Underappreciated

User Rating: 9.5 | Heroes of Might and Magic V (Limited Edition DVD) PC
Heroes of Might and Magic V is a addicting game that is underappreciated by the gaming community. The game closely follows the formula of Heroes of Might and Magic III with a dramatic upgrade to the graphics engine. With the two expansion packs, Hammers of Fate and Tribes of the East the game boasts a staggering number of different unit types, heroes, artifacts and leveling trees. The addition of a random map generator in Tribes of the East is a welcome supplement to the game and adds many hours of replayability to the title.

The game is not perfect however, with some notable flaws that may have hindered a more wide spread appeal. The most frustrating flaw is in the performance of the multiplayer. Although the addition of simultaneous turns and ghost mode in the expansion packs does ease the delay, the biggest frustration of playing multiplayer is the length of time you have to wait between each turn. Typically a player with four heroes will take anywhere from five to ten minutes to complete their turn, which means quite a bit of waiting for your opponent to finish before you can keep playing. In addition, the computer player is really no faster than a human opponent, often taking five to ten minutes to complete their own turn. The result is multiplayer games that can take many hours to complete, making the game unappealing to more casual gamers.