A mercenary is needed to confound the forces unleashed upon the world, a warrior of valor who will gather about him or her, companions willing to give their lives to restore order.

Might and Magic VIII Day of the Destroyer, from 3DO, continues the legacy of award-winning games with a solo role-playing game that combines a seemingly endless stream of quests with combat and puzzle-solving. Your character improves through completion of these quests, each of which leads closer to your role in the overall scheme of ridding the world of the chaos.

You begin by creating a character to traverse Dagger Wound Islands. You have seven classes of characters to choose from: necromancer, knight, cleric, dark elf, troll, vampire and minotaur. Hey, you're thinking, aren't those last few nasty-type characters? Not necessarily. The nice thing about this program is that you never really know where your allies will come from. You may even find a big, ugly dragon who is willing to join your eventual party of five. But back to the character screen. Male and female characters are available and you can customize the character quite a bit, including changing the voice, the name, and redistributing skill points.

Once that is done, it's off to the adventure. The first order of business is to get a message to the mainland. In order to do that, you'll need to find a way off the island. The bridges to the boat docks are gone, destroyed by pirates. Hmm ... the name of the game is Might AND Magic - perhaps there is a magical way off the rock. Talk to the people in the village. You may gain an ally right there and there is a lot of useful information to be gained.

Might and Magic VIII puts you in charge of the lead character in the party, you see through their eyes. And the world you view is quite well-rendered. There is a pixelization problem when you close on an object and as you traverse the world, you'll find that you can walk through some objects, such as trees. That would be a problem if you decided to dwell on it. If you are looking for pure adventuring fun, a game that harkens back to earlier gaming days, then little things like that are inconsequential. Combat is real time, but you can - with a keystroke - toggle from that mode to a turn-based mode which will enable you to think through a battle rather than relying on reaction.

Controls are easy to master. This is a game that utilizes a combination of keyboard and mouse. There are 14 movement commands and 20 control commands which are, more or less, intuitive.

Sound-wise, this game is only average. Most of the dialogue is conducted through text rather than the voice you labored to get just right for your character. However, combat sounds and ambient noises are solid.

The program features smooth transitions from scene to scene, and the world is wonderfully interactive. There is no telling what lies beyond that hill, or even what you will find laying beside the path you are taking. Interacting with the wonderful array of characters is what makes this game sparkle. But you must take into consideration that this program is based on real-time play. Anything can be a distraction - like taking on more than one quest at a time - and sometimes what you are doing, is just spinning wheels with no effect within the game. For example, while on Dagger Wound Island - which is under attack from pirates - you can fire one of the shore cannons at the pirate ship. Though it seemed there were several direct hits, the ship weathered the attack quite well. In short, it seemed a waste of time and energy to attack the ship.

However, this program is very forgiving in terms of time management. And, of course, as you succeed in combat, you collect monetary rewards. It helps to put some of that in the banks located throughout the world. If you are killed in combat, you lose everything you are carrying on you. You may cheat death, but not looters.

Overall, Might and Magic VIII is entertaining. It would make a great introductory program for those new to the RPG field, and provide the veteran of fantasy wars with an appealing distraction while waiting for the next mega-game (like Nox) to arrive.

Might and Magic VIII does not support multiplayer games. This program is rated Teen for animated violence.

Install: Easy.

Gameplay: 8. This game moves smoothly from one element to the next.

Graphics: 7. There is some pixelization when you draw close to objects, and that is with the 3D card activated. And though the scenes are a little flat, they are well done.

Sound: 5. Lack of verbal dialogue hurts this game, but the ambient sounds are solid.

Difficulty: 8. This game requires patience, intelligence and strategy. To equip weapons, you must train; to train, you must have money; and money is difficult to come by.

Concept: 7. The addition of the 'darker' characters - such as vampires, trolls and dragons - as potential good guys adds to the game, although you still are looking at a 'save the world from evil' plot line.

Overall: 7.5. This game is enjoyable with a large game board and interesting array of characters. The options package helps, and the low system requirements make this a program that most gamers can play.