Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen (originally released as Might and Magic: Clouds of Xeen) is the fourth installment in the Might and Magic series by New World Computing. Plot Might and Magic IV focuses on the events that occur after the adventurers of Might and Magic III set off to follow Sheltem after he escapes from Terra. Trouble is brewing in the land of Xeen. A mysterious villain by the name of Lord Xeen has imprisoned Crodo, overseer of Xeen, in a tower and is unleashing havoc across the land. A new band of adventurers must be formed to stop him and save the Clouds of Xeen. Gameplay Might and Magic IV uses a game engine based on that used by Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra, and the gameplay is almost identical. More emphasis is placed on cutscenes than in the earlier game, possibly due to the availability of larger hard drives. This game and its successor, Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen can be combined to make one large game, World of Xeen. In-game, this is visualised as either game being a 'side' of a flat, rectangular planetoid. In the combined game, areas in both games become available that are impossible to access in the standalone games. Both game's endings can be achieved, after either of which gameplay continues. A third ending is available in the combined games only. The game was available initially on floppy disc but was also released on CD. Might and Magic IV and V were some of the very first Western games to come out on CD, although Japanese studios had been using the CD-ROM medium since 1988. They were also the first games to come out where every character's dialogs are recorded on the CDs; the software plays the CD back at specific tracks, seeking to the proper second offset within the track. Clouds of Xeen introduced several new features into the series. This included a notes section which kept track of important information such as quests, clues, passwords, and the coordinates of locations of note. It also had a difficulty setting where you could select Adventurer or Warrior, with the latter having more challenging enemies in combat, but no other gameplay differences. It also had a separate inventory for quest items which kept the player from accidentally discarding or selling critical items. Reception Computer Gaming World Scorpia