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### Midnight/MU [PC/Mac]

#### http://www.midnightmu.com/

#### Reviewed By R. O'Toole

Writing a review of a game that you're not so good at is tricky. It's easy if you're writing about a bad game, but when you've been ordered by the brutal overseers of RGCD to review a good game which then proceeds to beat you senseless for three months - then it's hard.

So here I am after a quarter-of-a-year's regular pummelling by the superior minds that play Midnight/MU. Now that's not as bad as it sounds, I swear, since the game itself can be very slow to play. But, enough of my attempts to hide my "bad gamer" nature from the world. Onto the game itself.

Midnight/MU is the king-sized kid brother of the Spectrum strategy classic Lords of Midnight, a masterpiece of innovation with a captivating atmosphere. Exclusively multiplayer, it's an entirely free-of-charge game which is quite simple to pick up but hard to master. The addition of human minds makes it a riveting online experience, and it retains its magnetic appeal whether you're playing a one-turn-a-week game or a more furious confrontation with an opponent who has a lot of free time.

The graphics have been left just as they were in the original - with the old familiar citadels, palaces, villages and snowhalls to name but a few all present and correct in their pixellated glory. The original map has been tweaked to accommodate extra lords, and several more maps have been added. Some, like the diminutive Sun's End are forgiving scenarios designed for novice players, while the colossus that is Doomdark's Revenge makes for hard fighting.

Aside from being a browser-based game, Midnight/MU's gameplay works the same way as Lords of Midnight. Turns take place in the same fashion. The elements of exploration and recruitment remain and are just as interesting and entertaining as in the original. Old racial rivalries have been pushed aside to allow for better and broader multiplayer gameplay.

An interesting addition to the game comes in the form (or maybe "formless" in this case) of Shades, the ghosts of your characters who have been killed. These Shades haunt the place their body died, and can see other ghosts in their surrounding area. It's little things like this that often make good games great.

The use of drop down menus and a very neat user interface makes for slick gameplay. Just because you might be taking a week between turns doesn't mean you should be wading through clunky bloat-code in your free time.

I hate recommending things. It feels more like I'm writing a press release than a review; but I have to recommend this game. I have a puny record of wins and a long string of losses under my belt but I've had a hell of a time playing this. It's just great. The atmosphere and epic scope of Midnight/MU sucks you in, and the game's community is welcoming, relaxed and friendly. The often slow pace of the game is a godsend for those with hectic schedules, and the browser-based nature of the game means that you can take your moves wherever you can find an internet connection. Possibly one of the best, and certainly one of the best thought-out browser based online games, Midnight/MU is a joy to play, even if you keep getting trounced!