Customer Reviews

Heroes of Might and Magic 4

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

Heroes 4 Does have many wonderful improvements that makes it more complex and in sum, more compelling than S3, but there are these little problems in the game that Heroes 3 didn't have. I don't understand why 3do chose to take away certain elements of Heroes 3 that were already perfect.

Steps Foward:
*I have to give it to the creators to add the "Heroes in Combat" function. This makes the combination of your armies a lot more complex. 3 Heroes with 3 monsters.. or An army of 6 heroes in all.. You choose!! And Each Hero can be specialized in his her own way..

*Skills- Each hero can have 5 major skills and 15 minor skills.. That's a whopping 20 total skills. That makes the heroes unique enough, huh?

*New Monsters!! - Need I say more?

*New Spells!! -Need I say more?

*Potions give a nice little addition to the game. Allows for more dynamics during battle.

*Monsters are a bit more complex in Heroes 4. Many of them have more skills.. and more specialties... Mages can cast different spells.. and there are choices to what type of monsters your town produces.

*Monsters are generated in each town per turn instead of per week.. makes more sense this way.

Steps Backwards:
* Like some other posters.. I don't understand why they don't tell you how much experience you get after each better.. makes it hard to keep track of the levels of your heroes.

*Heroes no longer have their own little specialization. So for example, it doesn't matter whether you start out with a priest named bob or a priest named Rob.. there's no difference. Remember, in Heroes 3, every hero had a special skill?

* Um.. graphics seem to be worse in some cases.. better in others.. yes.. 3d graphics.. but still worse in some cases (combat).

*Combat is worse. We need the squares!!! It's so hard to calculate the number of steps your units can move without some square indication. And the graphics are worse... Combat was a lot better in Heroes 3.

*I just like the monsters in Heroes 3 more.. they looked nicer....... maybe they need a new graphic designer.
* No upgrades for Monsters... arggghh.. why are there no upgrades for monsters?

First, let me say that I've played all of the Heroes games since Heroes 1, and this game has the potential to be the best of them. The graphics and combat interface have been improved substantially from Heroes 3, and there is an increased emphasis on the role and development of your heroes. A few additions, such as caravans, help to minimize tedious micro-management. Also, the available factions are well balanced. Even though there are a few extremely powerful units (such as genies, vampires, and cyclopses), I don't feel like any of the six sides are particularly short-changed.

However, there are a couple of flaws you should be aware of before you buy this game:

1) My biggest criticism is that the AI is very weak compared to the previous Heroes games. In fact, I haven't lost any of the games I've played against the computer yet. I found the campaigns to be rather linear, with the computer being given huge advantages in terms of troops to make up for the weak AI.

2) Some people have experienced technical problems, such as crashing and slowdown, with the game. Personally, I haven't had many problems in these areas, but a lot of people have so you should be aware of the potential bugs.

3) No TCP/IP multiplayer. Personally, I think they should have waited an extra month or so to release the game with multiplayer. You can still play multiplayer "hotseat" games (two or more people taking turns at the same computer) but for many people the main draw of the Heroes games is TCP/IP multiplayer.

Hopefully, a lot of these issues will be resolved with future patches and/or expansion packs. Heroes 3 was certainly not perfect when it was released either, and I hope that 3DO/NWC continues to develop Heroes 4 into a worthy successor.

HOMM IV almost got there. Almost. And in not getting there, it very nearly falls completely flat. The Heroes franchise has built up quite a following, and rightfully so, it's a good series of games. However, with each new edition, up go our expectations. Heroes of Might and Magic IV is what HOMM III should have been. Let's start with what I liked:

- Character development. Excellent job. It's fun, and the heroes don't all become identical by the end-game. Plus I really enjoy actually using them in combat. I cannot believe they didn't incorporate this in HOMM III.
- I like the fog of war. Cool addition, though it's a mistake to make it mandatory (you can't turn it off if you don't like it) as some won't like it.
- The music ain't bad, I kinda like the operatic stuff.
- Nice new spells, and schools of magic. Well done, forcing each race to use it's strengths independently; you can't use the same strategies across races.
- Quick combat (calculations, doesn't even go to the combat screen) is rather nice

Now on to the litany, some minor, some less so, of complaints. I respect that some would say I'm nit-picking, however, they really seemed to drop the ball on a lot of these:

- no multiplayer! It took me forever to find the Hotseat function which is hidden under SINGLE PLAYER!!! Was this interface designed by children? This angered me so much I nearly took it back. There are repeated interface issues: clumsy, poorly designed, that still irk me, long after I've gotten used to their idiosyncrasies.
- Does not show you your experience after a battle, and there is no exp bar that "fills up" as you close in on your next level. You need to right click. This is a minor complaint, but gets really annoying
- Several times I've noticed that my kingdom gold income is incorrectly calculated. A simple arithmetic error? Also maddening.
- You get no reminder of having visited shrines/temples/sites by right clicking as you did in the other games (this may actually require the "scouting" branch of skills, so I may have to rescind this complaint!)
- WHERE IS THE COMBAT GRID??? The new combat is AWFUL. It is impossible to see who is going, where they're going (one accidental click and they're off...), the range of units, the animations are 1995 (HOMM III actually looks better). They better get a patch out soon....
- There is no combat log. You have no idea what the enemy is doing, unless you want to tediously right-click all your troops or you've memorized each and every spell graphic and sound
- Overall graphics are poor. The adventure map looks cluttered and awkward, the combat map is downright horrible. A shrub with no foliage will block an archer, a tiny log prevents a titan from moving. ARG! Can't tell you how it boils my blood to have my pieces walk three turns around something that doesn't even register to me... And don't try autobattle. All your archers will charge the enemy. Um, excuse me? What the hell? I'd bought disciples II to tide me over until HOMM's release, got bored of it quickly, but now its artistic graphics and stylized yet FUNCTIONAL combat is drawing me back...
- NO RANDOM MAP GENERATOR! That was the value of HOMM over Disciples II.
- And it locks up on exit for me. Not a terribly stable game.

OK. I've bitched quite a bit. This is still the HOMM that you've all played and loved. It's not bad, it's just a disappointment. And definitely not as different as some would have you believe. I still recommend going out and getting it... What can I say? I'm hooked.

M Price

I've been hooked on HOMM since the very first one (go back and play that and you'll realize how far the series has come). HOMM 4 had a totally different feel from the third installment. Some of these new aspects are good while others make you wish they'd kept things the same as before. Having your heroes fight in combat is really cool, and even if they die you can get them back in various ways. Also, the new skills and class system adds a ton of depth to the game as you now get to chose what your hero becomes. Most of the new creatures are pretty cool (although since when is the ballista considered a "creature"). The game does seem to play a little slower than HOMM3 although you can vary the speed at which you and opposing heroes move both on the world map and in combat. I also love the addition of a caravan. No more having to have one hero be the transporter of troops back and forth. Also, the creatures in the towns grow at a more realistic rate, meaning new ones appear each day. Growth is still based on weekly totals though so if you buy all the creatures for that week no more will appear till the next week.
Lots of good stuff but there are some bad aspects. The graphics, while 3D and more realistic, seem to have lost something. I can't exactly say what but I prefered the more fantasy looking creatures of HOMM 3. The new magic and class system can be confusing at first even to veterans of HOMM. Castle seiges have also been taken down a notch in HOMM4. There are no arrow towers, catapults, etc in seige battles. There are still walls, the drawbridge, and a moat and the defenders' ranged troops occupy perches inside the castle to give them an advantage but to me seige battles have lost something in this edition. Also, during combat it can sometimes be hard to tell who you're attacking. I know I've meant to attack one creature stack and ended up just flying next to them or hitting a completely different set of enemies. There is no multiplayer yet (it says it will be added for FREE, however) but this really doesn't effect me since I prefer to play alone or just have hotseat games w/ my friends. All in all, HOMM4 is a welcome, albeit somewhat flawed, edition to the Heroes series. A must buy for Heroes fans craving new adventures!

HOMM4, what happened? maybe they should just remove the 4 and give it a new name. If you like the gameplay and style of HOMM1-3 then dont except it from this game. Many many disappoints in this game.

Pros:
*I like the new heros development, very in depth and excellent. like how you can change from a necromancer to an assassin or dark priest, etc.. love new necromancy, you can create vampires after battle instead of only skeletons.
*The 3D viewing is excellent
*sounds effects are good, vampires going back to saying "blah"
*creatures can cast more spells and summon units..can also wander around without a hero and be placed into mines to protect mines.
*heros fighting alongside your units. some might not like this, but i like this feature.
*potions and wands can be used by heros in battle. potions i find useless though.
*cursor shows how many turns it takes to reach select destination. in battle, creatures have red circle to show who's going to get hit, especially if attacking creature can hit more than 1 unit, ie. black dragons
*caravans, dont have to hassle sending units everywhere, just make a caravan and they'll go on their own.
*big plus, can turn option of wandering monsters actually wondering, if you get to close, they will come out and attack you.

Cons:
*the music [stinks]! i dont want to hear kenny g's sax blasting when i'm roaming around in the desert! turned it off and left only the sound effects on.
*Um, why did they change number of different classes, lower number of units from 7 lvls to only 4? upgrading units gone, why?
*Senarios are weak and lacking. the theme of a castle is gone. why can the undead generate devils and imps? and choosing between creatures to create, bone dragons or devils, but not both. generate units not at end of week, but during the week also. say, 7imps growth/week. get 1 a day. no like.
*very slow, the computer takes more time on their turns than i do.
*important spells are gone, dimension door, home town, town portal, makes end game a pain.
*not enough L-XL senario maps, but i'm guessing an expansion.
*creatures are lacking in development, elminated too many of old ones.
*dont like the dim areas where you cant see enemies even after you explored it unless you have a mine or unit to light it. very very annoying, cant tell if you're being attacked until they're right outside your empty castle.
*new spell organization confusing, i liked the 4 elements better than, life, order, nature and [stuff].
*AI, kind of dumb
*CASTLE FIGHTING!!! it [stinks]!!! you have no tower shooters, no balistas to break walls!! if you stand on stupid pegs, you can be killed. in castle fighting doesnt help like it did in HOMM3. stupid stupid stupid! one of the worst new developments.
*no stats bar during combat!!!!!!!!! i cant read the stats!!! one of my favorite parts of battle! also, creatures dont do total damage when killing off a unit only unit's remaining HP. say an imp w/ 1hp is attacked by 40 devils, devils only do 1 damg. and then stats disappear. i want to be able to scroll up and see 5000 damg on the 1 imp w/ 1HP so i can go, WOW! STATS STATS STATS STATS STATS ARE MISSING!!! VERY LACKING!!! things just flash before you eyes and i dont know what's is being casted!!!
*CANT CHOOSE YOUR STARTING HERO AND HEROS DONT HAVE SPECIAL ABILITIES LIKE ANIMATE DEAD OR METEOR SHOWER!

overall, if you like HOMM3 and wanna play that style of game, play HOMM3. HOMM4 is the result of the creators on crack. some parts are good, but not enough to balance the bad. if they took the pros above and just added it to HOMM3 w/o changing anything else, i would pay +$[money] for this game, but now i dont think it's even worth my time to play, might as well go back to HOMM3.

As with each of the other new versions 3DO/NWC has added a lot of new stuff, the most significant being that heroes are active participants in combat. This has been a litte diconcerting at first because "my formula" for winning has to dramatically change. I'm still learning, and getting my butt kicked sometimes. I think magic skills are more important than combat ones for the heroes (that way the hero can sit back and lob spells in to the combat rather than wander in and get killed).

I think this is the last time that the Heroes games can get more complicated before they will start going downhill (Like many other game series).

But once again all of the new stuff and new challenges in the game will take a while to fully learn and understand but that's a big part of the fun. If you have played the previous versions and liked them...this is an absolute must get. If you never played any of the Heroes games, ACT QUICKLY...go buy III imediately before it gets to hard to find (its cheap these days), and a year from now when you've played all the scenarios and campaigns buy Heroes IV.

Oh well, enough review writing...my black dragons are waiting to go fight and are getting impatient LOL...tot to go.

Overall, HoMM 4 is a great game! It has all of the elements that made the former releases a success (I've played them all since HoMM "1"), but a few of the changes may not be as exciting as they sounded before release. Heroes are now a major part of your armies.. this is good, and adds some new elements to the game, but on the other hand, building that killer team of creatures isn't as important anymore. Many times, I had groups of heroes stomping down the lands without opposition. Early on, it's too easy to lose a hero (and often the scenario), but later the heroes are too powerful, and there is little need to attain that angel or phoenix to top off your "killer troop". I also found much of the early campaign scenarios too easy. You meet the computer months into the scenarios, and the AI teams have barely built anything, whereas in Heroes 3, they had been hoarding armies for weeks and were very powerful. It's almost as if the game is on "pause" for the AI players while you build up.

Some of the new elements are nice - quests within the scenarios, quest NPCs and extra "things to do". The land is literally saturated with things to visit and level up your heroes, it's almost TOO much. NWC streamlined some of the towns; instead of having 8 and confusing the heck out of you, there's only 6 more distinctive towns, with a specific magic type assigned to them (order, chaos, nature, etc..) The towns coincide with some of the magical paths you took in Might and Magic 8, and make more sense. There are now "technology trees" in each town, where you must choose what direction you want to build (go for angels.. or champions? - you can't do both in the same town). One thing I really like is the addition of caravans to automatically send troops from town to town without having to manually march them down the map, or hire a hero to lead them. One thing I miss, are the hexes in combat mode.. It's hard to tell where your troops are moving (unless I just overlooked something).

The graphics are, of course, top notch and beautiful. The music is once again astounding, with choruses of angels and operatic chants. They make you feel like you are wandering through an elven land in The Lord of the Rings. All the M&M games have had simply some of the best music in gaming..

All in all, HoMM4 is worth the price, but I hope they address some of the simplistic AI in a patch, and maybe tone down the heroes some (they can learn WAY too many skills now, and there are now 5 levels as well, topping out at grandmaster).

Good luck!

The Heroes of Might and Magic series has been my favorite over the last 5 years. I've probably played HOMM2 & HOMM 3 more than all other games I've played combined.

Here are the major problems.

Heroes are a joke. The heroes fight in the ranks with the monsters. The problem is they are not nearly powerful enough. Those of you that have played this serious before know how powerful your armies get later in the game. Here is what happens. Enemy hero attacks. My army goes first. Enemy hero dies immediatly to my (insert monster group here). I've taken a here to lvl 32, in the later parts of the game, any one of the opposing enemy monster groups can typically kill your hero in one hit!

Major problem number 2. The endgame is HORRIBLE. They removed the dimension door (allows you to quickly travel across the map) and the town recall (where at 4th lvl and above you could travel to any city you control) spells. So what happens is moving around the map is extremely slow. Which makes getting to an enemy hero a nightmare if he doesn't want to be caught.

Example - Enemy has one super group. I've one super group. I head towards enemies remaining castle, which takes forever. Enemy sees me coming and moves away. I take enemies last castle. Enemy takes one of my castles. I move towards enemies last castle, enemy moves away. It is boring as hell. I've now played 3 maps worth about 30 hours of play and I've yet to actually finish a game. The third game I went extremely aggresive thinking I could beat them before you get into that boring end game. not. I'm done with this game, and upset enough that I'm done with the series.

The memory leak, as has been reported in every review, is so severe 3DO could not possible have misssed it. They released an extremely buggy boring game. Done.

I was a big fan of Heroes 2 & 3, and have played through both games, many multiplayer games (hotseat and lan), and thought they were both great games. Heroes 4 is quite different. First of all, with all the bugs in the game (3D0 was quick to release some patches), the games almost looked like it was in Beta when they shipped it out. Months later, multiplayer STILL isn't supported. The game feels extremely rushed, and some incredibly simple bugs (like being able to hit through castle walls) are still there. I'm a programmer myself and releasing a game in a state like this...... makes a person wonder. If you read about what kind of changes are being made each update, the game should've started at 0.5 than 1.0.

As for the gameplay, having heroes is interesting, but at the same time, if your hero dies, there goes your mission. On the same note, if your heroes get very powerful, you don't even need armies. Get yourself a two level 25+ barbarians and a couple potions of immortality and you have one of the tougher armies in the game. Why? Because unlike creatures, heroes don't lose units in battles (there's only one of them) and are basically the same strength throughout. And I abhor the new castle defenses. Being standing on top of these "posts" get a 4x multiplier for attack and defense. If you place 3 ranged units on those things, it'll take an army almost 3x as strong to break in.

So if you're a big HMM fan, my advice would be to WAIT. Wait till at least patch 1.4 comes out (which was supposed to happen in June). I think by then, it should be playable and more balanced.

Oh yes, and the only cinema i've encountered was the intro. Maybe they'll add those one too..

The new look of Heroes 4 is very impressive. The graphics are sharp and the spell effects are terrific. However, Heroes has strayed from the essence of what set it apart from the rest.

"Improvements" that are just the opposite:

1. You now have to choose which creature generators you are going to build in your castle. You cannot have all of what is available for the particular castle.

2. Creature generators are one-level only. No upgraded creatures.

3. All of the heroes of a particular type are all the same. (ie: all the druid heroes are exactly alike except for their portrait) There are no unique hero abilities.

4. The hero actually now is much less a factor than in previous games. In HOMM 3, a powerful hero could make an army of mediocre creatures very effective. Now, the hero's scores have NO effect on the creatures in the army. Each creature goes on it's own scores only, no modifiers. Granted, there are some items that have an effect on all creatures, but improving the hero generally only affects the attacks the HERO makes, not the attacks of the creatures in the army.

5. Schizophrenia. HOMM 4 can's seem to decide what it is. It has many of the strategic elements from the older versions, yet the addition of the attacking hero and the feature of buying armor, weapons, and potions for the hero make it more like a D&D role playing game. For example, look at the combat screen. It's Baldurs Gate! (only not as well done) Put your ranged-attack creatures in the back, melee fighters in the front, turn-based combat, use a potion...

6. Minor quibbles:
"What just happened?" In HOMM3, the status messages at the bottom of the combat screen could be scrolled back if you missed something. In 4, the messages are off in the bottom-right corner, and cannot be reviewed.

"One hero per week" You cannot recruit more than one hero per week from any given tavern. I captured a castle, but because the enemy had just recruited a hero, I couldn't recruit one for a week.

"Interface Bloating" The interface takes up too much room on the screen. Just for laughs, knock the resolution back to 800x600. The interface takes up half the screen! Even at 1024x768, the adventure window seems small.

"Label Overkill" Floating the mouse pointer in any spot for more than a second or two will reward with a popup label that says something useful like "dirt" or "water, shallow" or "road, stone". Thats dumb! Put it on the right mouse button so if I want to know what it is, I can click to find out. I don't constantly need reminding that I am standing on "grass".

A few pluses: The caravan option is nice, having the windmills automatically cough up tribute is convenient, but on the whole, the "more" in HOMM4 adds up to "less".