Heroes of Might and Magic III Review (no fat)

Game Description

Heroes of Might and Magic III is the long awaited sequel to the TBS classic Heroes of Might and Magic II. HOMM2 was a really good game and the sequel lives up to the expectations. It brings many improvements and finely polishes the addictive gameplay of its predecessor. A large variety of new heroes, castles, creatures and artifacts have been introduced in the sequel.

The storyline of Heroes of Might and Magic III includes six campaigns, each comprised of several scenarios. You will get to lead the armies of both good and evil, in the wars that plague the lands of Erathia. Apart from the campaigns you can also play a multitude of scenarios included in the game.

Heroes of Might and Magic III Gameplay

The game has a tutorial scenario that introduces you to the fundamental gameplay elements needed for success. It is very well structured and you can get into the game fast and easy. Also the interface has been improved to make things easier for the player and it’s very intuitive and easy to learn.

As the title suggest your most important assets are the heroes. Heroes can be recruited in towns to lead armies to victory. They cannot actively participate in battle but depending on their skills, they give bonuses to your army and they can also cast spells to aid your troops in battle or weaken the enemy. They also gain experience and levels and they can learn various skills to aid them in battle. Heroes can be equipped with artifacts to make them stronger, but you will have to fight and come out on top to get your hands on those.

About half of the gameplay takes place on a 2d map that’s full of resources, gold, monsters and towns. You will have to explore it with your armies led by heroes, take control of mines, fight with monsters and defeat the enemy. Troops can be produced in your castles, each castle has 7 distinct unit types, compared to the 5 available in Heroes of Might and Magic II. Each unit can also be upgraded thus doubling the variety of available troops.

A scenario can have various victory conditions. In order to win you will have to defeat the opposition, find a precious and guarded artifact or slay some powerful monsters. Some scenarios even have a time limit. Small maps can be completed in about an hour but large XL sized scenarios can take up to 4-6 hours to finish.

You will also spend a lot of time fighting with monsters and enemy heroes. When the turn based combat commences the game switches to a side view where you can see all your troops in stacks on one side and the enemy’s on the other side.

Units are now much more detailed and beautifully animated. Heroes of Might and Magic III has many units with special abilities, for instance, Arch Angels can resurrect allies or Ogre Magi can cast Bloodlust on your own troops. Obstacles now adequately affect the damage of ranged units. Heroes cannot attack, they can only cast spells, one spell per turn. You can also switch to auto-combat but it’s only recommended on easy battles to speed things up.

Heroes of Might and Magic III Multiplayer Modes

Multiplayer games are very interesting but even on small maps it could take many hours to finish. There’s a HotSeat option where all players take their turn from the same computer and you can also find games through the internet.

Heroes of Might and Magic III Graphics and Sound

The graphics has been overhauled from what we had in Heroes of Might and Magic II. Hand drawn unit pictures have been replaced by beautiful rendered animations, and the monsters look much more threatening and serious now.

The map is also more colorful and highly detailed in 800x600 resolution and 16-bit color. The interior of each castle is unique, unlike the somewhat template like style used in Heroes of Might and Magic II. All in all, this game has first class 2D graphics.

The orchestral background music is pleasant as well, it doesn’t get annoying or tiresome even after countless hours of play. During combat the music gets more dynamic. Spell effects and combat sounds could be a bit more dramatic, but in general there’s nothing else to complain about.

Heroes of Might and Magic III - Verdict

This game is definitely very addictive and has high replay value. It comes with a map editor so you can play a ton of fan made scenarios or you can make your own maps. It’s very easy to get into Heroes of Might and Magic III so no gamer should miss it, especially strategy fans. Be warned though, this game takes up large amounts of time. There are also 3 expansion packs available for this game with new campaigns, towns, heroes and much more.

Heroes of Might and Magic III Cost

At the time of this review, the game retails for $9.99US.