Rating: 
Summary: Not Bad, Not Great
Review: I just completed the latest version of the Might and Magic series. You create the standard 4-person party, do quests, and advance your characters. Those who've never played any of the Might and Magic games will enjoy this more that those who've played M&M VI or VII. The Good: The new game engine is pretty cool. I like being able to look in a 360° radius around my party. Some of the old favorite spells are here like Lloyd's Beacon and Town Portal. There are some good new spells. Quests aren't super hard to figure out and it is fun to play as an RPG. Also, the NPC's in your party can fight and you can set up your party's formation. You can swim now which is pretty cool. The Bad: No "Fly" spell. Many, MANY bugs, even after two patches. Make sure to get the latest patch and then you might want to check out the MM Worlds website for words on the bugs that remain. Some bugs are so bad that it will make the game impossible to win. The various NPC's you run into aren't "smart" meaning that even if you've solved a quest for them, they complain like it hasn't been done. It would have been nice for NPC's to adjust as the game advanced. Also, the game's story is mostly uninteresting (to me) and there's not much change between the various regions (graphic-wise). The game was rushed and it shows but I still enjoyed playing it.
Rating: 
Summary: Very, very sad
Review: I must say at the outset that my wife an I are huge Might and Magic fans, playing every one of the previous games to completion several times, which makes our experience with M&M IX even sadder. It is ugly, the user interface is very poor, and much of the original game has simply been left out. For example: the map no longer allows annotations, the map simply shows everything immediately instead of encourgaging exploring by showing only what has been explored, there are no icons to let you know what spells are running, you can't tell if you are hurting the monster (the hit point graph is missing), you can't drop items just delete them forever, you can't fly, half of the spells are gone, the world is tiny, you are extremely constrained as to where you can go, combat feedback is weak, direct manipulation of objects is weak, the inventory system is weaker, the card game is missing, many of the skills are missing, use of voice is weaker, and on and on. Take my advice -- save your money and play Might and Magic VII again -- it is simply a much, much better game.
Rating: 
Summary: I loved Might and Magic - but this is too much
Review: I read lots of negative reviews and chose not to believe them - after all, I played Might and Magic 3 to 8 to not overwhelmingly good reviews, too and enjoyed it a lot. Graphics for me aren't the most important part in a RPG and I can live with a story which isn't epic (I do some other things besides playing on my computer). That means, however, that I don't want to bother with stupid details like searching fort an expert for hours or walking through an area for hours on end. In the last installments of MM, there were some brilliant solutions for that. I especially liked the mini map or the Fly spell. These are all gone, and after some hours of playing, I haven't even found Town Portal yet. To add insult to injury, the handbook is seriously laughable. Character creation is boring and there are many pesky little details in handling simple things that should be intuitive. At least on my 1 MHz Athlon, there were loading times even for a map or a chest to open. Oh yeah - and even if graphics aren't that important to me, there seem to be only about five looks for NPCs - boring. I didn't listen to the good advice I read everywhere - you should (I bemoan the fate of my 40 bucks). Why 2 stars ? For nostalgia's sake, I guess (and even as I type this, I seriously tend to reconsider).
Rating: 
Summary: A good game that's been raked over the coals mercilessly.
Review: I'm not quite sure why this game has received such savage tearing apart from reviewers far and wide; while flawed, it is a solid entry in the Might and Magic series. I've always enjoyed the Might and Magic series, even though I haven't played all of them; I think the last three installments (6, 7, and 8) were all good, though of declining quality from one to the next. Might and Magic IX certainly doesn't wow you with an amazing intro; the opening movie is quite boring, unlike the others in the series, which really gave you a motivation to get in there and find out what's going on. Here, it feels more like watching an old movie rell in the back of a dusty classroom (but not in a cool way, as in the marvelous intros of Fallout 1 and 2.) The manual is sadly lacking as well; it's obvious that it was designed to make you want to buy the strategy guide; leaving out information crucial to designing your character is a shady decision. So, why do I give this thing 4 stars? All I've done is gripe so far, right? Well, it maintains that "just 5 more minutes" syndrome that haunts the others in the series; you want to make it through that dungeon, or complete that quest, or see what's in the next town. I'll break it down with pros and cons. Positive aspects:
* New graphics engine is nice - a great improvement over the previous versions. Not breathtaking, but well-done (despite the scary faces.) New monsters and models, and great spell effects.
* GREAT music! Laid-back, not in your face, dark, foreboding, whimsical... I'd say it's probably the best music next to 6.
Plus, THE MUSIC NOW LOOPS! Thank the gods.. I remember saving and reloading quite literaly thousands of times in the earlier games to get the music to restart.
* Great character development - instead of forcing you to decide from the start exactly what sort of character you want. I've always liked the skill advancement in the series, and it is preserved here.
* Smarter monsters - they'll run, and call for reinforcements. Good monster models.
* Fairly interesting quests. None of them will blow you away, but some have a bit of humor injected into them. Bad: * Dialogue seems juvenile. Interaction still feels very wooden and unfulfilling.
* Party members are still just a jumble of numbers - you don't get the rich feel of controlling actual adventurers, as you do with the Baldur's Gate series.
* Stability - I've had about 8 drop to desktop crashes in about 10 hours of play. Not great.
* Lousy manual. Overall, a worthwhile game. If you're a fan of others in the series, you should like this one.
Rating:
Summary: Sorry guys... this game crashes and burns!
Review: I've played the last 4 M&M games and have loved them all. I have also played all the Heroes of M&M games and think they are excellent. Basically, up until last night, I was a New World Computing fanatic. That is until I played M&M9... I won't go into the details but the graphocs are the least of the problems. It's lost all sense of immersion and is extremely flat, buggy and boring. I honestly can't believe it. This probably spells the end for this otherwise fantastic series. NWC should really reevaluate the team that produced this product. However, Hereoes of Might and Magic 4 is excellent!!!
Rating: 
Summary: A solid RPG
Review: Many people have dissed this game, but after about an hour of playing it turns into a really good game. The graphics aren't up to standards, but they aren't that bad and they are a previous improvement over the previous games. Many things have been changed in this game, and if you just want another MMVIII, then you won't probably won't like it. But in my opinion, this is the best Might and Magic of them all. It is fun, addictive, and worth the money. I definitely recommend this game to a serious RPG player.
Rating:
Summary: might and magic IX
Review: Might & Magic IX will be built of areas connected by an overland map. Lang compares overland travel to Sea Dogs or Fallout.The new dialogue system will take a page from RPGs like Baldur's Gate with branching conversations. A new class system will stress flexibility throughout your characters' careers. There are might classes (paladins, rangers, crusaders, mercenaries) and magic classes (mages, druids, liches, priests) and you'll be able to change your class as you play. The spell system will be more flexible by opening spellcasting to more classes. Skills will have specific and unique functions for each class to differentiate characters as they get more powerful. The combat system won't change much, offering real time or turn-based modes depending on the player preference. Lang says the LithTech engine will allow combat to be a little more "action oriented" this time around. I think this game is amazing and definitatly reccomend it to RPG gamers.
Rating:
Summary: Worst Might and Magic game I've played
Review: Might and Magic 9 however is the worst I've played and I've played 3 through 7. I loved might and magic 6 with it's great graphics and music and interface. I liked 7, and I'm hoping to get 8.
I believe the worst part is that you only get TWO classes to choose from. Yes, two. A fighter and an "initiate"(mage). They eventually branch off offering two other choices but that's it. There are less skills and magic disciplines as well. The class variety was one of the best parts of the series. The graphics are boring and bland with the occaisional decorations that you can't do anything with. I believe this game has the worst sky as well. Unlike 6 and 7 it doesn't move in anyway(clouds, etc) and is rather boring to look at. The music is awful, I listened to all of the songs and didn't hear even 20 seconds of sound I liked. The sound effects are alright but nothing special or imersive. The 3D engine they use is very poor in my opinion. NPCs in towns move stiffly and their faces look crudely "pasted on". They have no moving facial expressions though their bodies occasionally move. The inventory screen dropped from the great system from 6 and 7 to similar to might and magic 3,4,5 only not as pleasant. The voices are mostly stupid though there is an occasional funny line here and there. Doors in this game are very poorly done. They automaticly close after about 5 seconds. This gets very annoying when you want to keep track of where you've been as the automap is already mapped out for each dungeon I'e been too and therefore of no help to the explore. What next... Oh yes, you don't get a plain "attack button" you get an attack/use/open button and an attack/shoot missle button and a use button. You usually can't attack nothing and you can't attack people. No longer do you have to worry about the temptation of killing the peasants wandering by. You can't. You can shoot them with arrows all you want but they don't even blink(ever). When you attack you don't even see any blood or any responce other than a little popup window at the bottom that says you did a little damage. There are few items on the ground anywhere in the 3 dungeons I've wandered around in and the treasure is usually worthless skills. You'll accumulate tons of them though you won't be able to use most of them since once you use them you don't need them anymore. Enemies look alright, occasionally. The skeletons look like flat skeletons, the zombies look like not quite as flat zombies. Dragon Flies are the best I've seen so far though they are quite hard to see among the flat trees. The only GOOD thing I can say about this game is that you can finally swim in water. Yes, that's the only good thing I can say about it. Even the Loading screen is boring, just a map with a tiny ship sailing back and forth a couple of inches.
Rating:
Summary: Might and Magic 9
Review: Might and Magic 9 is a great adventure game. It's ability to combine turnbase and real time is very useful when fighting the immensely broad variety of creatures. There is a secret around every corner and treasure in every dungeon. What is really cool about this game are the towns and the ability to converse with their inhabitants. In the towns you can discover skills, gain experience, and find new team members. This game is very long and exiting and it takes time to become a master of the elements,a lord of magic, and a weilder of weaponry, but in the end all of this is well worth the wait.
Rating:
Summary: Backward Compatibility
Review: Might and Magic IX is one of the few games on the market that is playable on older computers. The game is playable on a Pentium II; consequently, the game has outdated graphics. As somewho who has an 5 year old computer and refuses to buy a new one, I appreciate the fact that at least one company is still making games that I can play.
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