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Old 23-05-2008, 02:49 AM   #1
Yobor
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Default Myth: The Fallen Lords

Here is an old review of Myth: The Fallen Lords that I wrote to originally be placed on the site, but it never came through.


This 1997 Bungie game, Myth: the Fallen Lords, is a real time strategy game based in a fantasy world of long ago. The ancient heroes of the Wind Age have Fallen from good and turned their powers to raising dead, creating rippling explosions, and altogether slaughtering mankind. The last humans and dwarves left have gathered to defend the last bastion of mankind: Madrigal. You are a low ranking officer in this Legion of the goodly.
The games storyline is revealed to you piece by piece by way of journal entries before every mission. While the world created by this game seems very interesting, and could be extremely entertaining by itself as a book, it wasn’t fleshed out enough in the game. Much more could’ve been done, but all in all the storyline is excellent.
Every mission starts with your units facing in the correct direction to move in, so that isn’t a problem. You’ll have no trouble finding your objectives. There is a bar at the top of the screen that displays your mission objectives or the statistics of the unit you have selected. Each mission has you commanding up to 50 soldiers at a time. You only will receive extra soldiers if it is included in the storyline, and this doesn’t happen very often. Otherwise, you are stuck with the units you begin with until the end.
There is a very nice tutorial included with the game. Before playing anyone should check it out in order to get acquainted with the interface. Overall, it is very simple. The only thing lacking is assigning numbers to unit groups. However, there is click-and-drag and also double-click selection.
The graphics for this game are excellent. It says on the back of the box, quote, “The ground is charred and cratered by explosions, scraps of armor litter the battlefield, explosions ripple the ground, and heads roll….. downhill.” Believe you me, this blurb is an understatement! The effects of combat are wonderful, even if it is a bit on the gory side. Explosions will cause your ranks to disintegrate, body parts flying into the air and landing hundreds of feet away. The landscape has many different forms, some more detailed and full than others, but for 1997, this 3d game has excellent graphics. However, the units are only 2d.
Combat in this RTS is one of the best I have ever seen, especially the explosions. The Good side (The one you always play as) has 6 unique types of unit, not counting the Hero: Swordsmen, Archers, Berserks, Dwarves, Journeymen, and Forest Giants.
Swordsmen: Your basic, run-of-the-mill fighter unit. Essentially, a solid front line force, a.k.a. cannon fodder. These fools serve only one purpose: to delay the front ranks of the enemy long enough for your other, more useful units to slaughter them. However, when facing the correct direction, they are useful for blocking arrow attacks with their large shields.
Archers: One of the more useful units, these ranged units, when in enough force, can tear apart an army of Thralls from long range. Also, they are the ONLY units capable of defeating Shades and Fetches without losses. Great against the Torm.
Dwarves: These little devils win the most-dangerous-to-your-own-troops award. However, the same goes for your enemies! These little fellas throw explosive Molotov Cocktails at their opponents. They also can lay satchel charges, which are by far the most effective forms of attack in the game. But be warned! When a dwarf dies, all of its remaining satchels are deposited around its feet. If a dwarf is killed by an explosive or incendiary attack, a massive explosion will occur! Also, their flaming Cocktails do not work when it’s raining.
Berserks: Fast moving, efficient warriors, these brutes of the mountains attack so fast most enemies have little time to recover. They are especially effective against enemy ranged units, and Myrmidons. In a way they act much like cavalry. However, they will charge enemy ranks without orders, and oftimes you’ll find they will have run right on top of your dwarven satchel charges just as you were lighting them
Journeymen: These wise men and women server as healers for your force. Also, they are the ones who carry some special objective related items. Useless in combat, these men usually bring up the end of the column.
Forest Giant: The most damaging unit you can control, there are only 6 forest giants in the entire game (unless I missed something :-P). These mammoth creatures instantly gore any creature dumb enough to get close (But you’re fighting undead, what do they know?). Also, they are really the only effective way to deal with the Torm. But be careful of missile troops; everything eventually takes its toll.

The enemies you’ll encounter are wide and varied. However, there are four unit types that you MUST watch out for, because they will cause utter annihilation to your forces if you do not pay attention.
Fetch: These strange creatures take on the skin of humans. They also float, and hurl lightning bolts at your troops, instantly killing most kinds and setting off satchel charges. You MUST use archers against these babies.
Shade: These floaty creatures seem harmless. In reality, they are nigh unto impossible to defeat. There are only a few Shades in the game, and for that I am thankful. The amazing power of the shade is in chain reaction. So the Shade blasts one Berserk to pieces. So? The explosions of the Shade spread to any nearby units, creating a chain reaction of death. Unfortunately, on one of the mission where a Shade is present, you will have no Archers. The best tactic on this level is to create sacrificial groups of Berserks to come in at different angles.
Wight: These strange zombie creatures appear totally worthless in attack. Until they get close to you. These insane suicide bombing creatures detonate themselves on your forces when they get close enough, butchering most and freezing those still alive. Take them out with, you guessed it, Archers.
Torm: These gigantic creatures are a match for anything thrown at them. Except sharp things. But if you don’t feel like setting up and Archer ambush, remember the old adage, “Pick on someone your own size!”
Cutscenes in the game are tedious at best. The strange cartooneyness of them is kind of an eyesore. However, the LAST cutscene is absolutely amazing. The game ends very well.
Multiplayer is playable on LAN, Bungie.net, or “modem” connections.
Overall, I give this game a 5. The excellent gameplay more than makes up for any shortcomings.

ATTENTION: SPOILERS AHEAD

For you lazy wimps who can’t beat the first level, “ctrl +” will instantly win any level. Also, level select is available by holding shift when selecting “New Game”.



I also have a bunch of screenshots and boxshots for the game. I've only ever found it on Ebay, so...
http://www.mobygames.com/game/myth-the-fallen-lords

Last edited by Yobor; 23-05-2008 at 02:52 AM. Reason: Addendum to content in the form of a referential link.
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Old 23-05-2008, 08:17 PM   #2
Blood-Pigggy
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There are really very few games that have utilized Myth's system of a 3D landscape. It's what everyone was raving about at the time, yet no one has managed to make a game that incorporates terrain so well into gameplay, relying alone on the physics of your units alone.

Yeah, the Total War games may compliment troops on higher ground, but really it just smacks a bonus on your units and slows down those trying to get up a hill, not really interesting stuff, just more number crunching, things you don't want in an RTS.
Myth on the other hand, had your units firing arrows into hill tops, skitting off the feet of enemy troops harmlessly, and when you were on higher ground all your archers found their mark as arrows plowed into enemies at high speed down on lower ground.

There weren't any real big numbers lying underneath of it, it was realistic. Far more realist than the Total War games could ever hope to be. It may be fun in an RPG, but RTS games rely on the user's decisions and ability to manipulate the environment, not vice versa.
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