A more classic approach to my favorite game series. Will keep you busy for hours.
The gameplay is as addictive as ever, and that's a very good thing considering the less then spectacular story.
Set in an entirely new world (Ashan), the game's story centers around characters that range from lackluster to downright horrible. a few characters are redeeming, but over-all, if you are buying this game for the campaign, you may want to reconsider.
However after all that, i love this game. The addictive gameplay coupled with some recognisable creatures and wonderful music allows the short-comings of this game to be "Eclipsed", as it were.
A lot has been added to the battle system too. One of the best new features is the initiative system. Where in other Heroes games every unit moves once per turn, in this one every unit has a certain amount of initiative points, like speed or attack. Higher initiative allows units to act more often. For instance, a slow Treant may act only once where as a quick Sprite may act twice.
So all in all, here's my big advice:
Unless you care hugely about the storyline and campaign, skip the first 2 games and go right for Tribes of the East. Better gameplay, and maybe even slightly better story.