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Great concept, bad bugs.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: April 05, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I really did enjoy this game. The gameplay was fun and original, the sound was great, the graphics were good, but it felt like I was paying to be a beta tester. This game crashed many, many times and crashed my computer many times as well, and this is even after downloading all of the latest drivers, and checking all of the troubleshooting notes on the Messiah website. There are some very funny parts in this game, as you might expect, being based on a cherub named Bob. The ending was a bit of a letdown, but makes way for a sequel. Overall a game that could be great with some patches, but wait until they are out, because there is nothing more annoying than playing a game halfway through and downloading a patch only to find that it does not work with saved games. When a patch does come out, and I am hoping one will soon, I would recommend this to any fan of third-person action games.

Great Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: April 16, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Messiah is simply a great action game! It has excellent graphics, sounds, controls, and atmosphere. I've read some reviews that claim it has a few bugs and problems with certain video and sound cards, but I have experienced no such problems whatsoever! I am using a Viper v770 ultra video card and a SoundBlaster Live audio card, and the game runs as smooth as Bob's butt. The game itself is very entertaining and it is a very unique experience from other action games. I highly recommend Messiah, especially if you enjoyed Half-Life and other such games.

An Excellent Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: August 14, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I've read alot about other peoples problems with this game, but I have had no problems at all, even without the patch! I have a Pentium Pro 200 Mhz processer, 96 megs of RAM, a 3D Blaster Savage 4 PCI 32 MB graphics card, and a Sound Blaster AWE 32 sound card. Even though my processor is slower than the minimum requirement, the game still runs great, and there isn't much loss of detail. I'm pretty surprised that my computer hasn't crashed with this game, because most games (Half-Life, Quake 3, etc.) will lock up.

As for the game play, the game is very enjoyable, even after you beat it. Possesing people and blending in with the croud is alot of fun, as well as jumping in someones back, picking up a flame thrower, and torching everything that moves! The replay value is great, since there is always more than one way to accomplish a task. If you like either being steathy, or shooting anything that moves, you'll enjoy Messiah.

Hooo Boy...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: May 13, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I don't think I've ever been as angry with any software as I was with Messiah. After an hour of dying around every corner or in certain parts on the FIRST level, I immediately uninstalled it and returned it. It is my policy that any game that just about FORCES you to cheat is a bad game. Yes, the graphics in this game are good, and yes, the possession ability is an innovative thing, but all of that is WORTHLESS when you get killed so easily. 1-3 hits is all it takes, and when your host dies, expect Bob to die nanoseconds later. Even if you're a crackshot and can kill a person without making a sound, reinforcements appear almost instantly and kill you just as quickly. The message here is that combat is best avoided...so why am I constantly thrusted into it? And the AI? Superb, yet stupid at the same time. I accidentally went into combat mode with my fists at one time, and armed guards from across the (very large) room suddenly started shooting me! Also, when I possessed a commander, a COMMANDER, for crying out loud, my own soldiers shot me anyway, AND I WASN'T IN COMBAT MODE! So I figure either A) They have a "jealous" behavior, or B) They're stupid. Also, the possession ability is an innovation, but you'll get so frustrated that you'll hardly give it a second thought when you uninstall it. I don't even want to think about the later levels that have you going against demons! My conclusion is...if you're tired of the usual "shoot, run, repeat" games, and you're desperate for a change in 3D shooters...stick with "Thief: The Dark Project." Let this game die in piece.

Amazing Gaming Experience

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: August 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

An a fairly experienced gamer, I found "Messiah" to be a breath of fresh air in the glut of sub-par games out there deigned to take our valuable money. By now, you know the scheme and the tasks. Let me just say I found the game both rewarding and challenging, and appealed to all of my creative instincts that a game should appeal to. And yes, it is funny...

My computer did struggle with the game, and I did experience a few crashes. But nowadays, what DOESNT crash our computer except Microsoft Hearts and Minesweeper? I did find the patch very helpful in these situations.

If you are a gamer, I strongly recommend Messiah as your next purchase. You won't regret your choice.

Fantastically original and gorgeous to look at

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 20, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I've rarely seen a game where opinions are so sharply divided, but perhaps I can make it a bit clearer. First, many of the negative comments have to do with technical problems (from installation to crashes). Don't let that put you off: there's a patch that seems to solve all the serious problems. I had no issues at all with the latest version.

As for the game itself, all I can say is that I haven't been this engrossed in a game for years. You start off thinking it's a first-person shooter, a la Half Life, but soon (after dying a lot) you realize that you'll need to try something else. That's when the clever stealth side really emerges. It's not MGS-like sneaking around (yawn), but hiding in broad daylight *in other people*.

Once you get the hang of it (it's hard but fair), it's incredibly cool. It opens a whole new dimension of game play and lateral thinking. It also means that you can solve problem in any number of ways (possess a cop to shoot your way out, a prostitute to charm your way out, a rat to sneak your way out, etc.)

And of course the game looks fabulous, as technically impressive as Half Life but with Shiny's trademark lush sci-fi detailing (think MDK) and vivid hues and transparencies. If you find first-person-shooters a bit samey but want more action than Tomb Raider-like exploramas, this is the game for you. Beautiful, provacative, fast-moving and seductive. Highly recommended.

The best action game ever!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 06, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Two words: Must play. The graphics, sound, and gameplay are all seamless. It's also refresing because it's so different from other shooters. The level of diffuculty is good too, not a pushover but not impossible. I was anticipating this game a lot and I wasn't let down. Buy this now!

Fun unique game, 4 pages of troubleshooting!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: May 10, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Definately a awsome premise decent graphics and great gameplay.... when it played. On opening the box I was greeted with a white 4 page document about troubleshooting the many issue the game has with diffrent configurations/sound/video cards. (of course it doesnt mention these on the outside of the box or in the official requirements on pages from which you might buy it) I have spoken to people that have no issues with it, but boy it gave me a headache to start with. Apparently if you have a Geforce graphics card (which I do), none of the offically released drivers from Nvida work, (they cause graphics corruption wont let you get through the opening menu and need to reboot) Ok fine, so I needed to upgrade to beta drivers, which had issues with my standard win 98 screensaver and standby modes.. crash! But I installed the beta drivers anyhoo and turned off the screensaver and powersave mode to prevent crashing and played away. Woohoo lotsa fun! but no sound in the intro.. ugh. Though the game did not instruct me to, I needed to take out the data CD and put in the audio cd (game has 2 cd's) to hear intro sound and some sounds in the game.. ok. did that (after fudging with cd notification) woohoo playing. lotsa fun wait want to goto the controls menu to change something.. crash.. oops still had audio CD in, it needs the data CD to change controlls. ugh. Well eventually I got the hang of that and ran into a problem where my char. started walking by himself... and walking and walking like a key was stuck.. because of issues with input... (im just using a standard intellimouse and keyboard too) ah well.

Long story short (or relatively short) Once I got the right drivers, and the hang of swapping CD's (that just may be my inexperiance with games that require swapping cd's out during gameplay) the game was pretty darn good! beat the game, was happy, reinstalled my old video drivers so I could once again have a screensaver and now the box sits unplayed in my desk..

The end.

** well one other good note is that pretty nifty that if you mail the tech support from the web page, you may, or at least I did get a response back from a head programmer.. wow!

A REDEEMING GAME

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: June 09, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Before starting this game, be warned: It is tough. Try it on the easy difficulty if you like solving problems but have trouble with tough enemies. The amount of hits a character can take are realistic, but unfortunately, the enemies are abundant, making it a frustrating time for gamers like you and me. It has a feel of the Oddworld games in that the gameplay is not as clear cut as other games, and that it challenges you to explore all the possibilities (sometimes to the point of wanting to break the CD in half against your forehead). For instance, I was at this seemingly impossible part in the first level (shut up...this game is tough), I could not overcome the seemingly endless legions of enemies. So frustrated, I had an epiphany. I ditched my cop, possessed a nuclear technician, and radiated the hell out of the bad guys with some nuclear waste I picked up. Brilliant! I was thrilled with the freedom I recieved from this game. The characters are expendable (at point you have to depossess your character in midair, so that he will fall into a grinder and fill a container with blood, while you remain unscathed) and that definetly adds a sadistic thrill to the game. Okay, now the bad news, sometimes this game can sometimes be unrealistically hard. The cops are demonic sadists, who will start beating you up for no reason, and if you shoot a cop, no matter how secluded you think you are, 7 cops rush in and mangle you. This might have been OK, but the AI can take the killing to even uglier extremes. Once, I was involved in a battle as a cop fighting against the Chots(sewer dwelling people), after the other cops and I had eradicated the Chots, the cops turned on me and started blowing me away. I'M ON YOUR #^@$%!& SIDE I yelled angrily. Okay, so to recap:

PROS great graphics brilliant design superior gameplay good sadistic fun

CONS ruthless AI too hard (for some) WEAK ending

oh, about the bugs that I'm sure you've heard about, I don't know. The problems I experienced were: 1) sound problems in some cutscenes 2) occasional start up probs 3) minor glitches in Bob

If you're up for a tough, quasi-groundbreaking game, check this out.

Good idea...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: December 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Not for the faint of heart! It's a hard game to describe, but it's basically a 3rd-person view type of thing with lots of depth, if a wack ending.

You play an angel named Bob who is sent from Heaven to stop evil forces from taking over the Earth. How do you stop them? With your one lone ability: bodily possession. As Bob, you can do little else than flap around and be a target (and everyone is gunning for you). But when Bob inhabits a police officer or a mindless behemoth or a pimp, it's a whole 'nother ballgame. You then have the ability to slap, punch, kick, shoot and maim your way to the head honcho himself: Satan.

Lots of violence and mayhem, and a way-too-hard to figure out stretch of logistics (at some point you'll be going online to find out what the heck you should do next, only to find out you messed up six hours ago when you didn't get the BLUE I.D. card from the security guard at the power plant, only to find out you didn't save your game far enough to be able to manipulate backwards through the game.....ugh), I don't recommend it for people looking for a simply fun game.

Great graphics, great sound and incredible depth, but too hard for even more-than-casual gamers, and with too little a payoff.

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