Heroes of Might and Magic Community
visiting hero! Register | Today's Posts | Games | Search! | FAQ/Rules | AvatarList | MemberList | Profile


Age of Heroes Headlines:  
5 Oct 2016: Heroes VII development comes to an end.. - read more
6 Aug 2016: Troubled Heroes VII Expansion Release - read more
26 Apr 2016: Heroes VII XPack - Trial by Fire - Coming out in June! - read more
17 Apr 2016: Global Alternative Creatures MOD for H7 after 1.8 Patch! - read more
7 Mar 2016: Romero launches a Piano Sonata Album Kickstarter! - read more
19 Feb 2016: Heroes 5.5 RC6, Heroes VII patch 1.7 are out! - read more
13 Jan 2016: Horn of the Abyss 1.4 Available for Download! - read more
17 Dec 2015: Heroes 5.5 update, 1.6 out for H7 - read more
23 Nov 2015: H7 1.4 & 1.5 patches Released - read more
31 Oct 2015: First H7 patches are out, End of DoC development - read more
5 Oct 2016: Heroes VII development comes to an end.. - read more
[X] Remove Ads
LOGIN:     Username:     Password:         [ Register ]
HOMM1: info forum | HOMM2: info forum | HOMM3: info mods forum | HOMM4: info CTG forum | HOMM5: info mods forum | MMH6: wiki forum | MMH7: wiki forum
Heroes Community > Heroes 7+ Altar of Wishes > Thread: Heroes Article
Thread: Heroes Article
Oldtimer
Oldtimer


Honorable
Supreme Hero
Please leave a message after..
posted February 23, 2002 02:33 AM
Edited by alcibiades at 09:59, 09 Dec 2008.

Heroes Article

Heroes of Might&Magic IV preview
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Page 1 of 1
Print version
Author: Amicus humani generis


Last week guys over at Russian publisher Buka let us know they were showing off a working version of Heroes of Might and Magic IV. We couldn't miss the demonstration of the most anticipated turn-based strategy of 2002 and set out for Moscow to get a closer look at the next installment of the cult series. In this rather quick and dirty writeup I shall try to share my impressions on the intimate contact witn new Heroes. So please don't judge strictly for my covering only most prominent features and leaving much outside of the preview scope. I'm pretty sure you know the depths of the game are. Besides, I've been limited to two short hours of getting into the game. Moreover, the demo they showed off in Buka is subject to change, so it would probably be simply different in many respects by the time it hits stores. First off, there were no campaigns there at all. Included were two single missions, a Tutorial-type one and a mission named All Towns. This one lacked town siege mode, but offered for a start over 100.000 of gold and lots of heroes (most of which were level 14) accompanied by rather big armies. However, these misfeatures couldn't spoil the impression on game graphics, sound, new tactical combat and that of the adventures over adventure map.


Graphics
Okay, let's start with the graphics. My first impression was: too florid and gaudy. Gaily-colored graphics testifies Heroes of Might and Magic IV is a different game now. It feels like designers drew it all over with agressive acid colors to blind player with bright local spots of dazzling colors. Actually, screen shots do not convey correct feeling. In order to get the right picture, turn all knobs on your monitor to the right. At the same time, 3D heroes' models on Adventure Map look a bit out of the place. That could be due to newly introduced panning (I can't say it does good for Heroes), or maybe I just got used to the canonical HoMM3 and cannot accept for these drastic visual modifications. There's one thing I know for sure: there will be a lot of holy wars on Heroes of Might and Magic 4 graphics when it ships, because it's indeed a controversial matter.




Same adventures, new maps
As before, a considerable part of Heroes of Might and Magic gameplay evolves at the adventure map. And again we are presented with familiar but completely rehashed feature. Adventure map looks pretty familiar and is crammed with easily recognizable heaps of sulfur, ore, and wood mixed up with valuable artefacts and gold piles. As in the previous installment of the game, there's much to go for there, starting from key points protected by monsters to unassailable towering castles. Yeah, and the cast away guy floundering in the sea is still there too. However, in HoMM3 maps were some kind of a labyrinth with lots of deadends and places where you couldn't step in without certain skills or equipment (levitation, etc.), but things changed in HoMM IV. There are a lot of open-ends now, and monsters are not standing still blocking access to valuable items anymore. They are mobile now and are likely to run away at the sight of your army. However, things may change in the final version as they hammer out new campaigns. Another thing that caught my eye was hero's largely decreased walking distance. Roaming around is a challenging task from now on. It took me almost three turns to catch up with a pair of Behemots browsing peacefully outside the town.

However, I spotted a number of absolutely new buldings and locations on Adventure Map. These were ruins stuffed up with malicious Orcs, Sea Monster (I actually didn't dare to attack it) at the seashore, a cluster of weird Waspworts, Mermaid, and a Magic Pool hovering in the air. By the way, I didn't find a Magic Well there, which is an annoying misfeature to me. It was a very useful source of magic energy in previous installments.


Combat system
Combat system in Heroes of Might and Magic IV is a matter of heated argument widely discussed all over the Net. And this is not unexpected, since tactical innovations in the game are not less than revolutionary. For a start, each squadron might comprise up to three heroes now, but it's not the biggest change. It all starts when you get to the battlefield, where innovations are scattered all over. As a seasoned HoMM player, I managed to come up with new tactics and defeat foes in my first ever HoMM IV skirmish.

First off, they have cut speed for every unit, and they have cut it bad. Renowned Black Dragon needs two turns to cross the battlefield. After the first leap it is already vulnerable for ranged attack and may suffer considerable damage. The place of action looked almost same-sized to me (but backgrounds are no more, and the battlefield is isometric now). Battles are more lengthy in HoMM IV indeed but it is probably due to the new regulations, not extension of the battlefield. Both the attacking and defending units would bite each other at the same time, which means attacking with weaker units is a great pain in the back now. Same true with ranged units: when your archers attack a ranged unit, it would return fire immediately. This affects the very pattern of combat and forces player think carefully before throwing in most valuable units. Whereas 20 Black Dragons could easily nail down 5 Bone Dragons way back in HoMM 3, it's not that easy here: prepare to loose at least one of your beasts.

I'd like to mention that visual representation of the attack was renovated too and looks way better now. Each exchange of fire brings out hovering figures: total inflicted damage and a number of killed units (adorned with a skull). In previous installments this information was shown below in a creeping line which required a thorough parsing to find out which unit received particular damage. Well, devs addressed the problem and came up with rather elegant solution after all.

Another appealing innovation regards a new sub-menu for universal units. In HoMM IV, troops like Cyclops can be engaged both in close or ranged combat which you choose from the option menu. Moreover, you can know the efficiency of your salvos on the icon that shows your strength and whether it will be cut by 2 or 4 (coefficients vary depending on the distance to particular unit)

I almost forgot to notice that flying units in Heroes of Might and Magic IV won't pass round units on their way but would fly over them instead. I can't say if this has any tactical sense, but it looks rather funny.

Heroes participate in combat along with other creatures and contribute their mite to victory instead of simply looking over the battle. However, they are not contributing much to the gameplay since they are slow and if enemies' speed is above average, heroes are likely to die pretty soon. Shooters were way better though. I received a barbarian heroine Sheeva (she was in the HoMM 3 heroes cast by the way) of the 15th level under my command and she proved herself extremely efficient in combat. However, I didn't bring her out against really strong opponents. The only gripe I had with combat was the feeling that heroes seemed to be deadly against weaker enemies, but what should we expect in multiplayer? 20 Dragons mean instant death even for an enourmously leveled hero and tactics would turn into a boring pursuits for the key characters.

New engine beneath Heroes allows animating every single unit on the battlefield at a time (Heroes of Might and Magic III animated only one unit at a particular moment). They are always moving, scratching, posing, stancing, and stretching their legs. With a monitor crammed by over 20 units, you feel yourself watching some fancy discotheque dancing.

Summarizing, Heroes of Might and Magic IV combat became much more difficult and makes many of the widely used HoMM 3 tricks obsolete. Complex tactics may force inexperienced players turn to fast or auto combat but it would defintiely appeal to veteran professionals with increased possibilities and varied gameplay.


Magic system
Unfortunately, I couldn't delve into the magic system of the game the way I wanted to, so I had to content myself with chaotic use of attack and strengthening spells in random fights. Since mages can major in a certain schools (in accordance with new system of magic) and their books not a jumble stacks of spells anymore, the general scheme of applied magical science changed drastically too. I tried out a monk and a follower of the Nature magic and found the former lacked basic fireball or bolt spells but owned a plethora of strengthening scolls. The latter had a number of summoning spells at hand, Summon White Tiger and Summon Wolf for example, so I had to place packs of these creatures instead of giving enemies a nice shower of fire. Well, it seems like in future fans of magic combat will have to combine several mages or get rid of them at all and give way to more powerful warriors. Seems like creators of HoMM 4 cut out universal magic units for some reason. However, they walked far this way and restricted building abilitites in towns. You simply can't build everything you want there and should make your mind as to which constructions (and hence units) must be left aside. Actually, I couldn't cast a glance at the build-tree, since the only mission available in the demo had all buildings built completely.


Heroes at closer examination
Before turning to new units that I came across in the demo, let me tell a bit on the heroes themselves, the focus characters in the entire game series. Heroes are are diversified as never before. Hero's dummy where you put on all those rings, artefacts and armor is different for every class, and mage looks finally like a mage, while barbarian wears clothes befitting his mean nature.

If your hero was killed in action, he'd nevertheless stay in the ranks bandaged like a mummy. You can give him a lift to a nearest town and wait for ressurection there. If you lost the entire army, hero will be shown as tomb stone on the Adventure Map which you can ressurect too, whereas enemy hero can be imprisoned. Heroes are invincible as they always were in Heroes of Might and Magic series, but in new installment their "death" gives way to a number of new tactical variations.

There are many heroes in HoMM 4 that made it from the previous game. Veterans are somewhere 10-15% of the hero cast and we shall probably see more renowned generals of fantasy armies along with old friends Sheeva, Sandro, Adelaida, and others.


Soldiers
I guess new units are one of the most interesting features in new game. Well, I ran across giant mantis on my HoMM 4 trip but it died quickly by the swords of my Crusaders. The latter acquired some magical knowledge and cast blessings in combat. Nomads that weren't a big pain in the back in Heroes of Might and Magic III became much more efficient, a detachment of 100 nomads being able to annihilate my army and kill two heroes. New kid on the block is Waspwort, monstrous vegetative creature that fires something like thorns and attacks nearby units with deadly swings of boughs. I found a great nest of Waspworts in the dungeon and captured it, adding a number of "mad cactuses" to my army. They proved to be very efficient in combat. Cult Dragon Golems turned out be not so mighty, with their 220 hitpoints being next to nothing compared with Black Dragon's 400. The latter is controlled by a gnome rider sitting on the back, so it would better call this unit mech dragon I guess. And ofcourse I can't help mentioning the Berserker unit that would attack without command. Player can't control it in any manner, and can only watch zany unit running into enemy's ranks with its bare axe.


So is it Heroes or what?
Time to sum it up, and I have to admit there were many things I had to omit here. For example, I didn't mention awesome realization of spell casting and quality sound. In a nutshell, Heroes are going same lines with their predecessors, but advanced greatly in magic and role-playing aspects. Fans of turn-based games will have to accept for a great deal of new features, but I'm absolutely sure the community will be split because their beloved title underwent dramatic changes. Well, it's a full-fledged revolution in the world of Might and Magic. Now, expect a civil war...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Moderator's note:This topic has been closed, as it refers to an older version of the game. To discuss Heroes 3, please go to Library Of Enlightenment, to discuss Heroes 4, please go to War Room Of Axeoth.
____________
<PLEASE DO NOT WAKE THE OLD MAN!>

"Zzzz...Zzzz...Zzzz..."

 Send Instant Message | Send E-Mail | View Profile | Quote Reply | Link
Jump To: « Prev Thread . . . Next Thread »
Post New Poll    Post New Topic    Post New Reply

Page compiled in 0.0810 seconds