Source: Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine – Volume 3, Issue 1 – October 1999
Crusaders of Might and Magic is an action RPG released by The 3DO Company in late 1999 for Windows and in early 2000 for the PlayStation. It’s a pretty average game for the genre and received mixed reviews at best. All in all I would say it doesn’t hold up as well as older games in the series for the most part.
The story is a fairly typical defend the land from an evil necromancer type thing. Somewhat unique for the time was that the game was completely 3D. However, relatively low polygon counts is one of the reasons the game hasn’t held up that well. The graphics just don’t look very good by today’s standards and weren’t really exceptional at the time it came out.
What I do find interesting though is the fact that the PlayStation version is better than the Windows version, at least in terms of complexity. While the Windows version has a pretty basic experience system, the PlayStation version is much more specific with skills for individual weapons, spells and so forth. The PlayStation version also features ways to add magical abilities to weapons that don’t exist in the Windows version. The one other major difference between the Windows version and the PlayStation version is the level design. While the locations themselves are mostly the same, they often look completely different.
While this isn’t the best example of the genre, I think it is still a game worth playing if you like action RPGs. However, I would recommend the PlayStation over the Windows version in this case. Not only will you have an easier time playing it (assuming you have a PS1 or PS2) but it actually has a little more depth and complexity than the Windows version. This game hasn’t had any re-released or direct sequels though Warriors of Might and Magic is a similar style game released later for the PS1, PS2 and Game Boy Color in December 2000.
The ad above is from the October 1999 issue of The Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine.
