Forgotten games of Might and Magic

[Marzhin]

In the last years of its life, 3DO tried to make a max of cash from the Might and Magic name by producing games entitled "Something of Might and Magic" but bearing little to no connection to the true series. Some of them were released, other cancelled. Let's remember those lost children.

Note : most of the pics on this post come from Mobygames, Gamekult and IGN.

Crusaders (1999, PC & Playstation)




First of them was Crusaders of Might and Magic. It was an action/adventure/hack'n'slash game, with a 3rd-person-view. You played as Drake, a young warrior fighting the evil Necros, lord of the Legion of the Fallen. I wonder if there may be the same Necros than the evil god from "The Sea of Mist" ?

Warriors (2000, Playstation 1 &2, Game Boy Advance)




Spiritual son of Crusaders, Warriors makes you play the role of Alleron. Wrongly framed for murder and disgraced, he must fight his way through truth and freedom. Damn, that sounds almost interesting.

Legends (2001, PC)




3DO marketing at its best, Legends is a cheap counter-strike clone based on a fantasy setting. It seems there is a story behind the game : you are Goldwyn (sic), the son of the king, and you must fulfill your destiny in the ways of Good or Evil. Anyone knows if there was a solo mode for this game ?

Heroes of Might and Magic: Quest for the DragonBone Staff (2001, Playstation 2)




Don't be fooled by it's title : HoMM : Dragonbone Staff is not an Heroes of Might and Magic game. Not really. It is, in fact, a remake of the original King's Bounty, with 3D graphics but exactly the same gameplay.

Dragon Wars (2001, Playstation 2, cancelled)



A cancelled project, Dragon Wars of MM was putting you in the skin of a dragon.

Shifters (2002, Playstation 2)




This game was originally called Shifters of Might and Magic (see the ad at the end of "The Sea of Mist") but was later cut to "Shifters". In fact, it has the weakest connection to M&M ever. It is sort of a sequel to Warriors of M&M, with Alleron and other characters throwed to a parralel univers where both magic and science-fiction exist. Or something like that.

[DaveO]

I know HodgePodge has her colorful memories of Crusaders, and I am equally guilty of buying the poor 'Descent to Undermountain'. So even people like myself can make poor purchasing decisions. Oddly enough, I managed to finish DtU in spite of the glaring bugs, pixelated graphics, and design flaws.

[ThunderTitan]

And people wonder why 3DO went under?!

Crusaders was fun... for about 15 minutes.

[Ethric]

They are forgotten for a reason you know

Think I played a demo of crusaders of M&M for a short while. But my opinion on those games are "Bah, humbug!", I steered well clear. Haven't even heard of the last two on the list before.

[HodgePodge]

Thank you for bringing up such awful memories of games which have been forgotten and should stay that way.

[Xenofex.XVII]

Hey, crusaders were kind of fun. The Undead skeletons screamend funny when they died. Won the game in about 3-4 Hours.

[DaemianLucifer]

Lucky me I played just heroes,and none of the other MM titles

[ThunderTitan]

Oh, and Marzhin, I belive you forgot a "Best" in the thread title.

[Ethric]

Might and Magic is the origin of all, and very good. HoMM is a very good spinoff of MM. The rest are the not so succesfull ones

[soupnazii]

i am guilty of buying Quest for the Dragonbone staff while on vacation in Israel. luckily, it didnt work on my american PS2 and was returned. later i looked up some info about it, and was glad for not having bought it. unluckily, i decided that instead i should but Might and Magic IX, which i played for about 15 minutes and then shelved. o well, i deserve it for buying unheardof games while on vacation...

[Noobie of Doom]

Well id have to point out dragon bone staff inately doesnt suck. As its kings bountry, which is GOD. you hear me GOD.

[soupnazii]

yes, KB was GOD, at the time it was released. presently, its what many would refer to as a classic... i dont enjoy playing classics from 1990 on my PS2...

[Apeman]

I have to admit I did enjoy Legends for a while, especially the demo version of the game.

[Qurqirish Dragon]

Oh, and Marzhin, I belive you forgot a "Best" in the thread title.

You mean the title should be:
"Forgotten, best games of Might and Magic"?

Be careful with ambiguous comments

On the topic, however, I think that if I can find QftDBS for under $10 in a discount rack, I might pick it up. I knew it was a KB clone from when it first came out, and since I already have KB, I wasn't going to pay $40+ for it. For pocket change prices, maybe...

[Metal Wolf]

Quest of the Dragon Bone...
Unbelievable - the year is 2001, (2 years after Heroes III came out) and 3DO release a "King's Bounty" clonee wrapped by modern graphics....
Now thats taking advantage of the fans...

[ThunderTitan]

Be careful with ambiguous comments

Oh, i'm always careful...

[Deadguy118]

didn't all of those games suck because 3do was an awful publisher and just used the words "might and magic" to get cash?

[DaemianLucifer]

didn't all of those games suck because 3do was an awful publisher and just used the words "might and magic" to get cash?

Yes,but that doesnt make them any less crappy.

[Sermil]

Actually, the sad thing was, Legends of Might and Magic was a "real" Might and Magic game; that is, it was made a New World with the involvement of JVC, not by some disconnected group up at 3DO headquarters.

Apparently, it started life a very ambitious and, frankly, cool-sounding game, a bit like Neverwinter Nights meets MM9 meets good story. There was a big, complex time-travelling campaign/story planned, and you were going to go through it in this first-person perspective. Moreover, you could go through the whole campaign with friends; it would be a Micro Multiplayer Online RPG, if you will, much like Neverwinter Nights. I know I was excited when I heard the first descriptions of it. (I was still working at 3DO headquarters back then, on the late, not-very-lamented Portal Runner.)

Unfortunately, after they had sunk some large amount of time into the game, they discovered that the 3D engine they were using (I think it was the Unreal engine??) just wasn't going to support what they wanted to do. I think it had something to do with different players getting onto different maps at the same time or something. Anyway, at that point they punted. The NWC group was playing a lot of office games of Counterstrike & UT in those days (there were some big Counterstrike fans), so they just went in that direction. They took much of the art and maps which they had done for the aborted campaign and turned them into maps and art for the game the engine most easily supported -- a simple FPS . (Especially the maps -- you can get a decent sense of where the campaign was going just by looking at the Legends maps.) And so you got this weak counterstrike clone.

Or so I've heard. I only got to NWC a month or less before the game shipped, so I only saw the final result. Ah, so unfortunate...

-Ian
"Last of the Heroes IV programmers"

[HodgePodge]

...

-Ian
"Last of the Heroes IV programmers"

Well, if it makes you feel any better, I LOVE Heroes IV. I still play it almost every day. In fact, I have put aside Heroes 5 for now, and have picked up Heroes IV once again. It's really a great game, what with the player-made mods & maps. I love Heroes IV.