has fixed stats, and the selection of items is also limited, with only a relatively small number of different weapons or armor in each category. Additionally, advanced items typically have a skill requirement, with the end result being that the character equips only a handful of different items over the course of the one play-through, depending on what skills they have chosen to develop on their character. Multiplayer Dark Messiah features a multiplayer mode where opposing teams battle each other and earn points by performing strategic maneuvers across a large map. There are two playable factions, consisting of humans and undead, along with five playable classes. A character customization system is present, with the limitation that players must select a predefined class and may only buy skills available for that class. There is also a Colosseum mode, in which players fight take turns to fight one-on-one duels, while the other players sit in the audience. When players are not battling in the current match, they can bet XP on the outcome of the current duel. Plot Setting Nearly a thousand years ago the Wars of Fire raged across the face of Ashan. Men, Elves, Dwarves, and their allies pitted themselves against the hordes of Demons. Great devastation was wrought, but in the end the allied forces were victorious. Their victory was largely due to the heroic sacrifice of the wizard known as Sar-Elam, the Seventh Dragon. Using his almost god-like powers and supported by his fellow wizards, Sar-Elam cast the Demons out of the world into a limbo of eternal fire. From the essence of his spirit, Sar-Elam wove a prison to contain the Demons forever. Something went wrong during Sar-Elams ritual, however. The magic he summoned failed to create a complete prison; the tiniest of flaws remained in the otherwise impervious barrier, a weakness that allowed Demonic influence to seep into the world during times of a lunar eclipse. Angry but patient, the Demons lurked in their prison waiting ... and planning. All that remained of the Seventh Dragon was his skull. Now called the Skull of Shadows, it was spirited away by those loyal to the goddess Mother Asha, creator of the world and source of all magic. They hid it in an ancient temple on a deserted island, far from the machinations of Men, Elves, or Demons. There the Skull sits, awaiting the day when its powers