Dark Messiah VS oblivion

[xNIKx]

Should i get Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion or Dark Messiah of Might & Magic? Please provide reasons why.

 

[Atheus]

I have only played Oblivion of those two, but I can offer this advice - If you want a 'pure RPG' type experience, don't get Oblivion. Unless you want to mod it extensively. The leveled creature/loot system really annoys me, and the main story is less than impressive. IMO Oblivion has been dumbed down for the Xbox.

Don't get me wrong, it's a good game, hours of fun and looks incredible. But it's got more flaws than the 90% ratings on various sites suggests. And it really kills your system.

 

[43st]

I have no idea what your gaming backaground is so...

Oblivion is a first person RPG with a wide open world like Grand Theft Auto. You wander around and complete quests for people and build your abilties. It's completely up to you what you do and where you go.

Dark Messiah is a FPS set in a fantasy world. The levels progress like Half-Life or any other mission based game, in a linear fashion. It also includes ability building. This game is very story based with your character at the center being lead from one point to the next.

 

[PingSpike]

What Thera said. Dark Messiah is an interesting game that I plan to get, but its not an RPG. Its a FPS with maybe a few RPG elements and some different classes...its a little like Hexen.

 

[xNIKx]

ill probaby go with oblivion, 1 question though. Does dark messiah require steam?

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Assuming you have sufficient "reasons" for a purchase decision, you should also consider the high Recommended System Requirements for Oblivion, and be certain you meet them. If you aren't really a Gearhead type of hardware freak, you can run the tests to determine the status at

http://www.srtest.com

(Their test can be confused by late model non-P4 processors from Intel.)

Here is the list:

http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/inde...owtopic=274228&view=findpost&p=6409294

System Specifications

Recommended:

3 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
1 GB System RAM
ATI X800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series, or higher video card

Minimum System Requirements:

Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows XP 64-bit
512MB System RAM
2 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
128MB Direct3D compatible video card (per the above pair, or "supported")
{and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver};
8x DVD-ROM drive
DirectX 9.0c (included)
DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
4.6 GB free hard disk space
Keyboard, Mouse

The key components in my example list (below), all meet or exceed the Official System Requirements.

My personal gaming system had previously been used as an example, showing all of its guts, so to speak, not just the key components (the double asterisks), but it's edited now to see if this will help you more:

AMD A64 3200+, 64-Bit CPU **
Good Brand s939 system board with nVidia NF4 chipset
Two by 512 MB, Brand Name PC 3200 DDR RAM **
Very Good Brand X800 XL video card **
Top Brand 520 Watt Power Supply
Decent add-on PCI sound card
Highest Quality CPU Cooler
Late Model Gaming Case

Supported Video Card Chipsets:

Coming soon ATI 1950, new mid-September
ATI X1900 series
ATI X1800 series
Coming soon ATI 1650, new mid-September
ATI X1600 series
ATI X1300 series <-- NOPE: too slow so far! (1300 XT will be better)
ATI X850 series
ATI X800 series
ATI X700 series
ATI X600 series <-- only the X600 Pro is fast enough
ATI Radeon 9800 series
ATI Radeon 9700 series
ATI Radeon 9600 series <-- only the 9600 XT is fast enough
ATI Radeon 9500 series <-- only the 9500 Pro is fast enough
+ GF 7300, new after Oblivion <-- NOPE: "slow"! (GT version slightly less so)
+ Geforce 7600, new after Oblivion
NVIDIA GeForce 7800 series
+ Geforce 7900, new after Oblivion
+ Geforce 7950, new after Oblivion
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 series <-- only the 6600 GT is fast enough
NVIDIA GeForce 6200 series <-- NOPE: way too slow!
NVIDIA GeForce FX series ("5700 or above") <-- Nope: all still way too slow!

ATI Suffixes: XTX > XT > XL > Pro > GTO > Vanilla > GT > SE > Hyper Anything
nVidia: Ultra > GTX > GT > GS > Vanilla > LE = XT > VE > TC / TD(6200)

( Hmmm? Some leftover color text codes from TES: Forums that don't work here, sorry about that! )

 

[xNIKx]

AMD Athlon? 64 X2 4600+
2gbs of ram
256mb 7900GT

 

[Trevelyan]

Personally... Dark Messiah is more of an action game with RPG elements... Oblivion is RPG with action elements.

 

[Ricochet]

Haven't played Dark Messiah and may get it in the future. I have just got to level 4 in Oblivion. I must say I am really impressed with Oblivion. The amount of detail presented is awe inspiring. The last game that gave me such feeling was Shenmu for the Dreamcast. Both games are slower pace yet offer an immenseful world to traverse. The same quality that may give them rave reviews can be the same quality that can put off some gamers, however. It can be considered boring or tedious. It depends on your perspective. Casual gamers need not apply.

If you like the mod scenes, definitely get Oblivion. There is enough of a fan base that mods are being created left and right. Thus you can customize the game to your liking.

Must have mods: BTMod, Natural Weather, and LOD mods with higher resolution textures. I'd avoid all the cheats until I finish the main quest.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

You could finish Dark Messiah in a week or two, depending on how much you play at a time. Oblivion, on the other hand, you could very well be playing for months and months, especially with the multitude of mods the community has created. And, I think the developers are going to release an expansion at some point as well. There is a lot of depth to the game, but, as mentioned above, there are a lot of flaws with the straight-outta-the-box game. Luckily, there are enough mods out there to erase those flaws and create a fun game.

What I am really enjoying about Dark Messiah is the combat. I'd like to see that combat system transferred over to Oblivion, although without kicking being so overpowered. DM is a fun game, and after the first time you decapitate an orc and have his head fly off, hit another orc, and knock him backward into a fire, where he proceeds to burn to death... you'll be hooked.

It comes down to-- do you feel like playing a long, open-ended, explore as you go type of game; or do you feel like playing a quick game that takes you down a track with scripted events, fun combat, and decent story? Once you ignore the fact that in both games your character can cast a spell, pick a pocket, or swing a sword, these games are extremely different from one another.

 

[apoppin]

don't forget ... Oblivion has an X-pack due on the 4th of Dec ... i have 1200 hours into it including the mods.
:thumbsup:

my vote's for Oblivion... all the bugs are ironed out ... otoh, that's not what i hear about DM

and i FINALLY got NWN2 patched ... now that's a "real" D&D [dice-based] RPG ... very unlike Oblivion which is far more Single Player Action-Adventure Fantasy [not party] RPG ... it's all 'you' ... you are the "Hero" and you do it pretty much by yourself although you must look to mods if you want real companions. .... more like Deus Ex [or really Thief Series] with tons of freedom then like KotOR.
Fighting is definitely more "FPS" than "RPG".
:Q

 

[ryan256]

I've been playing Might & Magic recently and all in all I've gotta say its a pretty good game. Kinda repetitive and I wish there were more equipment variety. There is a good bit of emphasis placed on using the environment to defeat your enemies (Ex. kick them over the ledge). On my machine I can run it at 1600x1200 with all the settings maxed out and it doesn't even flinch.