Sandbox with heroe choice? There was none last (old) time I played. Maybe it has been added with a patch, or you're playing with a mod.

Ok as far as i know "Sandbox" just means single scenario, doesn't have to be random map.

Now some maps of course have pre determined starting towns and heroes because of certain story lines.

However most I have seen on the original, version 1.6, do allow hero choice. Just double checked this and I know the first one in the list did not but i know the 2nd and 4th do. Check out Battle of the Sexes, I remember that map from H3 and it had such a hilarious story line.

Beside that it already works at least half-decently, the best thing about H5's AI is probably that it is still improved. Be sure to check out the Eternal Essence project:

http://forum.eternal-essence.com/index.php

The final AI patch hasn't been released yet, but the developers are close to it probably. You can already use a very stable beta version, which for example greatly reduce AI processing time (making XXXL Maps finally playable) and CPU cheating is already removed. There are also some pre-game options like allowing 8 skills, reducing income or neutral heroes/guarded artifacts.

I bought the game when it was new - $60!! - and played it for 2 hours. I hated it, hated it, hate-hate-hated it.

The worst part is I'm not entirely sure why. It just felt awful.

I'm terrible at HoMM, really really bad. Despite that, I've always loved the games, especially 2. I think that comes from the love that was obviously put into every facet of the game. The little things, like sound effects playing as you got near to landmarks, little animations for monsters, flavor text (especially the flavor text)...it just made everything feel good to exist in, not just play.

HoMM5 might have had a really good design and been fun to play, but it wasn't good to *be* in. It just felt dead, like everything was a cardboard cutout based on an older game, with all the depth and feeling of an amusement park.

So, I haven't really played it since. Maybe it's not as bad as I remember, and maybe I'm just picky, but in my opinion, it is as bad as you've heard.

I came into the HoMM series with Heroes 2, and I've been playing these games for over a decade. I never really played the campaigns of the older ones, so while I enjoyed the feel of the atmosphere (especially Heroes 2) it still all seemed pretty generic fantasy to me.

Heroes 5 is actually a lot of fun. Developing heroes is more in-depth and interesting, and there are many more skills to choose from, including some specific to your faction (not just necromancy, either). It's not without its warts - I always prefer 2D to 3D, so that's unfortunate, and the voice acting and cutscenes are just painfully bad.

But the gameplay keeps drawing me back.

I've even enjoyed the campaign, if only because you have access to heroes with interesting abilities that aren't available in the scenarios / multiplayer. Agrael in particular was a lot of fun - a demon hero whose special ability is a passive bonus to initiative. It's fun going with a smaller, scrappier force and winning close battles due to that initiative bonus.

Really, if all you care about is gameplay, Heroes 5 is just as good as Heroes 3. It's even a little hard going back to 3 now ... I miss some of the extra features that 5 brought to the table.

My initial view of HoMM5 was worse than of H4. H4 was different, in some not so good ways, yet H5 was even more different.

The 3D was 'cool' but not really practical. I couldn't effectively play the game until I got a newer computer, while the previous games barely needed a mid-range system.

The skill system is interesting, though it can be a trick to keep track of what does which, and effective combinations. The skill wheel helps here.

The acting...awful. Interesting storylines, if not overly deep. Speaking of, it was nice to see the regular maps having more storyline than did regular maps of previous games. On the flip side, compared to previous games there were quite few regular maps included.

There are a few things that Heroes 5 (I only play the Tribes of the East version) does better than Heroes 2 & 3: Better skill system, more difficult AI (if you are into that). They also found a compromise between the use of heroes in combat for Heroes 3 and 4; namely that you CAN get an attack in on an enemy stack (doing a little damage) but the hero cannot himself be attacked.

And there are a few things that are much worse in Heroes 5. The biggest problem for me was how they went away from the 'Might' and 'magic' hero classes for each faction (in Heroes 3 for example, Rampart had Rangers as the 'Might' hero and Druids as the 'Magic' hero. Necropolis had Death Knights and Necromancers etc.) and instead went with a lazy, boring single class for each faction. The other big problem, as others have reported here, is the 3D graphics. I swear it is like modern game developers get stuck on this idea that the most up-to-date 3D graphics, requiring the most current processors and graphic cards are the only way to do new games.

AFAIR, you could download the random map generator even without any expansions from Ubisoft's site (and IIRC there were fan made, improved map generators as well) and may have been patched into the original (don't quote me on that though).

Bottom line is that Heroes 5: TotE is a better game than Heroes 4 or 6 but not as good as Heroes 2 & 3.

Having played extensively only HoMM 3 & 5 (and a little bit to HoMM 1 & 4), I'd say that the latter is (nearly) as good as the former!
The 3D is well done (a bit useless on the global map, but allowing very nice animations during battles), the races are well balanced, the heroes are all different and fun to play, the cities are beautiful (actually I found the entire game very well designed on a graphics point of view)…

Most of the complaints I've heard are about the licence and the universe, but as I never tried to get really into it in HoMM3 I don't really know what we've lost.
Now I'm going for a play through HoMM 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5, maybe after I will be able to spit on HoMM5. But as for now I think it is a very good game, and even a very good HoMM.

HoMM V is a step back compared to both III and IV. And a pet-peeve of mine is the 3D global map that sometimes it makes impossible (rarely, but it happens, esp. in caverns/tunnels) to find the correct path, no matter how you rotate/girate/move around.

In my very personal and unique opinion, it's crap.
Of course, I agree, but that's a minor screw-up compared to the rest in HoMM V.

What do you mean, bad ?
It's the best heroes to date... duh.

-___0

Here's my review of it: And it's really not the only one that says it's better than III.
I couldn't care less for the story of the previous games of course, i don't attach too much importance to it in a strategy game (which has great replay value through different/multiple games on new maps, etc.).
I've played a lot of both Homm2 and 3 (probably more than V considering there were fewer options back then) and i can tell you if you like homm, you'll like it. Of course, if you're allergic to 3D graphics, you won't but...that'd be your loss.

I will not going to discuss about how bad HoMM V is. Never again! But I will stop my attention on the fundamental things.
1. HoMM V(+) is irrelevant to HoMM series. The developers of HoMM V are the same persons which develops Etherlords early. Actually the working title of HoMM V contains word 'Etherlords'.
2. ubisoft (most crappy of all game publishers in the world) after getting the rights to HoMM universe in early 2003 began to stick HoMM label on the most casual third-party modern games. ubisoft did absolutely not care what kind of games they choose for HoMM label!
3. Original HoMM developers (New World Computing), unfortunately, passed away in late 2002... Long live the original HoMM I-IV universe in the hearts of all fans! :-)

It is fine to see it that way of course. I personally draw this same red line however between H5 and H6. H5 did find a nice way between modernizing the game while keeping the core intact. H6 lost that balance by e.g. throwing out ressources, messing up the skill system and relying too much on online feature crap.

Yeah if you care about the story, then it's a different game. Gameplay wise however, it's the strongest in the series.
Nival are very talented developers imo.

The gameplay in HOMM 5 is quite good, but it is not as good as in HOMM 2 and HOMM 3. The focus on campaigns made the game more limited. (If the stories and dialogues were actually any good, I could have had more sympathy for this, but when you can't write for shit, why put so much focus on story and dialogue?)

The atmosphere and presentation in the HOMM series is very important for me and in this HOMM V is just repulsive. HOMM 2 had a fantastic magical atmosphere that just beckoned you to get out of your castle, bring some cannon fodder and explore the countryside and wilderness. It was a mix of sword & sorcery and fairy-tales\folklore. It didn't make much sense but it was marvelous. HOMM 3 went in a different direction, different but almost as great as in number 2. Number 1 may seem like an incomplete version of number 2, but it is still a very charming game. Number 4 didn't have as good art design as number 2 and 3, but it had many good points and the atmosphere was very good. New World Computing's Heroes of Might and Magic series was so good that following up the old games is a very hard task.
But that doesn't excuse the horrible art design in HOMM 5. The atrocious humanoid and creature design looks like something they dug up from one of Blizzard's trashcans. How anyone can prefer this garbage to the beautiful 2D and 3D art in HOMM2 and HOMM3 is beyond me.