Heroes Chronicles: All Chapters

Some of these titles have been virtually unattainable for years. Two were available as downloads only with the purchase of a set number of the others. Essentially they are a limited version of Heroes 3 with 1 campaign each. For the price it gives you 8 campaigns and for me completes my heroes collection ( I purchased the millennium edition which did not come with this ). It also completes the storyline. One typo in the product description "Heroes Chronicles: All chapters" includes "Warlords of the Wastelands", "Conquest of the Underworld", "Masters of the Elements", "Clash of the Dragons", "The Final Chapters", "The World Tree", "The Fiery Moon", "Revolt of the Beastmasters", and "The Sword of Frost". Gives nine campaigns but the The final chapters is a composite of Revolt of the beastmasters and the sword of frost so hence eight as correctly identified at the start.

What can I say? This is the game I wanted on GOG more than any other. I admit it is not the best game of all time, not even close, yet, there was something about The character of Tarnum that made me feel more connected with him than any other game character. There is a certain magic I always felt when playing these games, something that made me keep coming back, though the last chapters were never released in the US and I had to guess Tarnum's fate. Well, Now, Tarnum's complete tale is finally here, for all of us to enjoy thanks to GOG. This game plays a lot like HOMM 3, which is personally my favorite HOMM game made yet (well besides this). The Heroes Chronicles are well balanced, challenging enough to keep it interesting, yet easy enough to keep it fun. I know some think that 9.99 is way too much for "mission packs" well for those that think that, this isn't like the junk DLC companies distribute today, these "mission packs" are not tiny, and each one is quite a bit different then the other, as you play a different culture/races in each; meaning, in the first game Warlords of the Wasteland you play the Barbarian peoples, in Clash of the Dragon, the Elven peoples ETC. So in each different chapter you get a whole new experience, and you have to change the way you play, plus Tarnum is a different class and thus levels up differently himself. I'm not sure how many hours of enjoyment one can get from the Heroes Chronicles, since I have never finished them, yet. I do know though that I have played well over a hundred hours over the years and I don't regret a moment of them. If you liked HOMM 3 then you will like this as well, and if you always wanted to live the life of a cursed Barbarian, trying to save his immortal soul and make up for his mortal sins, well, then this is your chance. Feel the Power, today!

I started playing HoMM only when part 3 was released, and it is one of the few games I spent several thousands of hours with, none of which I consider wasted. To me, the Chronicles are the very peak of game development.. Which is a bit surprising, given that they were released by a failing company in need for cash, and only intended for direct-to-fan marketing to generate some when all big projects had been delayed. Maybe this is why they had to resort solely to their map editing and storytelling skills (both are usually cheap) to make this game. Sometimes the greatest things are made exactly because there is no cash and you have to improvise. In this case, improvisation led to a spectacular series of campaigns that conclude the HoMM3 world narratively and build a bridge to HoMM4 by sending one immortal hero through one campaign for each of the old factions. If you are an experienced strategist who never played HoMM, but lack the time to tackle the whole HoMM3 world across the original game and expansions, this one gives you the grand tour in one package. If you enjoy this, there is one final campaign that concludes the narrative, which is "Glory of Days Past", the second HoMM4 campaign (HoMM4 is not as bad as people say, if only for this one). Tarnum only appears in the narration there, because it deals with the ascension of his foster son, Werjaek. Thanks to GoG for enabling us to purchase New World Computing's finest. It has been very hard to obtain this legally for years.

The release of these scenario packs were unjustified back then. For $20 each scenario set, it was a highway robbery. Now you can get a complete pack for $10. That's a lot better, still... Unless you're a die-hard HOMM3 fan or looking for more scenarios for HOMM3, just stop right here and instead pick up the original game. Chronicles are just a set of expansion packs, while their quality is above average, the content is lacking severely. For veterans only.