Heroes of Might and Magic® 2: Gold

My very first PC game; playing this again is like...well, being a kid again. At my sister's house in Atlanta, waking up late and finding her boyfriend playing the hell out of this game on his PC. I pulled up a chair and watched him play and was blown away. My life was never the same. Fantastic, magnificent game.

This is my favorite heroes game. HOMM1 is quite good but lacks a few necessary features. It's a bit too easy to exploit in some situations. HOMM2 fixes a lot of those balance issues. It introduces a lot more resources used for certain units, better upgrade paths, better spells and ways to cast them/mana costs, a much larger combat map, customizable heroes with skill upgrades. HOMM3 I feel goes a bit too beyond this and gets almost too complicated. HOMM2 gets it just right. Plus the campaign is very fun. It's a bit too hard at times. A few missions feel like if you don't use a walkthrough and do it exactly the right way it's near impossible. But in general the balance is great and it's fun.

Unbalanced campaigns, predictable AI and still one of the best games ever made! Who's it for: Any turn-based strategy fan or people that want hot-seat gaming. Not for: People that don't find the graphics charming, the strategies underneath the hood are a little basic. Took the fundamentally flawed first game and turned it into a rich, complex title with tons of replayability.

Avoid the first Heroes of Might and Magic game. This sequel is the first game but better in every way. The charming music and artstyle make it a joy to play. The campaign of the Succession Wars is quite fun and full of camp storytelling. This game is like a fairy tale come to life (in gaming form). I also like the idea they had of selective units getting upgrades instead of all in the later entries of the series. The game also boasts 6 factions which all have their own theme and flavour. Truly addictive in the 'just one more turn' style of game. Empires to build, battles to win, resources, spells and artifacts to aquire, there's tons to do. I'll often in these games so enjoy exploring and collecting that I'll have change tactic to prevent the computer players from getting too powerful! Often on sale and worth playing for any fantasy or strategy fan.

My kids grew up with this game and played it just as much as I did. We loved it, and I still wish to play it after all these years. But my original CD is for the Mac and my gaming machine is a PC. Thanks GOG for this release. I will buy it soon as I get my allowance.