User Reviews (1 - 11 of 35)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

what's going on?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: October 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I've had to come online to double check I had the right game - I thought maybe I'd learnt my roman numerals wrong or this was a counterfit version - I say this because when I started playing this game I immediately thought OH no, I've got the earliest version of MM not the latest!! I loved MM6 and 7, the inventory was great and the graphics while not the flashest were enjoyable, and the layout easy to use, like mixing potions and using the maps. This game is seriously limited - it's like everything you could do has been taken away. On top of that it glitches out left right and center. I'm bummed, I was looking forward to getting stuck into a new game and I've been landed with this budget junk. You'd be better off to drag out the old MM games and play them than put time and moneyt into this.

What an Amazing Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: February 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Unlike most people on this site I think that MM9 is the best RPG I have ever played. The reason I think there are a lot of bad reviews is because it is very different from the other versions of Might and Magic and the long time players of might and magic are too lazy to get use to the new game. I admit, at first I didn't like this game very much, but then after a month a played it again and kept playing until I beat it. The graphics are not the best, but they're not bad. What makes the game great though is the quests. They are so fun to do, much funner than other RPGs (i.e. Morrowind). So, in conclusion, I would strongly recommend this game to anyone with enough patience to really get into this game.

Huge Disappointment

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: August 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game over a year ago, and was very much looking forward to it. I loved Might and Magic 6-8 and played each one all the way through (some more than once). I liked the gameplay, the graphics were (at the time at least) pretty good, and most of all they had good stories to them. I had been hearing how 3DO was planning major improvements for MM9, so I had high hopes for this one too. Then I played it, and what a let down. I really tried to like this game, but just couldn't. I played it on and off for a little less than a month and have not bothered with it since. The graphics, even though there is a new engine, are really quite bad compared to other games in its class (things are much to angular). The NPC's are downright aweful looking. The story did not intitally make a lot of sense to me and didn't seem at all compelling or interesting (and I think this is really key to a good RPG). In my humble opinion, this is the worst of the Might and Magic lot (at least since 6 came out). I'd avoid this one. Go pick up Neverwinter Nights if you want a really interesting PC RPG. If you're looking a good console RPG try Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits for Playstation 2.

Might & Magic IX. . .

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 16 / 17
Date: May 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Facing the facts, 3DO should have switched to a full 3-D engine long ago where its ýMight & Magicý RPG franchise is concerned, but, for some reason, that didnýt happen until 2002ýs ýMight & Magic IX.ý The gameýs new facelift, though, is anything but pretty, and youýll immediately feel like you just entered the magical world of Polygon. Thatýs not to say the graphics donýt have their moments (certain environments look better than others, and certain NPCs or enemies do likewise), but it all looks very much like something you could have been playing in 1998. But, of course, graphics donýt make the game, and for those who can look past the graphical problems of IX, thereýs some decent adventuring to be done ý primarily if youýre a fan of the past few ýMight & Magicý games (which all have a distinctive style of gameplay, for better or worse).

The storyline in IX is a bit on the soft and ridiculous side, but it works, and at least itýs not as cut-and-dry as ýkill the Dark Lord, save the universe.ý It is your job to unite the six clans of the realm in order to face the looming threat imposed by an Attila-like figure who seeks to conquer the land. Odd twists of fate abound, uniting you with your enemies, and ultimately pit you against the gods themselves. To win the day, you must assemble a party of four adventurers (picking from only two initial classes ý warrior or magician), and venture into the fantasy landscape.

Customizing your party isnýt half as fun as it was in earlier incarnations of ýMight & Magic,ý and gives you far fewer options than the last installment in the series ý which poses the obvious question: shouldnýt a sequel outdo its forebears? Only four races are available to you (human, elf, dwarf, or half-orc), and the portrait selection is limited to two generic faces per race, and two more per sex. You can customize your characterýs voice, but that ultimately boils down to choosing the voiceover that least annoys you. And, of course, you tweak a few stats and traits, but they too are few. Donýt expect the kind of roleplaying youýd get from ýIcewind Daleý or ýMorrowindý here.

When you have assembled your party, the story begins. The game plays essentially the same as previous entries in the series: combat is an optional real-time or turn-based affair, and you visit various provinces and cities seeking quests that can transform your humble fighter into a crusader, or your magician into a lich. Wandering the countryside is somewhat gratifying despite the blocky landscapes, because you often run into things you werenýt expecting, or bump into quests that boost your experience. Unfortunately, monster encounters arenýt very intense, primarily because only two or three different breeds of monsters seem capable of stalking any one given province, and most of them look pretty ridiculous. Combat isnýt very exciting either, since you canýt really even tell when your blows are connecting against your opponent unless you read the scrolling text at the bottom of the screen. Only archery reveals sound cues and splashes of blood (even from skeletons and the like who should obviously not bleed when hit).

The more time you spend with the game, the more it will grow on you, and the more addicted you may even become, but it still feels like youýre playing an early beta of what could have been a far superior game. Outdoor and indoor environments all suffer from a lack of detail that makes them feel mostly generic. This pervading lack of polish makes it very hard to suspend disbelief, since you rarely (if ever) feel like youýre in a living, breathing world. There are graphical glitches to further hamper your adventures, and you can sometimes clip into hills or embankments and become stuck in them. Scenery pop-in often raises its ugly head, and youýll marvel at how an outdoor fog can follow you indoors as well, graying up whatever castle or keep you have entered.

The gameýs scripting can also be broken. For example: in a dwarven mine, you are supposed to break through a wall that, for some reason, the dwarves couldnýt penetrate. Behind the wall is a demoness that is freed by your incursion ý unless of course you donýt break down every piece of the wall. Break only a section of it, walk into the room, and find that nothing happens until you go back and shatter the rest. Then, and only then, you find yourself in a cut-scene, since youýve only now triggered it. This is why games are playtested rigorously before release, 3DO!

The list of complaints that can be leveled against IX is pretty lengthy indeed. Many of the gameýs quests are tepid and tedious and require too much walking across open country that youýve already cleared of foes; the inventory and outfitting screen is unintuitive and not half as interesting as that seen in the previous games (why does my female elven warrior have a male dwarf representing her?); the gameýs sound effects are sparse and generally gratingý All of these flaws make IX a hard game to recommend wholeheartedly, even to fans of the franchise, especially in a year that brought with it great RPGs like ýIcewind Dale II,ý ýMorrowind,ý and ýArx Fatalis.ý But to those who absolutely adore the unique style of adventure that only ýMight & Magicý offers, this should do, provided you brace for some disappointment. I can only hope that 3DO licenses a new engine next time around, and makes sure to take it time polishing up the game before its release. Despite all of the new additions made to IX, it is inferior to its predecessors in almost every respect. This one has all the signs of a game rushed out the door to meet some dreaded deadline ý but if youýre a CRPG addict, and have already run through the yearýs best, then itýs worth a look (despite the horror stories you may have heard).

Final Score: C

Going down hill fast....

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 6
Date: March 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I don't know what 3DO is thinking with this line of games. The first six of these games aren't bad and are some of the classics of the genre. However, once seven came along, there were some very dramatic facelifts to the RPG. Baldur's Gate and Torment came out around the same time and really added some needed depth to the RPG. The M&M series is still stuck in that same old rut of level, new spell, new dungeon, new level, etc. etc. So that leads up to the newest installment. They have finally improved over the 2D graphics of five years ago with a 3D model that looks like it should have come out 4 years ago. The characters and voices you can choose from are pure cheese, similar in a way to Wizardry 8 (However on the whole that RPG is much better). Then there is the game itself. Wandering through monotonous realms slashing this and blasting that. Fundamentally the same system of levels and skills are in place in the previous installments. There is no depth to speak of, and I found that I had to force myself to keep playing after awhile due to mounting boredom.
There is nothing new here. And what few improvements that have been made should have been made to the series several years ago.

They gave complainers what they asked for

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: December 05, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First let me say that I am a fan of MM8, despite all the negative things that people said about it.

MM9 was designed to "fix" all the things people said they didn't like about MM8:
1. Old, outdated game engine - well, now it's a new one, with pretty good first person graphics which don't make me nauseous (some games do).
2. Playing dragons/vampires, etc., made the game too easy - so they took those options, along with the "fly" spell - out.
3. Monsters which weren't smart enough to know others of their kind in the next room were being attacked - well, now they mostly know and come running.

Unfortunately, these "fixes" didn't satisfy the complainers - they'd complain no matter what. What the "fixes" *did* do was take a perfectly good system (one you didn't have to buy a new computer for each time a new game came out, I might add) and make it less enjoyable (not that I don't like the new graphics) than the first. But complainers are always more loud than those who are satisfied, and they are the ones 3DO heard.

Don't get me wrong - I'm still enjoying playing it -- and you should know that many of the quests, while they may not include "insider" jokes, are designed specifically so that the player has to overcome any habits he/she picked up in MM8 (for instance, getting into the water, just to name one). I also like that hack-and-slash is not always the answer.

Oh, and btw, I've been playing it in WindowsXP and haven't had a problem with it - not even one crash, although I'm only about halfway through the game so far.

A sad end to a great series

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: October 19, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I have played all of the Might and Magic games over the years and do not believe I can really express how awful this game is. Stay away! You will be much better off with Wizardry VIII, a fine example of how a series should be ended.

Bad

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: October 05, 2002
Author: Amazon User

this is a plea. 3DO please stop slaughtering this great seris. please bring in some fans and let them design the game. because these one is horrable.

okay why 3 stars?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: September 21, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I gave this game three stars because it's the only turned based game of it's kind that I've found. I don't have fantastic dexterity and I like to think about what is the best course of action in each battle. Yes, the graphics are poor, but they were the normal 5 years ago. I am not spoiled by graphics, especially because when I was a teenager, pong was the closest you could get to an interactive game.
The cheat book I think is essential to the game. I felt the starter book was useless. The fact that you could only start with a fighter or magicuser a disappointment, but it made sense in the promotions.
One of the things I hated was the uneven ease or difficulty of promotions. My party easily promoted a healer, but got slaughtered repeatly by lowly Yobboos trying to get that fighter promotion.
Another thing I hated was the Thronheim map. It was off by 90 degrees.
The thing I hated the most was the mirrors desert. I worked for hours trying to get those stupid things aligned. I wished there was a cheater code to bypass that stupid thing. I never finished it because of that.
Finally I gave this game three stars because the hours of play I got out of it. I didn't like Thief, Dark Stone, or Laura Croft because of the dexterity problem and the turn based problem. If you don't care about graphics and you don't want to play with others on line, this game is the best to get, regardless of it's problems.

Huge disappointment

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 21, 2002
Author: Amazon User

After playing MM from the beginning (still have MM1 on sega gensis), MMIX was a huge disappointment from the start. If you love the previous intro's, dont get your hopes up with MMIX...they pan down a banner with stick figures scribbled on it. Also, the character selection was sad with only two options....fighter or magic user. Once started, you will see that inventory screens and equiping items leave a lot to be desired. I will admit that the 3d can be interesting at first but it gets old real quick. As for this new dialogue, it's a pain in the behind and the only thing I can think of to describe it is....cheesy!
After eagerly awaiting this newest version, I would of preferred to save my money and re-play a previous version. Call me old fashion but I hope that they return to the old version style and quit trying to fix something that was not broken. I gave it 2 stars just because I am a die-hard M&M fan and couldn't pull myself to give it only 1 star.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 Next 

Actions