| Crusaders Of Might And Magic |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT CRUSADERS OF MIGHT AND MAGIC | |
| 1999 video games | |
| new world computing games | |
| the 3do company games | |
| windows games | |
| might and magic | |
| video game spin-offs | |
| action role-playing video games | |
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Crusaders of Might and Magic is a third-person action/RPG game developed and published by 3DO 's Austin, Texas studios. Versions of the game were released for both Microsoft Windows -based Personal Computer s and for the Sony PlayStation . DEVELOPMENT Crusaders PC was intended for simultaneous release with the Playstation version, targeting the 1999 to handle third-person combat. In the end, the game did ship for Christmas, though the result was widely regarded as sub-par. POPULARITY In spite of a good degree of Hype concerning the game, including such suggestions as it being "true 3D " and "casting spells without using mana", with supposedly revolutionary ideas for what it would do, reviews were considered being deflating, and before the full version was even released, it was already a mighty Flop . Beta testers of the Demo also suggested that it required far too much memory to play it effectively. They also reported that the game's graphics were of a high quality, whereas the fighting and general game play were Substandard . It was one of a number of terrible Miscalculation s by 3DO , and was a factor towards them declaring Bankruptcy in 2003. PLOT A 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 the prison, kill all of the skeletons and other undead, and then find and kill the main Villain , stopping Corruption and restoring Peace to the region. Although there are other computer-generated characters in the game to whom one can speak, the storyline is quite linear without many noticeable sidequests. Some players jokingly claimed that even games like Diablo had in terms of quests more claim to being a true role-playing adventure. GAME PLAY Drake starts with no Weapon s at all, but you can quickly find a Sword and Shield to use. This forms the basis of all Combat . If you use your shield, you can totally block all blows (unlike many other games in which the use of shields only reduces the Damage ). However, to do this effectively, you have to face the right way, and hence you spend a great deal of time turning around in Circle s with delicate little mouse movements. In order to hit the enemy (mostly skeletons until right towards the end) you need to be faced the right way. Most computer-controlled Enemies can be defeated quite easily, as the Algorithm s are mostly simple and thus predictable, so simply blocking for a while and then striking while the enemy is aiming to hit usually does the trick. Every so often you can pick up a Spell Book , which either gives you a new spell or else upgrades a spell. It was however critisized that these events were very Random rather than gradually enhancing the character; many players find this frustrating, as they (rightly) have the feeling that the Strength of their characters depends rather on Luck than on their Skill s. The spells don't use Mana in a traditional sense, it just takes a certain amount of Time before you can use them again. They also take a period of time to cast, leaving the caster unprotected, which is why they can only be effectively used when shooting them from long range or for protecting oneself. You go up in Levels , and each time that you do so, you go to full health and you get more hit points and more maximum energy. The 3 difficulty ratings determine how hard you hit enemies as well as how hard they hit you. CRITICISM
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS The game will actually work on most modern computers, and for its time (1999) the graphics were quite good. Unfortunately, at the time of its release most computers were to still slow, whereas now there are already much better graphics available. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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