More Might and Magic

            Supplied from the Internet by Arnie

Might and Magic. If these words are music to your ears, then
listen up. New World Computing and 3DO have announced that the
long-awaited next addition to the Might and Magic role-playing
series, Might and Magic VI, is coming out this fall.  Might and
Magic VI should prove a very welcome addition to any RPGer's
collection because it will offer a host of innovative features
that computer game role-players have been clamouring for.  The
game will use two different 3D engines -- one for the outdoor
environments, another for the dungeons and other indoors scenes.
The engines will allow for light sourcing, true 3D rendered
sprites, and 360 degrees of motion.

As always, M&M VI will give gamers a cohesive, active world to
venture through, and non-player characters will carry their own
agendas and act independently of your own characters.  As time
passes, the gaming world will progress whether you are affecting
it or not. The game even incorporates a "rumour and fame" element
that will affect how non-player characters perceive you. It will
further allow the player to create a party of four adventurers by
using what New World refers to as a "free-form" character
development system with extensive character customization options
to tweak your adventurer's "individuality."

New World is also quick to stress that the game is not a
traditional linear, chapter-by-chapter quest. There will be
multiple plot lines that evolve according to the choices made by
the player, including the option to play for more anti-heroic,
self-serving goals as opposed to the usual goodness-and-light
persona of most RPGs (you can play the heroes too, of course).

The game also claims that its various dungeons, forests, and other
locales repopulate and grow over time. If New World Computing can
bring all these elements together, and judging by the quality of
past Might and Magic games, it seems likely it can -- Might and
Magic VI should be one of the most promising RPGs of the year.
                              - o -