Might & Magic VI

                 Reviewed by Julian Gregory

GOOD GRIEF!!

I have just surfaced after about 4 years (in computer game time)
having got almost to the end of MM6. So was it worth it?

The version I played came with all the previous games on 2 CDs.
Installation, as you would expect, was no problem. Until I came to
actually playing the game. I was asked to insert disk 2 into the
drive, even though it was already in. Sue told me that she was
aware of this problem. Eventually I downloaded a patch from the
MM6 web-site. When this was installed I had no further problems.

The storyline is that a cult, the Temple of Baa, has formed with a
taste for fear and uncertainty. Their terrible desire has set them
to sow the seeds of disaster across the land (or so the manual
says).

Really it is just another excuse to roam the large world,
destroying anything you take a dislike to.

The action is fairly non-linear. Within reason you can travel
wherever you want. But you may not survive many locations without
building up your experience points first. There are some monsters
later on in the game which can and do hit very hard.  Some can
kill with just one hit.

Apart from the usual items of treasure and extra weaponry and
armoury you can find after battles, you can also find various
reagents and, if you have enough potion bottles, you can mix
potions which will have a greater effect than the separate ingre-
dients.

The game itself is huge, but basically, you have to undertake many
tasks, some more essential than others. But even the simpler ones
should be carried out if you want to experience everything MM6 has
to offer.

One nice feature is that you can have up to 2 NPCs with you at any
one time. If you select them carefully they can increase the
amount of experience you receive after a battle, increase the
spell points, provide quicker travel or provide more food amongst
many other benefits. If you do not wish to keep them anymore they
can easily be dismissed.

One aspect which made me retrace many steps was that one of the
tasks is to find and return Prince Nicolai to Castle Ironfist. I
found him when I had 2 NPCs with me and went back to where I only
had one so I could rescue him. It then turned out that I could
have kept all 3 characters with me. This point is not documented,
or perhaps was too obvious, but not to me.

As you travel across the map from east to west and south to north
the monsters get harder to kill.

As in all RPGs the make up of your group is important. You will
certainly need fighters and magic users with as much experience
and spells as possible, especially if you are to survive the later
battles.

One nice touch is that each game saved has a screen shot of the
last action saved with it, so that you can refer to this as well
as a file name, very thoughtful.

So was it worth all the time spent? Certainly I enjoyed it more
than most of the other RPGs I have done recently. The only gripe
is that the last battles are extremely difficult and it is not
possible to teleport back to another town from inside the Hive
right at the end.  In addition the Hive respawns every week, which
means that all the monsters you thought you had killed suddenly
reappear, very frustrating.

If you can find MM6 at a discounted price, buy it, you won't be
disappointed.


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