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StarMax 4000/200 with Techworks Power3Dfx card |
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Reviewed by: Marty Dodge
Myth is Bungie's new big game for both the PC and the Mac. The hype said it was going to be the best thing since...well since the invention of the computer game. Does it live up to the hype? Well no, and yes depending on what you want from a game. Graphically it is an amazing piece of work. There is nothing quite like lowering your camera close enough to see one of the characters on the screen being hacked apart by one or other of the evil nasties about.
I do have a few gripes:
1. The difficulty ratings seem to be useless and do not matter one bit. I could see no difference between timid and normal. The learning curve on Myth is way too long and will annoy anyone with a real job who does not have hours and hours to learn it. If you have the time and use some of the guides on-line the game gets quite enjoyable in the end. But getting to a level of competence required to make it fun is really annoying. I really hate having to do the same level 10 times before getting it right. The game controls are fiddly as well.
2. Your men are way too stupid. The dwarf seems to have an equal or better chance of killing himself before the enemy. If you were a dwarf and you had a baddie with a sword chasing you, you would run like hell when the baddies get close. In fact none of the men in this game seem to have any intelligence at all. They will stand still and get slaughtered to a man. Unless you tell them to run. Surely, that should happen almost automatically and the player should have hard time getting them back if they run off. In most war games this is called: failing morale. The enemy seem to be much brighter than then men you are given. Most of them are undead, as well. In real life I would go back to base camp and kill whomever gave me all archers for the second mission: "Traitors Gate". Long range weapons in a heavily wooded area: yea right.
3. My last annoyance is the fact that one is not able to play the "Fallen Lords." One of the great things about Warcraft II, the game which Myth will be compared to most frequently, is that one is able to play the "baddies." I find it much more fun to make the human's lives a misery. Frankly there is nothing better than slaughtering a whole load of your human opponents and then raising them from the dead in order to send them back against their horrified comrades.
I have a 3DFX card and the game is amazing to watch, the opening sequence looks as if it is from a Disney epic. Combat is incredible to watch as you see your men slaughtered to a man. The fact you can swing the "camera" around to see all angles of the action is pretty impressive. It does sometime however seem that you are merely a bystander watching the action as it unfolds with little or no input. For instance, as far as I can tell, telling your men to retreat only serves in turning the back to the enemy allowing them to be killed more quickly. "Retreat" should mean: run like hell.
I made several attempts at LAN (Appletalk) play and managed to succeed in getting it working only once. The only time the multiplayer function worked was when I left all the settings on default. Any adjustments and the "joiner" froze. Seeing as Myth is from Bungie, experts at Mac based LAN games, my difficulties were disappointing. My PC friends are always amazed at the speed and ease of setting up LAN games with Marathon.
Ultimately I think Bungie made an excellent attempt taking strategy games to a higher level. Myth misses the mark. A bit too "graphics over gameplay" for my liking. Many of my complaints may well be corrected in subsequent versions of the game. I used a "gold" review copy from Softline here in the UK. Bungie is an excellent game company and I am in no doubt that they will take a keen interest in any criticism of the game. There are rumors about that there will be an update on-line sometime in the next week. It is my hope great hope that Myth II, which there will no doubt be, will prove an amazing game that will blow away anything in its path. I am afraid that until then, for sheer strategy enjoyment (esp. multiplayer), give me Warcraft II anytime.
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