Might and Magic: Clouds of Xeen

Might and Magic: Clouds of Xeen description

Clouds of Xeen is the fourth part of the epic Might & Magic. Together with his successor, Dark Side of Xeen, it can form one big, United world – World of Xeen is undoubtedly the best game of all previous. An interesting fact is that MM4 was one of the first games released on CD.

The plot develops on a flat rectangular planetoid called Xin. Life on this earth was undisturbed, and she rules the glorious king Barlock. But one day, someone appeared who possessed incredible strength, and in no time he called himself Lord Xeen, the only ruler of the whole Kingdom. In confirmation of his words, he spread fire and destruction. To stand in his way decided only a small team of adventurers we are.

So, in comparison with the previous part of the changes in technical terms, almost none. The basis was taken engine MM3: Isles of Terra, so in General, the level design is pretty similar. Graphics became more detailed, widely used animated videos appearing when you visit various institutions, as well as at the entrance to any dungeon/tower. The battle system has remained the same: we are available ranged and melee, and at last we lose the ability to move. In the melee, the number of opponents is limited to three, vacant seats immediately engaged in the rescue of the enemy; the battle takes place in steps.

The world of Clouds of Xeen provides greater freedom of action than in the Isles of Terra, which is a noticeable limitation was the feature of the planet, derived from the name of the game: it really was the island, not always between them it was possible to swim. In MM4 the same foot you can reach almost any location. On the whole, the world in which will travel our heroes, more lands by Terra. The size of the cities also increased significantly, partly due to the fact that there is the opportunity to go inside buildings. An interesting innovation was the ability to purchase their own lock, which features generous interior space. In the course of the story it will be completed and a dusty empty ruins will turn into a very decent Palace worthy of any noble Lord. But that's not all. We are given the opportunity to travel not only on land and water, but in some places, and literally in the clouds! However, without the levitation spell going.

Race classes (total of ten) and the skills remained the same. All races in game five: human, elf, gnome, dwarf and poluork. Only the team can have six characters, but there's always the option to kick at least six, and replace them with a new batch. But to take the mercenaries will not succeed – and we will not see until the eighth of the epic. As for the spell list, then he added a number of new products, sometimes it's very useful (for example, Golem Stopper, without which to go vs diamond Golem – an empty case); some spells, by contrast, disappeared (including such remarkable as Duplication). Schools of magic, as in the third part, three: magic, wizards, clerics and druids.

A pleasant surprise was the number of positive changes in the game interface. First, the skill "Cartography" not only made possible the automatic filling of the main adventure map, but also allowed to display a small part of it on the minimap, before the latter is switched on only when you use the spell "Wizard Eye". Secondly, significantly increased inventory crashed into five parts: weapons, armor, jewelry, a variety of things (scrolls, torches, ropes and other) and plot objects now lie separately. Moreover, now those items which the character can not equip, it is suitable marked. Novice players can breathe freely - it's not going to have to sort through a mountain of weapons until they are convinced that the magician can take up only a dagger and a club... Gone the descriptions of each location, but there were autoslide and better viewing jobs.

Summarizing, we can say that Might & Magic: Clouds of Xeen is one of the best representatives of the genre RPG for its time. If you are adamant supporter of the art graphics and you like this genre you should try this great game. But if you're a fan of the epic M&M – much more.

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Source: Archive.org, Mobygames.com