Dark Messiah - Review @ Gamers Europe

A new review at Gamers Europe for Dark Messiah carries the strong score of 8.5/10:

The best part of the combat system is the adrenaline bar. Although most of the environments are pseudo-weapons in themselves (that contain rocks, spikes, oil jars and crates), power striking an enemy a few times will fill your adrenaline bar, allowing you to unleash a very powerful attack. This special move depends on the weapon or spell in your hand, but its effects are always decisive. Decapitations and impalings are common, hence the large red 15s label mentioned earlier.

Harsher critics will argue that Dark Messiah is nothing but an overwrought mod for a middle aged game. While hallmarks of the Source engine are very prevalent in the menus and style of physics engine used, it has to be said that the location-based targeting is a big step up from what we’ve seen before. I can’t think of many games that depict lost limbs and scenes graphic enough to cause guffaws of surprise and shock.