Heroes of Might and Magic® 4: Complete

Widely regarded as the worst installment of the HoMM series, I thought I would at least give it a try seeting how much I love HoMM2 and HoMM3. This game is overly complicated and frustrating, I'll give the developers credit for a creative departure from previous installements in the series. However, the end result is removing some of the best elements of HoMM3 and adding in new elements, most of which don't work, and don't work together. Not even worth a look. Just skip it.

What liked in HoMM 4 were the new ideas they tried in it. All the units are able to divide to small guerrilla groups, heroes can now fight in the battlefield and die, new interesting units and the choice to build alternative monster dwelling. For example you can choose to recruit between demon or undead units depending on your will. Moving mobs (mobile guards) were also a nice new feature. Best thing in HoMM4 is the much better skill tree. In HoMM3 you could pick couple skills and then upgrade those to advanced and expert grade. In HoMM4 you can take 5 master skills and 3 lesser skills under the master skill and upgrade each skill 5 times. You need lvl 100 to grandmaster every skill. What I did not like in HoMM4 was the new fighting system, because moving in it is too vague. Tactical strategies are therefore little bit harder. I prefer more hexagonal or square battlefield where I can calculate better the safe spot for my troops. HoMM4 is not a bad game but it differs too much from the old parts The spark might be there, but it doesn’t burn as bright as it has in the past. BUT for this price it would be a shame not to complete HoMM series.

If you have got problems with performance on modern PC in Windows, try run this game on Linux and Wine 3.0. It helps.

Game didn't work before GOG Preservation Program it doesn't work after... Win11, Intel i7-12700H, RTX 3700.

crushes! crushes! crushes! crushes!