Games PC DARK MESSIAH-MIGHT AND MAGIC User Manual
Competition free of charge; no purchase necessary. See conditions inside
© 2005 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Splinter Cell, Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, Sam Fisher, Ubisoft, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in
the U.S. and/or other countries. • Silent Hunter : © 2004 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Silent Hunter, Ubisoft, ubi.com, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft
Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. • Myst : © 2005 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Based on Myst® and Riven® created by Cyan Worlds, Inc. © Cyan
Worlds, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Ubisoft, Ubi.com and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. D'ni(tm), Cyan®, and Myst® are
trademarks of Cyan, Inc. and Cyan Worlds, Inc. under license to Ubisoft Entertainment. Developed by Cyan Worlds, Inc. • R6 Lockdown : © 2005 Red Storm Entertainment. All
Rights Reserved. Rainbow Six, Rainbow Six Lockdown, Red Storm and the Red Storm logo are trademarks of Red Storm Entertainment in the US and/or other countries. Ubisoft,
the Soldier Icon and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the US and/or other countries. Red Storm Entertainment, Inc. is a Ubisoft Entertainment
company.“PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, Xbox and the Xbox logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or in other countries and are used under license from Microsoft. • POP 2 Thrones : © 2005 Ubisoft
Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Based on Prince of Persia® created by Jordan Mechner. Ubisoft and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or
other countries. Prince of Persia, Prince of Persia The Two Thrones are trademarks of Jordan Mechner in the US and/or other countries used under license by Ubisoft Entertainment.
Ref: 814387
9dc¼iX]ZVi
dcndjg]ZVg^c\
I]ZE8&*%^hYZh^\cZYid\^kZE8\VbZghVc
VbVo^c\igjZ"id"a^[Z(9hdjcYZmeZg^ZcXZ#
8adhZYZVgXVehjaZhVcYVcd^hZXVcXZaa^c\
b^Xgde]dcZZchjgZXaZVgVcYjc^ciZgjeiZY
a^hiZc^c\l]^ahiiVaan^c\ndjg`^aah#
lll#hZcc]Z^hZg"jW^hd[i#Xd#j`
L>CVeV^gd[9Vg`BZhh^V]E8]ZVYe]dcZh
;G::]^cihVcYX]ZVihdc9Vg`BZhh^V]
CONTENTS
GETTING STARTED ........................................................2
MAIN MENU ....................................................................3
THE MIGHT & MAGIC UNIVERSE .............................4
PLAYING THE GAME .....................................................6
PROGRESS THROUGH THE ADVENTURE ..............8
MULTIPLAYER ............................................................... 10
ANNEXES: SKILLS AND SPELLS DESCRIPTION
WARRANTY ..................................................................... 24
UBISOFT CONTACTSAT YOUR DISPOSAL ............ 25
....... 13
WARNING: READ BEFORE PLAYING
A very small percentage of individuals may experience epileptic fi ts when exposed to certain
light patterns or fl ashing lights. Exposure to certain patterns or backgrounds on a computer
screen, or while playing video games, may induce an epileptic fi t in these individuals. Certain
conditions may induce previously undetected epileptic symptoms even in persons who have
no history of prior fi ts or epilepsy.
If you, or anyone in your family, have an epileptic condition, consult your doctor prior to
playing.
If you experience any of the following symptoms while playing a video
or computer game - dizziness, altered vision, eye or muscle twitches, loss
of awareness, disorientation, any involuntary movement, or convulsions - IMMEDIATELY discontinue use and consult your doctor before resuming play.
-1-
GETTING STARTED
MAIN MENU
System Requirements
Supported OS: Windows® XP
Processor: AMD Athlon™, Pentium® 2.2 GHz (3 GHz recommended)
RAM: 512 MB (1 GB recommended)
Video Card: 128 MB DirectX
Sound Card: DirectX 9 compatible sound card
DirectX Version: DirectX 9 or higher
Hard Drive Space: 7 GB free
Peripherals Supported: Windows-compatible mouse and keyboard
Multiplayer: Broadband Internet connexion with 64 Kbps upstream or faster. Installation of
Steam® software required for multiplayer
*Supported Video Cards at Time of Release
®
NVIDIA
GeForce™ FX/6/7 families (excluding GeForce 4 MX)
®
ATI
Radeon™ 9/X families
Laptop versions of these cards are not fully supported. For an up-to-date list of supported
chipsets, please visit the FAQ for this game on our support website at: http://support.ubi.com,
or consult the Readme fi le on the game disc.
®
NVIDIA
nForce™ or other motherboards/soundcards containing the Dolby® Digital Inter-
active Content Encoder required for DolbyDigital audio.
Additional chipsets may work but are not supported. For an up-to-date list of tested chip-
sets, video cards, and operating systems, please visit the FAQ for this game on our support
website at: http://support.ubi.com.
NOTICE: This game contains technology intended to prevent copying that may confl ict with
some disc and virtual drives.
®
9-compatible video card
Installation
Insert the game disc into your DVD/CD Drive. If you have enabled the Autorun option, the
game installation will start automatically. Otherwise, double-click on the CD/DVD-ROM icon
in the My Computer menu. Find Autorun.exe in the list of fi les and folders and double-click
on it to start the installation process. Select "Install" to run the installation and follow the
installation wizard guide to successfully install the game on your computer.
During the process, you will be asked if you want to install Steam
if you intend to play online. Just follow the instructions to create your account. Ignore it if you
do not intend to play online or if you already have a Steam
Once installation is fi nished, two shortcuts will be placed on your desktop to either play the
Single Player Game or the Multiplayer Game.
®
. This software is required
®
account.
Double-click on the desktop icon or click once on the icon in the Start menu to launch the game.
Once the game has fi nished loading, the game menu appears to offer you the following options:
• New Game: Start a new single player game. Choose diffi culty between normal and
hard. In hard mode, enemies will be stronger, more resistant and more skilful at dodging
your attacks.
• Load game: Load a single player game you have previously saved.
• Multiplayer: Access multiplayer game (see page 10 for more details)
• Options: Allows you to confi gure game, video, audio and control settings.
• Quit: Leaves the game and returns to desktop.
Options
The Option screen is split into fi ve categories which you can access by clicking the tabs at
the top of the screen.
Keyboard
This sub-panel enables you to re-affect the control panel of your keyboard.
Mouse
You can change the sensibility or reverse the vertical axis of the mouse in this panel to make
it fi t your own style.
Audio
The audio option sub-panel lets you:
• Select the global volume for the game,
• Select the volume for the music,
• Select hardware/software acceleration (depending on the type of hardware installed),
• Enable in-game text.
Video
The fi rst time the game is launched, the program will determine what confi guration is best
adapted to your system. However, you can change this by selecting a general graphic quality
(make sure your computer is able to support high quality settings).
For advanced users, you can click the "Advanced" button and customise your video settings
in more detail.
Gameplay
You will be able to change some parameters of the game on this screen.
• Bow Crosshair: Activate or deactivate the crosshair during the game.
• Head bobbing: Activate to bring more realism by making the screen move slightly as
you walk/run.
• Always display item belt: Deactivate this option not to show the item belt by default
all along the game.
-2- -3-
THE MIGHT & MAGIC UNIVERSE
Backstory
Nearly a thousand years ago the Wars of Fire raged across the face of Ashan. Men, Elves,
Dwarves, and their allies pitted themselves against the hordes of Demons. Great devastation
was wrought, but in the end the allied forces were victorious. Their victory was largely due
to the heroic sacrifi ce of the wizard known as Sar-Elam, the Seventh Dragon.
Using his almost god-like powers and supported by his fellow wizards, Sar-Elam cast the
Demons out of the world into a limbo of eternal fi re. From the essence of his spirit, Sar-Elam
wove a prison to contain the Demons forever.
Something went wrong during Sar-Elam's ritual, however. The magic he summoned failed to
create a complete prison; the tiniest of fl aws remained in the otherwise impervious barrier, a
weakness that allowed Demonic infl uence to seep into the world during times of a lunar eclipse.
Angry but patient, the Demons lurked in their prison waiting… and planning.
All that remained of the Seventh Dragon was his skull. Now called the Skull of Shadows,
it was spirited away by those loyal to the goddess Mother Asha, creator of the world and
source of all magic. They hid it in an ancient temple on a deserted island, far from the machinations of Men, Elves, or Demons. There the Skull sits, awaiting the day when its powers
might be needed again.
The Prophecy of the Dark Messiah
67 years after Sar-Elam's death, his disciple Sar-Shazzar prophesied that a half-demon,
half-human child would one day be born; a walker between worlds who would be known as
the "Dark Messiah" and would use the relics of the Seventh Dragon to shatter the Demons'
prison forever.
Only three complete stanzas, fragments of the original prophecy, remain. They could be
translated as follows:
Ten centuries shall the fortress stand
Walls of spirit wrapped in walls of fi re
And horned lords shall bow their heads
To one not yet born, of the darkest sire
One century of blood and strife
The moon shall darken and none know why
The resting place at last is found
Of the Seventh who soared so high
Last daughter of a forlorn line
Shall guide him into history
Beneath the crypts prophecies clash
The war of ancient enemies
-4- -5-
Game Synopsis
In Dark Messiah, you are Sareth, apprentice to Phenrig, a powerful wizard. Phenrig, your
foster father, has raised you from birth for a single purpose, training you in the arts of magic
and war.
At the beginning of the game you are sent to the free city of Stonehelm, home to the mage
Menelag, a friend of your master to help him retrieve the long lost Skull of Shadows.
Characters
Sareth (You)
A young man, student of the mage Phenrig. Trained in the martial
arts and the ways of magic by his mentor, Sareth is prepared to
leave the only home he has known and venture out into the world
of Ashan.
Menelag
The wizard Menelag, ruler of the free city of Stonehelm, led a
10-year expedition to locate his healthtime obsession: the Skull
of Shadows. He fi nally discovered it on a savage island, buried
within a ruined temple.
Phenrig
Phenrig is Sareth's tutor and mentor. He has raised the orphan boy
since his childhood. Sareth owes all he knows of weapons and
magic to his master's severe but patient tutelage.
Xana
A guardian entity who has been magically fused to Sareth's spirit
by Phenrig in order to guide and protect him.
Leanna
Leanna is a young wizard of Stonehelm, niece to Menelag and
part of the expedition to fi nd the Skull of Shadows. She wishes to
retrieve the Skull and use it to defend her city, and she becomes
Sareth's companion on their search for it.
The Dark Messiah
Son of the Demon Sovereign, he is prophesied to be the one who will unlock the gate to the
demon's prison and allow their legions to rampage across Ashan.
Kha Beleth, The Demon Sovereign
Father of the Dark Messiah and ruler of the infernal legions, he waits impatiently for the
day when his son will tear down the prison that confi nes him and his followers in the empty
spaces between the worlds.
PLAYING THE GAME
In-game Interface
Basic Control
Keyboard
Health bar: Remaining Hit Points.
1
Adrenaline bar: Fill this bar by striking
2
your enemies to release a powerful fi nishing
move.
Weapon: Your current equipped weapon.
3
Mana bar: Remaining Mana (Magic power).
4
Magic: Selected spell.
5
Stealth bar: Show how visible you are to
6
your enemies.
Equipped weapon.
7
Crosshair: Where you aim at.
8
Advanced Controls
• Power strike: Hold the left click to adopt an offensive stance. Releasing the button will
make Sareth deliver a powerful blow.
You have 5 different attacks depending on the direction button you hold when charging
your strike. Here are the fi ve different combinations:
Left Click
Left Click +
Left Click +
Left Click +
Left Click +
• Fatality: When your adrenaline bar is full, deliver a Power Strike to make a fi nishing
• Enhanced magic: When your adrenaline bar is full, spells will have their effects highly
• Counter: Parrying right before an enemy strike will destabilize him and create an open-
• Interaction with environment: you will often be able to fi ght many adversaries at the
W
A
S
D
move that will slay your enemy. Note: the move will differ depending on what you are
aiming at. I.e.: aim at the head to behead your enemy.
increased. For example with Telekinesis, you will be able to grab and throw your enemies.
ing to counter-attack.
same time. In this situation, use the environment to take advantage over them. Destroy
wood pillars to drop boxes and barrels, kick your enemies when they are near spiked
walls to impale him, set fi re to oil fi lled jars or barrels to burn them. Possibilities are
numerous so feel free to experiment with different actions.
Mouse
Left Click: Attack / Cast spell.
Right Click: Hold to parry (When equipped with a bow, you cannot parry).
Mouse wheel: Display and select belt items.
-6- -7-
Character Window (default setting)
During the game, you will be able to gain many various items ( E key) and new abilities
to help you during your quest.
By pressing
you can access your inventory and the skill tree.
¢
Loading...