..im actually much more impressed than i initially expected..
Ugh, they're still using that tiny grid combat from 5 instead of going back to a proper hex battlefield of decent size...
I agree - it looks better than i would have expected based on the last few installments
Heroes always looks great, the problem is the gameplay hasn't been updated since 1996. Heroes II & III were fantastic in their day, but I've no desire to keep playing the same game in 2015.
It's not that the game play hasn't been updated, it's that it devolved.
2 is a mechanically solid game, the AI is a bit weak(massively) but the design is there. 3 takes those solid mechanics and expands on the depth, with specialties and a complex upgrade tree for the heroes, special abilities for the units, more in depth items and spells, and towns with a greater array of upgrades. 4 is a grand experiment with untapped potential, that fails horribly primarily due to 3DO collapsing around it's development and cutting it short filled with bugs, multiplayer not even finished, etc.
For 5, they mostly went back to 3, passing up the more experimental additions of 4, wrote a horrible scripted campaign that actually punishes knowing how to play, made spell power logarithmic for some unknown reason, making caster units epic in small numbers, but worthless in large ones, and gave us that tiny little square grid for a battlefield without doing anything useful with it. The only thing they really built on was hero leveling. The initiative system fails horribly as an improvement because they put hero actions behind it, making casting and countering a matter of where your hero falls in the line of actions.
I haven't made myself play 6 yet, but considering they got rid of resources, I'm expecting it to be worse than 5, even more a lesser game than 3. Meanwhile I play terribly shit games like Eador and wish someone would take a clue and give us terrain and facing...
Quite a few games provide the "been there done that" feeling.
It is annoying when you get the latest and greatest and then your excitement quickly disappears. Civ 5 comes to mind and beyond earth.
Started replaying 3 again. Darn fine game. I can't believe nothing has matched it.
Interesting article:
http://www.pcgamesn.com/heroes-of-might-magic-vii/heroes-of-might-magic-7-is-a-slave-to-its-conservative-fans
The core of the Heroes of Might & Magic games haven’t changed much in the past 20 years. Since the beginning you’ve commanded your heroes and their attached war bands around the campaign map, battling monster encampments, capturing towns, and collecting conveniently abandoned resources. Each iteration brought better graphics and new armies but the core mechanics remained the same.
There’s a reason why the games haven’t changed much. It’s because the fans don’t want change. They actively campaign against change. That puts Limbic, the team responsible for pushing the series forward, in an awkward position..."
I was an active member of Celestial Heavens (strong fansite) from like 2000 - 2006 and it's the same there. They want "TRUE HoMM!"
That means the same basic things as in HoMM II. A hero runs around with an army collecting stuff, visiting sites, destroying wandering monsters and captures what they protected.
I have to say: Why fix what isn't broken?
On the other hand, HoMM IV created a rift in the fanbase (atleast on Celestial Heavens). Some vocal fans there actually LIKE HoMM IV! They make maps and campaigns for it and stuff. They say that a hero fighting is more realistic than the other installments....<-- that is where I realize it's futile to fight on.
I no longer follow the HoMM series. I spent an insane amount of time on UBIs forums from the announcement of HoMM V until 1 month into the closed beta (which I was in). I finally realized that a game will shape up to what the designers want no matter how many discussions the fans have about heroes fighting in combat and everything else we discussed. A lot of wasted time was what it was.
I've played HoMM II - V and have to say I like HoMM V the best. Initiaitve added a whole new variable to take into account. Was really fun to hit an enemy 2-3 times when they were defenseless The skills'n'perks was awesome as well. Truly the best skillsystem in a HoMM game.
I would put HoMM II behind it. It has this simple charm that makes it both irritating and fun. The campaign is awesome because you start over on every single map so you don't have to nurture some chosen hero and get him every single +1 Attack, Defence, Spellpower and Knowledge. That was tedious.
Unlike many I actually think HoMM III is one of the bad HoMM games. It's overbalanced and mightheroes became WAY too strong!
I did play and complete it and tried the expansions.
Where is HoMM / Ubi sitting on their nasty DRM these days? Don't remember which HoMM I canceled buying when they had the uproar over their DRM, but really haven't checked them out at all since then. Still present, not as bad, worse?
I guess if you don't have any high level spells or masteries, this is true, but well set up magic heroes absolutely wreck might heroes unless you have that magic cancelling item. Implosion melts things, prayer gives you the stats to match a might hero on top of haste, dimension door is dimension door, resurrection becomes true resurrection, and berserk wipes out entire armies. If you've got the masteries for the spells, you're a HoMM2 caster on steroids, might has no chance against mass slow's that cost a few mana, etc. Going up against a fire/water/earth/air master just means everyone is crippled unless you have mass dispell or antimagic.
5 had some good ideas, but it also had those mind blowingly stupid ones, like putting hero casting into the turn order and making how fucked you were entirely a matter of who goes when. It had potential, lots of it, but it was crippled by stupid, much like 4 was with heroes being free kills, until they got powerful enough to be the whole army themselves.
They went to Uplay, which is rife with problems and causes much screaming. They're not as anal, but they're still a disaster.
well i played the beta, or rather what i could of it, it was ridiculously buggy, but there is a glimmer of potential.
Well it's certainly a beautiful looking game. I remember playing Kings Bounty on my Tandy 1000 and thinking, wow this is the best game I've ever played (note this was well before I ever played MoM ). All the HOMM games that came after were at least fairly entertaining, though not many held my interest long enough to finish.
Hopefully the new edition stays true to the original formula while bringing something more to the table.
..nice tribute to the franchise.
only series of games more prolific imo is metroid.
can ubisoft do it?
they hired some of the more proactive fans.
http://mmh7.ubi.com/en/blog/post/view/introduction-to-modding-in-mmh7
is good.
beta 2
major potential
Looks like they toned down the fantastical environments a lot. They look bad. I guess it's too late to hope that they're all placeholders?
im not sure what you mean
The environments look dull and washed out. Compare it to heroes of might and magic 7 for example.
Er... you typo'd the number.
Oops, yeah meant #6.
ah yeah im hoping they increase the saturation some
haven gameplay - https://youtu.be/7a7HF2KCl_8
academy gameplay - https://youtu.be/QCuL0VBeA8A
a very impressive stream with limbic entertainment, devs:
cool -
very cool -
https://mmh7.ubi.com/en/blog/post/view/the-lost-tales-of-axeoth
fans interview producer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ickt5_QM9mM
and writer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwAdQPJpQkA
some hard-core pre-release reviews - http://heroescommunity.com/viewthread.php3?TID=41693
great sales pitch: http://mmh7.ubi.com/en/blog/post/view/dive-into-a-mmh7-journey
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
Sign in or Create Account
