic would get tossed in the dungeon." A compilation of reviews on Game Rankings showed the game had an average score of 57% based on 15 reviews.
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
video game developed by Jon Van Caneghem
Jon Van Caneghem
Jon Van Caneghem is an American video game director, designer and producer. He is best known for launching development studio New World Computing in 1983, making his design debut in 1986 with Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum...
through New World Computing
New World Computing
New World Computing, Inc. was an American computer 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 computer role-playing game series and its spin-offs, especially Heroes of...
and published by the 3DO Company
The 3DO Company
The 3DO Company , also known as 3DO , was a video game company...
in 2001. As a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
of the Might and Magic
Might and Magic
Might and Magic is a series of role-playing video games from New World Computing, which in 1996 became a subsidiary of The 3DO Company...
franchise, Legends has a fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
theme. Reviews likened the game to a medieval Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe...
, but criticized it for being a mediocre clone.
Gameplay
Gameplay in Legends is almost entirely online. An offline practice mode exists, but the game does not provide botsComputer game bot
A bot, most prominently in the first-person shooter types , is a type of weak AI expert system software which for each instance of the program controls a player in deathmatch, team deathmatch and/or cooperative human player. Computer bots may play against other bots and/or human players in unison,...
to simulate actual gameplay conditions. Players pick a server, and then choose from 6 classes of either the evil team or the good team. The evil team consists of the Heretic, Archer and Warrior, and the good team of the Paladin, Druid and Sorceress. The players then enter a map. Each map exhibits one of four game types:
- Sword in the Stone: Each team must attempt to gain control of the sword and reach the exit. It is essentially a variation of one-flag CTFCapture the flagCapture the Flag is a traditional outdoor sport generally played by children, where two teams each have a flag and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base," and bring it safely back to their own base...
. - Rescue the Princess: The good team must try to save a princess who is guarded by the evil team. This mode is similar to the hostage rescue mode in Counter-Strike.
- Warlord Escape: A player assumes the role of the warlord, who must be escorted by the others to safety. This is nearly identical to the VIP missions in Counter-Strike.
- Slay the Dragon: Both teams battle in a map containing a fire-breathing dragon. The team that kills the dragon wins the match.
In addition to the opposing team, hostile creatures
Legendary creature
A legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature.-Origin:Some mythical creatures have their origin in traditional mythology and have been believed to be real creatures, for example the dragon, the unicorn, and griffin...
may be present for players to fight (the host of each game decides whether or not there will be monsters). By killing monsters and opening treasure chests found on the map, and also by winning rounds, players earn gold with which to buy equipment. Players lose these items when they die or at the end of a match, whichever comes first. This was another flaw attributed to the game; as players lose everything once matches end and start with only basic gear at the start of each new one, there was no long-term reward and no way for more experienced players to gauge their skill against the less experienced.
History
Legends of Might and Magic was announced at the 2000 E3 by 3DO as the first Might and Magic game designed for online play. At the time, it was intended to be an Action/RPG that focused on co-operative multiplayer. With up to six players able to join up, the game was not as extensive as MMORPGMMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
s of the time, but it also included 16-player deathmatch, a random adventure generator, and a player vs. monster arena. The game would allow characters to choose one of six classes with differing proficiencies in might and magic before embarking on a quest to collect four artifacts from four worlds to defeat the deranged advisor to the king before he can alter history. The assignments given to the players would depend on their level and how far they had progressed.
By the beginning of 2001, however, the game had abandoned the Action/RPG elements and had become a deathmatch game, with six proposed gameplay modes, 25 maps from Might and Magic history, and the ability for weapons, skills, abilities, and equipment to carry over between games. The move was defended by Executive Producer Jeffrey Blattner, who said:
"We got to a certain checkpoint some time ago and examined what we had. One thing we pride ourselves on at New World is the gameplay, and we just didn't feel like we would be able to deliver a fun experience for people with what we had at the time, so at that point a decision was made to not proceed in the original direction, and instead we decided to make a different type of game," explains Executive Producer Jeffrey Blattner. "The Might and Magic series is already so varied in terms of gameplay anyway. We have the Heroes strategy series and the tried and true Might and Magic RPG series, and everyone was really interested in branching out into an action style game, so that's how we found ourselves here. The original goal of Legends was to deliver the first online Might and Magic game, and we're still going to do that."
A demo for the game was released on April 18, 2001. On June 8 it went gold. The first patch (Version 1.1) came out on July 20.
Reception
Legends of Might and Magic was likened to a fantasy version of Counter-Strike by most reviewers. In its review of the game, IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
said that Legends "pretty much blatantly rips off Counter-Strike." IGN also criticized the game for its lack of strategy, lack of differences between classes, and unbalanced weapons. GameSpy criticized the game for its poor implementation of single-player gameplay and lack of a map editor. The LithTech-based graphics were praised, however, and the game was said to have potential to grow. Gamespot criticized the game for its uninspired similarities to Counter-Strike, saying "If mediocrity and complacency were crimes, Legends of Might and Magic would get tossed in the dungeon." A compilation of reviews on Game Rankings showed the game had an average score of 57% based on 15 reviews.
External links
- Review at GameSpyGameSpyGameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
- Review at Game Revolution