So much wasted potential.....
Don't get me wrong, the game has potential and underneath all the bugs, glitches and poor design decision is a decent game. But to get to that game you need to overlook a lot of issues.
Campaign wise the story is like a jigsaw puzzle. The campaigns for each faction are non-linear which means you can start with anyone of them, problem is I don't understand when the events are happening or what's the chronological order....it's a hassle to try and piece everything together, the story does not unfold properly...
The game also has dynasty weapons which you can use during the campaigns. Unfortunately if you want to access these benefits you must be online at all times! Going through Uplay (read DRM) is a hassle. :(
Two key factions are missing the elves and the wizards instead you get sanctuary (Japanese nagas) which are a nice addition with some nice units. Other than that you get the standard heaven/necro/demons/orcs. The other two factions will prly be introduced in an expansion.
A new addition is the revised skill system. It's no longer random, you can now choose the exact path for your hero. It adds a bit more RPG to to it which is a good thing.
Another thing to remember is that you spells are now regarded as skills. There are no more mage guilds, if you have a mage your skills points will prly go into spells and stuff.
The Graphics for the game look ok, animations are ok as well, but the problem is that the requirements are very HIGH! For a simple TBS this game requires minimum 512 VRAM so check your specs before buying. It basically has the same minimum requirements as Crysis 2. Furthermore there are a lot of graphical bugs and glitches, the game needs to be polished a lot more. Also please note that Heroes 6 does not support Laptop Graphics! So if you want to play this game on a laptop it might be a gamble.
The Soundtrack on the other hand is brilliant, some great remixes there from old heroes games and might and magic games. As always voice acting is atrocious :(
And finally the most important aspect... the Gameplay....
It has been really dumbed down:
1. You can convert towns, no need to worry about troop morale or abilities you might get from other units, plain simple conversions (for a fee) of captured towns to your own kind.
2. Global recruitment pool, no need for caravans, you can just recruit all your units from your town/fort. No need to think about how long it will take for the troops to arrive, just plain and simple.
3. Town portal for everyone. Now it's a building in your town for every faction. No need to complicate yourself getting expert earth magic and wisdom and then build mage guild lvl 4 or 5. Plain and simple
4. Even the AI has been dumbed down, it can't really do much, it cheats like hell even on the lowest difficulty. It won't bother building stuff in their towns it will just magically get heroes with hordes of units at the beginning of each week.
5. No more town screens, you now get a simple town window UI. It's a shame because in Heroes 5 you had these wonderful town screens each with their own amazing presentation and music. Now you just get a bland window with just the basics. You no longer see the stuff you build, no real sense of progression :(
While I do understand they want to make this game more accessible to newcomers, this is certainly not the right way! Dumbing down a game is not good idea because it dilutes the game play and makes it shallow! This is a TBS, at the end of the day you need to use your brain to play!
My score 5/10 and that's being generous!