Heroes of Might and Magic® 3: Complete

honesty first: until now, i have never played HOMM3. now, after 13 years of not picking it up i finally did. and it's a blast. to be honest, i think it's actually the perfect time to start playing this game because in the current state of the gaming industry, not having to solely mash [insert random button] to progress couldn't be more refreshing. and that's over a decade after its release. this is a game you actually have to LEARN by playing it. it has deep, complex mechanics, full of tactical finesse and it is harshly unforgiving. in a good way. plus, for me as a seasoned gamer (yes, it's been over 20 years now that i touched my first C64/amiga/NES etc.) this brings back memories of what i used to love about games. the richness. the worlds you could get lost in for ages. not because of shiny graphics, cutting edge CGI, motion/speech control and all that. but because it featured well developed gameplay that made you coming back. come back to learn. comeback to beat its mechanics. not beat its x-button. however, for me this game actually has shiny graphics. thank you gog. i will be playing this one for the next 13 years, making up the lost time since its release.

Heroes of Might and Magic III is considered the best game of the series, that represents a must-have for fans of turn based strategy games. The 2D engine reaches his full maturity with colourful and huge maps rich of surprises. The game is divided in three different parts. The strategical map of the world, in which our heroes move in order to reach the final victory; the city map, that represents buildings of every town and that let us recruit new troops and resources; the tactical map, the battle field in which armies clash. The tactical field could be considered a bit simple, but it really gives strategical depth to battles that never are too long. There is also the chance to surrender or escape in order to save our hero in front of a defeat. Heroes are protagonist of the game. They lead great armies which troops strength is influenced by heroes skills. These grow along the game following a role playing game system. The strategical map gives the chance to explore a huge world. This is one of the best features of the game. Every point can give a surprise, positive or negative. Enemy can come out from everywhere and challenge is really tough. Our heroes have the chance to collect many objects that give them some good bonus and there will be also the chance to collect armies along the way. The plot of campaigns of the main game and two expansions is very interesting and not banal, structured in a solid fantasy world. We can also play many singular maps, so this game will remain for much time in our hard disc. Game offers much more features and surprises, but it’s difficult to enumerate here all of them. Fans of strategy games must play Heroes of Might and Macig III, it would be a pity to miss it.

I think it is pointless to heap any further praise on the best game of all time. Instead, here is some secret knowledge: There is a comprehensive mod loader and HD mod all rolled into one, and it works either with the old install CDs or with this here GOG version. It runs on Windows, MacOS, Linux and even Android (if you must). It is called VCMI: https://vcmi.eu ...which stands for the Quenya phrase Vinyar Callor Meletya Ingole ...which means New Heroes of Might and Magic in English So go ahead, it's free. Oh, and buy the game, in case you still haven't done that.

I love playing, I love building up my base and armies and collecting items and buffs on my heroes, and the music and graphics are memorable and classic That being said, I hate this game, it's hard, it's incredibly difficult and time consuming and unforgiving and my brain cannot seem to grasp it well enough to win any medium+ difficulty map, so why do I keep playing? I want so bad to win, I've tried replaying the same maps hundreds of times, tried using guides, my wife left me, the kids have stopped calling, bills are piling up, I have a strange rash working its way up my leg, I'm worried that if I neglect it too long it might reach my heart and kill me, but I'm still trading blows with a max CPU Necropolis and I won't move until one of us dies.

I really, really like this game. I played it years ago at a friend's house and loved it, but somehow never ended up actually buying it. This is one of the reasons I joined this site. HoMM 3 is an amazingly complex and addictive game. Building up your town--and any you conquer!--adventuring through the landscape, and battling it out with opposing armies are all equally fun. Scenarios can last incredibly long times, if you have multiple players of even mediocre skill; the maps can be quite large, and it can be a bit difficult to finally pin down an opponent and completely eradicate him. The campaign itself is engaging enough, but the real awesomeness comes from the multplayer. Levels can be handcrafted using the editor, you can pick one of the pre-built ones, or--because of the inclusion of the expansions--you can have the game randomly generate a map based on a set of criteria such as size, underworld inclusion, water, etc. This literally allows for near-infinite matches that will never be the same. This holds doubly true because of the massive diversity between the various factions; each favors different kinds of fighting and different tactics, and each has a completely unique set of units to offer. The heroes, too, add yet another layer, with each faction being able to choose from between two kinds of hero: one more physical, who boosts his soldiers attack and defense ratings, and one more magical, who instantly has access to potent spells to aid in combat. On top of that, however, there are multiple variations of each of these two hereoes for each faction, with each specific character having a focus in a certain unit or spell to further boost its effectiveness, as well as their own set of starting secondary skills. I really can't say enough about it. The statements from other reviews about how you just want to do one more turn, just get that next building, get into next week so you can restock your army . . . they're all true. The game is addicting and immensely fun. Buy it.