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Thursday 6 March, 2008
Gameplay:
As the game goes on, more aspects arise. As you've been establishing your kingdom, so has you enemy. Now not only must you build forces strong enough to defeat your opponent, but you must alsodefend your home. This is where it's important to have more heroes than just your starting guy. What I did was made a main hero that went around the world, slaughtering whatever creatures/enemies are in my path while having a secondary hero defending my homelands with another army. Since the defending hero is near my castle, his/her army gets stronger over time, so when my main hero needs his army replenished, there'll be one waiting for him back home. After replenishing, he can go slaughter again while the army builds up again back home.
Now moving right along to the slaughtering itself. The battle sequences are turn based RPG battles. Attacking goes in order of speed; the higher the number, the faster the troop. Also, below your creature avatars, there is a number. This number determines how many of these creatures you have in your army; the lower the number, the fewer the troops, the less the damage. As your creatures are hit, over time, the number lowers. This means your creatures are being killed (which is extremely common until you have a really powerful army/hero). Also, the more attack and defense your hero has, the stronger your troops become. Your hero can increase these stats (along with spell power and knowledge) by gaining experience or finding places in the world which enhance your hero. For example, a coliseum raises either your attack or defense by 2. Also, artifact can be collected and equipped to your hero to enhance them. They can range from adding stat bonuses, increasing skills, or making your hero move faster when not in battle.
Finally (well, kinda... this game has too many aspects to cover in 1 gamelog. I haven't even gottan started on campaign mode), your hero gets skills to improve them in various ways, whether in battle or not. For example, logistics makes your hero move faster outside of battle, or wisdom gives your hero the ability to learn higher level spells. Your hero can have only 10 skills, but there are quite a few to choose from. As your hero levels up, so does his/her skills (i.e. basic, advanced, expert).
Design:
The design of this game is somewhat simplistic, yet unique. The controls are basically clicking with the mouse button and right clicking to see stats of creatures, buildings, etc. However, there are some artistic qualities to the game. For example, there are some really cool looking artifacts in the game, ranging from swords, capes, shields, helms, or other support artifacts. As well as that, each creature and hero has their own picture; in fact, each hero has a name (good for having favorite heroes).
The level designs are somewhat complex as well. Most levels seem very similar to each other, but they're all different (yet each level has the same things in it, i.e. mines, castles, artifacts, enemies, etc.). Nonetheless, each level feels different enough to the point where it feels worth spending at least 4-6 hours on each level. The fact that you can send a hero running around getting more powerful as the game goes on makes the player strive to keep playing.
Heroes of Might and Magic III is an incredibly fun and addicting game. Even though the graphica are somewhat simplistic, there are countless redeeming qualities. This game is a must play for anybody looking for a good fantasy RPG.
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