Magic & Mayhem is an epic real-time role-playing strategy game in a fantasy setting. The game was developed by Mythos Games, who also created the hugely popular turn-based strategy game X-COM. In Magic & Mayhem, you assume the identity of the apprentice wizard Cornelius Agrippa and embark on a quest in search of his missing uncle. Along the way you will encounter and interact with numerous creatures and humans (e.g., other sorcerers).

The game comes on a single CD-ROM with a 23-page manual. Although it is not necessary to read the manual before beginning, I found it an excellent resource as I began to progress through the game. There are four difficulty levels (Initiate, Apprentice, Adept, and Wizard); if you start on Initiate level, a tutorial will guide you through the first few levels until you get the hang of the game.

Installation was no problem. Magic & Mayhem also requires installation of DirectX 6, which is included on the CD, and there is an installation button for DirectX on the start screen. Minimum installation will eat-up about 100 MB of your hard drive. My PC only met the minimum requirements for the game, so I was curious to see how it would perform on my system. After loading, Magic & Mayhem ran reasonably well until suddenly locking-up at random, requiring a reboot. To try to correct this problem, I e-mailed for help to both the developer (Mythos) and the distributor (Bethesda Softworks), with mixed results. Bethesda Softworks responded with a short message within two days telling me to update my drivers and install DirectX, but Mythos never responded to my e-mail. Since I had already installed DirectX 6 from the CD, I found and loaded new drivers for my video card, sound card, and CD-ROM. This seemed to help somewhat, and allowed the game to run longer without locking-up. I e-mailed back to Bethesda that it seemed to help, but I still had a problem with my system locking-up, but they never responded with any more tips.

 Having been a fan of several previous role-playing games created by Bethesda Softworks (i.e., Arena: The Elder Scrolls and Daggerfall), I was interested in how they would handle a real-time strategy game...and I am impressed. Magic & Mayhem is one addictive game! The game takes place in three realms, each of which has a specific theme (Celtic, Greek, and Medieval), and each realm has twelve regions (i.e., levels). Finishing a level usually involves defeating an opposing wizard and his creatures, and you can't do this on your own. Luckily, as an apprentice wizard, you are able to summon various creatures (including brownies, zombies, redcaps, elves, unicorns, vampires, hellhounds, wraiths, basilisks, etc.) to fight for you and aid in your quest. This is where the game gets real interesting, since the specific creatures you are able to summon depends on how you structure your spell-casting ability before starting each level. This is done via the Portmanteau, or "spell box"; magic items collected in various regions are placed (by dragging with the mouse) onto one of the three Talismans (Chaos, Neutral, and Law) to determine spell-casting ability and specific creatures that may be summoned for that region. Spell-casting is controlled by your level of Mana, which can be found randomly scattered throughout the region. However, the best way to replenish Mana is to locate and control the Places of Power by situating one of your summoned creatures there. This will gradually refill your Mana level. Controlling additional Places of Power will speed-up the rate at which your Mana level is refilled, allowing you to summon even more creatures. It quickly becomes apparent that a primary strategy in Magic & Mayhem is to control as many of the Places of Power as possible early in the game. There are even a few puzzles to solve in some of the regions.

The Grimoire (or book of knowledge) provides information on each of the realms and regions, has a index to creatures, spells, magic items, and artifacts that may be encountered in the game. As you adventure within each region/level, there are a set number of experience points that may be earned from your actions; these actions include merely talking with a specific character, locating a mystical item, and defeating the opposing wizard. These experience points allow you to advance your character in skill level and purchase additional Talismans, allowing you to summon additional creatures or acquire new spells. Therefore, as you complete increasingly challenging levels, your character advances in skill and spell-casting ability, giving the game a role-playing feel.

In addition to the campaign-style play, Magic & Mayhem also has a "Quick Battle" mode. In a Quick Battle, games are generated randomly. This gets really entertaining since you are able to pick from a large number of maps in varying sizes and all of the magic items in your Portmanteau (spell-box) are also generated randomly, meaning no two games are ever the same. There is also a multiplayer option, allowing play over IPX/SPX, TCP/IP, or null modem cable.

Graphically, the game is a very-enchanting 2D with highly interesting backgrounds and buildings (i.e., it looks great), and movement of the various creatures is very well done. Likewise, the audio is well-done, with each of the creatures making unique sounds, and background music has an appropriate feel for the setting.

Bottom Line:  Magic & Mayhem is a fun and addictive game with a lot of replay value. I had a blast with it on my P-133...I'm dying to try it out on an AMD Athlon! [UPDATE: the new PC is here, and it runs great on an Athlon-600!] Magic & Mayhem will be on my hard drive for a long time. Marketing for Magic & Mayhem has seemed somewhat low-key. This is unfortunate, because I suspect lots of folks who might be interested in this game never heard about it. If you're into strategy games with a fantasy setting, you really ought to pick up a copy of this excellent game.

System Tested On:  IBM-compatible PC with a 133Mhz Pentium; Windows 95; 64-bit PCI-bus SVGA video card; 32 Mb of RAM; 8x CD-ROM drive; Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold sound card; mouse

Minimum System:  Pentium P133 (P200 recommended); 32 MB RAM (64 MB recommended); 100 MB free hard drive space (275 MB recommended); 8x CD-ROM (12x recommended); Windows 95/98; Windows 95/98 compatible sound card; DirectX 6.0 or higher (included on CD); DirectX 6 compatible 2MB video card; 28.8 Kbps modem for Internet play

Technical support is available by phone (toll number), e-mail, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.bethsoft.com.

Estimated street price - about $40

Bethesda Softworks, 1370 Piccard Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20850-4304; Phone: (301) 926-8300