@~Miss July comes from the Fountain Head. Her interests include
@~exploration, solving puzzles and riddles, meeting new friends
@~and bumping off old enemies. Her ambition is to complete ...

    Might and Magic III - New World Computing RRP œ35.99/œ40.99
                  (RPG for PC and Amiga)

I first started playing this RPG almost a year ago - September
1992. Around that time, I did a 'quick look' at the game for Red
Herring.  Since then, I've continued playing it off and on and
though I STILL haven't finished it, due to other commitments, I
thought I'd like to write a more detailed review of the game.

The Might and Magic series has a lot of followers. I haven't seen
the first game, but I played a fair way into M&M2 before giving up
in disgust when I learned that the end was almost unplayable and
that several people had given up in the last dungeon! M&M2 has a
basic unfriendliness to its system which has, thankfully, been
changed for M&M3.

The story continues quite neatly from the previous game with Corak
the Mysterious travelling the Isles of Terra in the company of a
group of adventurers. A short introduction on the disk shows the
face of Sheltem, Guardian of Terra, who warns you that you have
twice defeated his tests but are now about to enter his third
challenge. More general background details are given in the
accompanying booklet. Though there is an ultimate aim, the game is
divided into a series of smaller quests involving a miriad of
characters such as a lovelorn princess, a group of brothers and an
entombed unicorn.

The game is subtitled 'The Isles of Terra' so, as you'd expect,
it takes play on a series of islands - five main ones and a few
smaller ones which I haven't got to yet. The initial island is a
traditional temperate region of forests and grasslands. The next
is a region of swamps where an unwary adventurer can be sucked
into a gunky death. The first time you travel between these two
islands you do so by ship on a sort of sightseeing trip, great
graphics that really enhanced the atmosphere of the game - I
watched the sequence twice!  The next is a vast expanse of desert,
only oases offer respite from the burning sun. On the fourth,
crisp snow lies in drifts, and sometimes falls as an avalanche
onto a passing traveller. The fifth is hot, hot, hot - every step
causes damage as the party picks its way amongst fiery volcanoes
and lava.

There are five towns too. The party starts its adventures in one,
Fountain Head, with its first quest.  The protector of Fountain
Head, Morphose, has been captured by the Rat Overlord and is being
held in a magical cell in the caverns underneath the town. With
Morphose out of the picture, mooserats and bubblemen have taken
over the town and the fountains from which the place gets its name
no longer flow with sparkling water; instead they are full of
green ooze. The party's aim is to free Morphose from his prison
and restore Fountain Head to its former glory. Each of the towns
has a subterranean level and each is inhabited by a different set
of monsters. They also each have an inn, tavern, temple, training
ground, smithy and mirror portal (for easy transportation from one
place to another, once you know the magic words to operate it).

There are many other areas to explore once your party steps out
into the great outdoors; dungeons galore for a start. Some are
easy, some start easy, some seem impossible right from the start.
On some occasions you'll need a key to unlock the door before you
can even enter - these keys are usually found in the depths of
another dungeon! Once inside, monsters abound as do traps - pits
to fall into, guillotine and pendulum blades, walls of fire,
lightning bolts; the list goes on.

There are castles too. I've already entered three and have another
two to go if I've read the story correctly. Again, these have
sub-levels. The Kings of the three castles will set you a task -
unfortunately all of them want you to collect the same items for
them. For this game is ultimately a battle between the forces of
good and evil and the three Kings represent Good, Evil and Chaos.
All of them want Ultimate Power Orbs - who will you give them to
when you find them?

The other two castles belong to two wizards, Greywind and
Blackwind. These two found themselves married to the same mermaid,
Anathema (M&M3 doesn't take itself too seriously, as you can see).
The battle between them which ensued when they found out caused
each to be trapped in his keep. But a party who can reach their
keeps will find something to its advantage.

The other intriguing places to enter are three pyramids.  These
are dotted on different islands and once inside them you'll find a
more modern, scientific atmosphere, quite different from the
medieval, magical apmosphere throughout the rest of the game.

On your travels you'll come across messages written on walls which
direct you from one area to another. People will give information
to point you in the right direction for one or other of the many
quests you'll get involved in. Stone heads make pronouncements or
offer skills in exchange for gold and gems. Statues pose riddles
or give passwords. Skeletons hide keys.  Gypsies give help or
warnings. Barmen tell you the latest rumours.  Altars increase
your attributes.  All these features make the game far more
enjoyable than some RPGs where the player sometimes has no idea
where to go or what to do next.

And the monsters - let me tell you about them! When I first
started playing the game, I thought the rats and bubblemen were
tough. It wasn't until I met a cyclops and his friends that I knew
what tough was! Sometimes it's better to go only part way into a
dungeon and return once your party is stronger to complete it.
Several times I tested 'the lads' on the cyclops, died, and
decided to leave it for another day (or week, or month). Finally
the cyclops fell. And I met a blasted two-headed roc. Haven't
beaten him yet but ... one day ...

Where combat in M&M3 is such an improvement on M&M2 is that the
battles aren't geared to the strength and abilities of your party.
In M&M2, the battle would be made harder if your party was well
advanced. In M&M3 the battles just naturally get tougher as you
progress through the game - much more user-friendly. Also monsters
don't 'add friends' as they did in M&M2. There was nothing more
annoying in that game than managing to whittle a group of 50
zombies down to a more manageable number and then having them 'add
friends' so that 25 more zombies shuffled into the room.

Creating your party of adventurers is very user-friendly (as is
the whole game) and the ability to choose a portrait for each from
a wide range of different types means you identify with the
characters even more than usual. Though survival in the early
stages of M&M3 was as hard as many other RPGs I tried, it
didn't take too long to get past the initial frustrating period
of dying and restoring. The easiest way I found was to add the two
hirelings in Fountain Head to the party and ignore the cost of
their wages, using their skills to hack my way through several
encounters and get my own party out of their initial feebleness.
Once they had better weapons and had gone up a level, life got
considerably easier. Then I decided to replay and not 'cheat' in
this way, choosing instead to take 'the lads' out into the
wilderness for a quick spot of orc-bashing before scuttling back
to the relative safety of Fountain Head.

The game is mouse or keyboard controlled. Using a combination of
keys and mouse clicks is the quickest way to play. Much use is
made of icons which bring up the automapping facility, a list of
your current quest(s), info (day, year), spellcasting and so
forth. Other icons are available during battle. The main window
shows a forward view and the graphics and animation are brilliant.
Fire an arrow at an advancing opponent and you'll see it fly
towards him and, hopefully, strike him with a satisfying 'splat'
of blood. Unfortunately you may also see his arrows coming towards
your party too and doing equal damage to them. It is somewhat
disconcerting to see an arrow grow in size before it strikes.
Spells give similar visual effects - sparks, evil green clouds,
twisting electrical coils - and add to the realism.

The state of health of both your party and their enemies are also
clearly shown. A colour bar under a character's portrait goes from
green through yellow, red and finally blue before he/she pegs out
and the portrait is replaced by a tombstone. The portrait itself
will alter too - the blue colour results in a comatose character
with closed eyes (the same effect occurs during rest), poison
makes their tongues hang out or one side of their face puff up ...
as for a shot of alcohol, they end up looking like village idiots!
The name of any opponent in battle changes in colour from green
through yellow to red as your attacks start to take effect so you
know whether spells are being effective.  Sometimes panic sets in
when only one of your party is left standing while an opponent's
colour is down to red ... can you get a final shot in and kill the
enemy before you pass out?

The range of weapons, armour and miscellaneous items for sale and
to be found is immense. I got a lot of fun from kitting out the
gang and gradually improving their equipment.  In M&M3 the
material from which weapons and armour are constructed is also
important. Wood is least effective, the best is obsidian with
around 18 other materials in between. Spells, attribute boosters
and elemental bonuses may be built into them too, all of which
affect their use and effectiveness. You're not just restricted to
boring old basic weapons and armour too - you can add cloaks and
boots. It's just like The Clothes Show.

Whereas initially I enjoyed the music in M&M3, I did eventually
turn it off. I'd rather put on a CD of my own choice.  But the
sound effects are good ...  water splashing in fountains, assorted
zaps and thumps and so forth. The graphics are nice and colourful
with a good deal of variety both indoors and out.

I can't praise Might and Magic III enough. It's friendly enough
for the newcomer to RPGs, but has enough depth for someone who has
played a lot of them. Might and Magic IV:Clouds of Xeen, has been
out for some time and Might and Magic V:Dark Side of Xeen should
be out any day; if the two are installed together, another area
is, apparently, opened up to extend the game(s) even further.
Maybe a SynTax reader would like to tell us how the series
progresses?

Excuse me, I have an appointment with a two-headed Roc ...

                                                 Sue