Customer Reviews

Heroes of Might & Magic V: Tribes of the East

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tribes of East is the final chapter of the Heroes of Might and Magic V trilogy. Even though this expansion was not highly anticipated as its predecessor, Hammers of Fate, it was generally better received by the HMM5 internet community for competency issues. Ubisoft definitely put their best foot forward to ensure that all of the glitches were ironed out before releasing a buggy product (contrary to the original HMM5).

The GOOD!

* TOE IS A STANDALONE PRODUCT - This is a very convenient installation feature that allows you to install the product without owning any of the previous HMM5 products. No annoying prerequisite installations to worry about.

* TOE DOES NOT REQUIRE THE DISC TO RUN - Another convenient installation feature that allows you to launch the game with the DVD absent in your disc drive (Be warned: This feature could be unintended by Ubisoft as it was not advertised on the packaging and could be removed in a future patch).

* A NEW FACTION AND HERO - A strong majority of HMM5 fans were anticipating and begging for the arrival of the nomadic and savage faction known as the Orcs. Their Stronghold hosts a diverse array of units consisting of Goblins, Centaur, Warriors, Shamans, Slayers, Wyverns and Cyclopes. Under the command of an Orcish Hero (The Barbarian) these units can utilize a Bloodrage ability. This ability is accumulated in correlation to the amount of damage that unit inflicts and as a result will give the Orc units access to additional abilities (ie. Cyclops obtains a Fear Aura when obtaining Bloodrage level 3).

* AN ALTERNATE UPGRADE TO EVERY UNIT - This is a highly celebrated feature of ToE that adds a whole new dimension to the HMM5 gameplay. Whenever a creature dwelling is upgraded in a town, the player can choose between two different upgrades for the creature stack. (For example, after the player upgrades the Lich Dwelling in the Necropolis, he/she now has the choice of upgrading a Lich into an Arch Lich or a Lich Master.) As a result there are essentially 50% more creature types availible vastly opening the strategic diversity in a battle. In addition, there is also a "regrading" system allowing the player to interchange his/her units from one upgrade to the other. (For example, the player can pay to "regrade" a stack of Arch Liches into a stack of Lich Masters and vise versa so that the player is not forced to dedicate themselves to one upgrade type).

* SOME NEW INTERFACE FEATURES - Ubisoft did a fine job attuning their eyes and ears to consumer feedback by implementing some very convenient modifications to the user interface. The first one is the Kingdom Overview screen. This allows you to view hero and town details all in one screen without having to tediously cycle through all of them in the town view(a nice feature available in HMM3). In fact you can even access the build menus from here greatly speeding the pace for multiple town management. The second is a "Wait" button in battle menu, something that was highly desired since the original since HMM5. There are a couple more minor features in ToE that smooth out the gameplay but I do not wish to go into them all in great detail.

* PLENTY OF NEW ARTIFACTS, AND ARTIFACT SETS - The new artifacts offered by ToE are well balanced and function specific bestowing a very strategic use for each one. Many of the original artifacts along with some new ones are components of artifact sets. For each set artifact that the hero equips, he/she receives additional bonuses. (For Example: if the hero equips 2 artifacts from the Dragon Set he/she receives +1 to all hero parameters in addition to the original artifact bonuses. If the hero equips 4 artifacts from the Dragon Set he/she also receives +5 attack and all tier 7 creatures in the army receive +20 HP).

* THE GRAPHICS - Despite the 18 month disparity between the release dates of HMM5 and ToE, this game is not a hair more graphic intensive. This means that the consumers of HMM5 who met bare minimum specs will not have to purchase a whole new PC or upgrade their hardware just to run this game. However, Ubisoft did include a couple new display settings to tailor to wide screen monitors and laptops.

* GOOD MAP EDITOR CONTENT - ToE has a batch new terrain types along with a slew of new interactive and decorative doodads. This greatly diversifies the amount of creativity involved when creating a new map with the map editor.

* FAN CONTENT MATERIAL - This aspect alone illuminates the high level of appreciation that Ubisoft has for their online community. ToE comes included with a 300 plus page .pdf manual that breaks down the specifics for every creature statistic, spell formula, artifact bonus, and just about every concept involved with this game. This manual is pretty much the holy bible to the HMM5 series and is compiled by a very credible fan base known as the "Age of Heroes" community.

The BAD!

* NOT SO INTELLEGENT ARTIFICIAL "INTELLEGENCE" - This is the sole reason I gave ToE a 4-star rating in the "Fun" category. I feel that a competent A.I. is an imperative necessity for the turn-based strategy genre and throughout the whole HMM5 trilogy I have been pretty disappointed. I don't think this is the worst A.I. ever coded into a PC game but it is apparent that Ubisoft neglected to invest the proper amount of time in their A.I. so it can adapt, prioritize, and strategize in specific situations. I simply do not feel like the A.I. is a comparable opponent unless it is set on higher difficulties where it will flagrantly "cheat" (by receiving extra resources, experience, etc) making you lose that feeling of being in a battle of wits.

* NO NEW NEUTRAL CREATURES - With the release of every HMM expansion pack I always look forward to utilizing new mercenary creatures that are not affiliated with the 8 main factions. I was hoping that they'd bring back classics like the Medusas, Efreeti, Beholders, Basilisks, among many others. Don't hold your breath as there is not a single new neutral creature in ToE.

* TOO FEW NUMBER OF NEW MULTIPLAYER MAPS - With the creation of several new terrain types and the numerous addition of interactive doo-dads, I expected Ubisoft to work their creative team to the bone to pump out new maps and scenarios. Unfortunately that was not the case as there were only 4-6 new custom maps with this expansion. However, there are many 3rd party sites that provide multi-player maps and single player scenarios for download.

OVERALL: ToE has exceeded my expectations. If Ubisoft spends the proper time to revamp the A.I.(or maybe scrap it completely and start from square one) and release more multiplayer maps in a future patch then this will be a virtually flawless product. It is obvious that the numerous PROS of ToE outweigh the potentially rectifiable CONS. ToE's new features do a good job enhancing the gameplay mechanics providing a highly crafted but fluid turn-based strategy experience. For that reason, this game is worthy of the 5-star rating and is definitely worth buying for any casual or diehard fan of the Heroes of Might and Magic series. On the flipside, people new to the franchise might want to pick up a precursor title first.

The last HOMM game I've played was 3 and I loved it. I didn't get 4 due to the bad reviews and I didn't get 5 because I wanted to wait for the bugs to get straightened out. I almost didn't get this game because of the bad Gamespot review. However, since this is a standalone expansion which didn't require the original game, I decided to give it a try. Boy, am I glad I did!

The Gamespot reviewer probably (a) did not like this type of game, or (b) did not play past the prologue. This is an incredibly deep game. The graphics are much improved since HOMM3 although the music is not as good. Then again, it's hard to beat the original soundtrack for HOMM3. I don't play multi-player, so I have no idea how well balanced that is. But in the single-player campaign, each faction has its distinct style which separates it from the other. For example, the Orcs have blood rage which gives it improved stats and also acts as a damage shield. The necromancers have dark magic which allows it to resurrect foes or allies into your armies. Oh yeah, I really like the skills development for heroes! They nailed it right as each skill is powerful in its own ways and almost all the skills are useful. Additionally, some of the upgrades have multiple paths which I believe is a first in the series.

I have no idea how much improvement this game is over the original HOMM5, but coming from someone who has played it for the first time since HOMM3, this is an awesome game. I do noticed that some of the maps had puzzle-like elements which forced me to restart to find a more optimal strategy. However, I have no problem with it since campaigns should be different from stand-alone skirmishes. All in all, I think this is worth 30 bucks.

PROS
- good graphics
- stable, doesn't crash
- skills progression
- different factions that are not clones of each other
- stand-alone expansion
- FUN!

CONS
- music isn't as good as HOMM3
- difficult campaign maps that may require replay
- okay story (perhaps it's because I started with an expansion?)
- waste too much of my time! =)

I have all the HoMM games. I was very dissapointed with the first Heroes v and had too many problems with it so I rarely play it. But in TOE (Tribes of the East), many of the problems have been fixed.
1. They did away with the timer for turns. You no longer have to wait up to an hour for your turn to come.
2. There is a Map Generator so you can create all the games you want.
3. Caravans are back.
4. Game still tends to crash but not nearly as much as the first Heroes V

They also added a skills improvement so you have two choices when you upgrade your creatures. NICE!!

I enjoy this game A LOT more than the first Heroes V and play it all the time, but I only gave it a four because it does still crash my computer occationaly (but NOT as much as first Heroes V)

DEFINITLY worth $30.

If you have played Heroes III: Complete, or the original Heroes V, then I hope you read this review. Tribes of the East is the culmination of Ubisoft's efforts to bring a faithful sequel to Heroes III, and if you are a fan of the series or a fan of turn based strategy games (or are interested in giving the genre a try), this is one of the best games out there.

I won't comment much on the single player campaign, as this has never been the strong point of the series, nor its selling point. Tribes of the East improves on Heroes III and V in several respects. For those reading this review who have never played the original Heroes V but did play Heroes III, the primary improvement over the rest of the series is the combat. Tier 7 units no longer completely overwhelm the enemy as in Heroes III, in part because of better balance overall in terms of the tiers, but also because Tier 7 units have been toned down, made more accessible, and are cheaper to purchase.

The turn system has also been replaced by a system of initiative; faster units go more often, initiative bonuses from magic and artifacts are relative to the initiative of particular units, and movement speed is a much bigger deal because of the size of the battlefield and the less generous movement stats overall. Basically, Heroes V is a 1000% improvement on Heroes III combat system. Heroes do interact on the battlefield, as in Heroes IV, but only in the sense that all heroes have different abilities and magic (as opposed to Heroes III, where Might heroes simply stood around waiting to dispel blind).

Tribes of the East improves on Heroes V and Hammers of Fate with alternative unit upgrades, which is probably the most overdue and significant addition to the series. When you purchase a unit's upgraded building, you get access to two upgrades, and you can switch a unit between these upgrades at any time when your hero is in his / her castle for a nominal gold fee. You can even sport both types of a particular unit (for example, you can use both Djinn Sultans and Viziers to spam luck bonuses and random blessings on your units). This greatly increases your options against particular castles, making mirror matches far more interesting and balancing certain mismatches (another example... Inferno now has Pit Spawns and Succubus Seducers, preventing them from being simply overwhelmed by high hit point towns). In general, the combination of the improved combat system when the series originally was released, and the addition of twice as many upgraded units, makes Heroes V the most formidable game of the heroes series.

There are a few major cons to Heroes V, and if Ubisoft reads its consumer reviews on Amazon, it should take note of some of these, because I think that most people who have played any version of Heroes 5 will agree with most of them.

First, the limited amount of company-produced game maps for single player or hot seat games is incomprehensible. I've spent many hours scouring user-made custom maps just to find one or two additional maps worth playing on. This is something Ubisoft could probably remedy relatively quick and cheaply. I would gladly pay an extra $20-25 to download a library of Heroes V maps. This is probably the most urgent con to this game, as the limited maps reduces what is potentially the infinite replay value of this game.

Second, the world map spells are bordering useless. This is an understandable change from Heroes III, where town portal, dimension door, and fly were so ridiculously powerful that not getting one of them (especially town portal) could be the difference between winning and losing. While the removal of dimension door for instant travel is welcome, the actual functionality of town portal makes the spell practically useless. You should be able to set a town as your designated "town portal" when you visit it. Otherwise, teleporting back to the closest town makes larger maps degenerate into an elaborate game of cat and mouse in larger games. This is not a fun way to play Heroes, as it penalizes going on the offensive. Some races, such as Sylvan, are particularly damaged by the functionality because their racial is essentially useless unless they are constantly returning to their original town. Ditto for Academy.

Third, allied heroes cannot use allied castles in any way. They can't even enter them. I don't understand why this is the case. This should be patched immediately. You also can't tag your allies' resources, and you should also be able to "liberate" your allies' castle if his / her last one is taken and you recover it in the week's time, instead of the castle being put in your possession and your ally getting kicked out of the game.

Fourth, you should be able to access your castle and hero info while waiting between turns, even if just the general info. It is strange that in none of the Heroes games this has been made accessible.

Last, the Hall of Fame seems to be bugged or only works for campaigns. One of the most fun parts of having multiple people share a computer to play Heroes III or to play hot seat was the Hall of Fame; it was an easy way to reward players with some sort of scale of greatness. I actually play on my roommate's PC, and we play quite a bit, and this it is very sad that we don't have a Hall of Fame that itself reminds of all the epic games we've played, which is the case in Heroes III.

These cons aside, Heroes V: Tribes of the East is as amazing game. There's also a Heroes V port for Mac OS X, but not of Tribes of the East (why they ported the original Heroes V instead of Tribes of the East, when TOE is a standalone and had already been released, is a deep, unexplained question). I strongly recommend this game to gamers of all type, as it is fun, every time you play it is different, and it is graphically a very satisfying game. I also disagree with many reviewers that the game music is inferior to Heroes III. This is simply not true. The combat music in Heroes V is far superior, and some towns, like Undead and Sylvan, have music that is better than any track from Heroes III.

Again, I highly recommend this game, and as my review title states, this is the true successor to Heroes of Might and Magic III: Complete.

This game still has the same classic feel as the previous games in the series but with a new and improved look. The addition of the random map generator was what drove to buy the game. Make sure you have a very good processor and video card if you want to play the very largest maps (extra large and impossible sized). The AI is very good and will keep you on your toes.

Same great gameplay. If you like the Heroes games you will love this expansion. I bought it as a present for my grandchildren and they play it all the time. I too have played the game with them we all enjoy it.

This game is very reminiscent of the classic Heroes 3 game. It moves the same way, plays the same way, feels the same way, and all. The only new things are the way things look (more graphics), new buildings, new races, and a few small improvements. Exp: You can get all of the new hires for the week to come to your castle (Caravan) instead of having to go get them. If you are a die-hard Heroes 3 fan this might be worth it if you get the other parts, but otherwise stick with the game you already have, it is not worth it without the other improvements. It also is a lot harder (The opposing heroes actually have good stuff/magic, they attack quickly instead of months into the game, etc...). The scenarios are near impossible after a while. This is not a problem for me because I loved the random map generator better in 3 any way.

If you are new to Heroes of Might and Magic it is a great game if you like turn based strategies and a medium/slower pace. Get a guide if you have not played it, this will help you to understand the point (the guide that comes with it is not that informative). Be willing to just explore and save a lot so you can go back and fix your mistakes.

I've played every one of the Heroes of Might and Magic titles including King's Bounty back in the early nineties. While I'm not yet done playing the entire game, this expansion adds enough elements to make it the most fun installment I've played. The addition of a third tier of monster development adds a huge array of stategy decisions to the game. The only downside (as with all the Heroes V games and expansions) is the difficulty with the computer bogging down periodically no matter how great of a system you have. Great game for strategy lovers and newcomers alike.

Unlike other Heroes of might and magic games i've played Heroes V was only enjoyable when i played against my brother. This particular expansion pack did add some extra abilities and new creatures but in general i don't believe they improved the gaming experience that much.
I would not recommend a current owner of Heroes V buy this game.

Good turn-based game, easy for a couple to play together. My wife & I play, where she does all the adventure-map exploring and I do all the combat. This allows us to play together. I gave 4 stars because we enjoy King's Bounty more, but this is still a fun game and gives variety.