BitGamer looks back at Dark Messiah of Might and Magic:

Ten Years On: Dark Messiah of Might and Magic

It’s fascinating to look back at Dark Messiah through the lens of Dishonored. So much of what made Arkane’s magical murder sim special is built atop of foundations originally laid in this curious chapter in the studio’s history: the multiple ways you can approach combat; the game’s creative relationship with physics and the environment; first-person sword-fighting that actually works. Even Dishonored's in-combat music is a variation of the score used in Dark Messiah.

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Despite some ropey production, I think Dark Messiah has aged very well indeed, perhaps even better than the game which eclipsed it when it originally released. Oblivion’s template has been surpassed by Bethesda’s later open-world titles. But Dark Messiah offers a very different experience to Dishonored, and this has helped it endure. At the same time, it shares its most important lasting quality. It offers you a world that you can return to over and over and discover a dozen new ways to play with.