All of the battlegrounds are linked, and winning Nelsham's Scar sent us to the neighboring level: Border Keep. This is another centrally-focused level that found us slugging it out for control of an ancient, craggy castle in its middle. Wide-open spaces dominate the heart around the actual keep, and this really tested our team's ability to assemble a balanced group of classes. We didn't pass: Border Keep is an early level in the campaign, and our lopsided lot of Archers and Mages were still a bunch of wimpy, ranged attackersthat were quickly torn to shreds by scouting Warriors. Ouch.
This embarrassment drove home the fact that while Dark Messiah's levels are filled with shadowy corners, multiple routes and commanding heights - tactical possibilities don't trump good strategy. The rock-paper-scissors nature of DM's combat ensures that no matter how powerful an attack or ability might become, there is a counterpoint buried somewhere within someone else's skill tree.
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic is set to ship in September with both single player and multiplayer games. Until then, remember to hit the Images and Movies tabs at the top of the page for a closer look at the action.
