For all these years, and all attempts to emulate the formula, both recent and otherwise, Heroes 3 sits in the highchair.
User Rating: 8.7 | Heroes of Might and Magic III PC
It has been many years since the release of Heroes 3, and, although there have been several renditions of it, both as part of its own franchise, and by virtue of other games following a similar formula, Heroes 3 is looking from the top down, at its compeditors. Only recently have I picked the game back up again, with which to LAN play with my family, and I have to say that even in the year 2007 this game is great fun. The art style, although not very graphically powerful, is really well done. The fantasy look of the units, both dark and brooding or bright and colourful, respectively, really brings some life into what many might expect to be dull, given the nature of the genre. Make no mistake, this game is quite involved, both in single and multiplayer expiriences, so players must certainly be willing to put many hours across multiple days into playing a given game, but the effort is well worth the result. The expirience is quite an intellectually challenging one, as at higher levels, the AI preforms quite well (yet at lower, perhaps too slowly) but, although the AI does well, waging long campaigns and wars of attrition against a few buddies is far more thrilling from a sort of chess player's standpoint. The game can get a little recycled, as armies die, and are rebuilt, and kingdoms switch hands only to fall weeks later.Yet, if (best case scenario) you have a few buddies with a copy, and if your thing is the glorious rise and fall of empires, the toe to toe against human and fantastical foe, and the intellecutal firestorm that it takes to be the last lord standing, then, by all means, play, and enjoy Heroes 3.
The Rundown:
+ Intellectually challenging and stimulating against AI, and especially friends
+Very difficult at highest settings or with friends
+Great art style for the time
++ A genuine classic, with fun, imperialstic, turn based stratgey, forcing you to get into the thick of things or perish.
+ AMAZING orchestral score that sticks with you for years
- The game is old, so online dedicated servers are non-existant
- Some balace issues between units and armies (cough, Tower, cough Titan)
-Gameplay can be slow, and a tad repeditive
Final Score:
8.7/10
