Mage Knight: Apocalypse

PROTIP: If you encounter a large mob, draw them out and pick them off individually.

PROTIP: If you encounter a large mob, draw them out and pick them off individually.

Freedom Is Overrated

Then there's Mage Knight's innovative free camera system, which sounds great until you actually have to use it. Don't let the 3D environs fool youMage Knight is a Diablo-esque 2D scroller masquerading as a current-gen RPG. The 3D skies and varying elevations are countered by the simple fact that characters can neither climb nor jump. There's a reason why free cameras are often decried: they often saddle with double duty as both hero and cameraman.

Usually, developers implement a bit of AI so that the camera's vantage follows a specific point of view and dislodges itself when stuck. Not so in Mage Knight. Combat is incredibly frustrating since you have to constantly adjust the camera angle while beating off throngs of orcs. So, if one gets the drop on you from behind, you'll need to swing the camera around just to stick your sword in his gut. Also absent is a true first person view. The camera can zoom in just close enough so that you are looking directly behind your character but it won't put you directly inside your character's head.

PROTIP Let your melee party members get down and dirty while you rest up with potions.

PROTIP Let your melee party members get down and dirty while you rest up with potions.

Flattering Imitation

We were also amazed at Mage Knight's visuals. Not because they were particularly good but because of how much they resembled WoW's. The dwarf and human models seem like they'd be right at home in Ironforge and Stormwind. Sythvalis, your elemental guide, bears striking resemblance to the warlock summoned voidwalker, and the armor designs have the distinctive, cartoonishly oversized stylings of a WoW paladin's. Even the three tiered skill tree feels like a shameless rip-off.

One of the things that we wish they had borrowed from WoW is its crafting system. Mage Knight effectively butchers the process by incorporating recipes into the mix. It's a mind-numbingly streamlined process as herbs and vials are automatically allocated via the recipe screen and a simple click creates a batch of potions. The needed ingredients are also readily available, practically littering your path like so many weeds. And if you're feeling especially lazy, you can just pop into a store and buy them, so there's hardly a reason to harvest them. And since there is no community to sell them to, there isn't any sense of economy, which led us to ask, "What's the point?"

Granting Mercy

What we have in Mage Knight is a poor attempt to hop on the WoW gravy train. The developer clearly flayed all the depth and nuance out of the formula that made WoW such a huge commercial success, delivering instead a soulless husk stuffed with empty promises and features that you wouldn't want anyway. Save your money or better yet, extend that WoW sub for another month instead.

PROTIP: Visit the herbalists throughout the game if you find plant harvesting too tiresome.

PROTIP: Visit the herbalists throughout the game if you find plant harvesting too tiresome.

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