Heroes of Might and Magic® 2: Gold

It was The mid 90s and I was in seventh grade. I was having some trouble adjusting to a new school and felt like I didn’t really have any friends. This game was my friend during that time and I have so many find memories. The crazy thing is that it is still fun to this day and I’ve been a gamer my whole life. I honestly can’t recommend the steam enough and it is by far, to me, the best one in the series. Would love to see a kick starter for a spiritual successor :-)

This is my favourite Heroes game ever released. Featuring a cohesive blend of the epic and the whimsical, these games not only allowed you to explore a vibrant fantasy landscape thick with ambient sounds but also to grow continent-spanning kingdoms in competition with ruthless enemies. The game's difficulty can be punishing, but you'll definitely want to play again!

И действительно, не далеко падает. Вышедшая год спустя после релиза первой части HOMM 2 не сильно изменилась. Разработчики решили пойти по проторенной дорожке, взяв все что хорошо работало из первой части, и добавив новых идей. Сюжет. Не сильно скаканул в продуманности, но если в первой части нам давалась возможность выбрать только стартовый замок, то теперь у нас есть возможность представлять одного из 2 близнецов, сражающихся за престол:Арчибальда (зло) и Роланд (добро). Несмотря на то, что сюжет все равно не блещет, теперь мы имеем 2 полноценные кампании. Геймплей. Так же как и сюжет, не претерпел особых изменений. Но есть несколько важных нововведений, которые нельзя обойти стороной. 1е - добавили 2 замка: некромант, способные поднимать огромное кол-во скелетов, и маги, очень дорогой но сильный замок. 2е- наконец то появился рынок. Да, есть ещё несколько новых зданий, но рынка не хватало в первой части катастрофически. 3е- добавили сетку квадратов, и немного увеличили поле боя, что дало больший простор для тактических действий. 4е - изменение системы магии, которая станет устойчивой. Если раньше мы изучали заклинания на n-ное кол-во раз, после применения которых приходилось заново их учить, то теперь мы учим заклинания навсегда, и использовать их можем так часто, на сколько нам позваляет наш манапул. 5е- улучшение юнитов. Теперь, можно дважды построить желище некоторых существ, после чего можно будет нанимать их улучшенные версии с лучшими характеристиками. 6е - вторичные навыки героев. Если раньше герой с лвлапом получал только +к силе/защите etc, то сейчас может выбрать вплоть до 8 навыков, улучшающих его косвенно. Например, пассивный + к удаче Графика. На мой взгляд, не претерпел особых изменений, изменились только модельки юнитов, ушедшие в пиксельарт из мультяшности, что на мой взгляд выглядит хорошо. Подводя итог, хочу сказать, что сиквел вышел отменный, привнесший много интересных нововведений и не сломавший механики, хорошо работавший в первой части

While HOMM1 picked up and greatly evolved from King's Bounty, HOMM2 completely surpassed HOMM1 in every aspect, finally turning this series a standard for decades and other games to come. So King's Bounty started it all... well, Heroes 2 started it all again. You start out with one of half a dozen factions, each with their own set of units (you can have units of other factions by conquering their towns). For example, barbarian faction has goblinoid units, warlock is focused on aberrating monsters, wizard has magical creatures and so on. Each army is commanded by a "hero", a character that you hire and will level from that point on, learn spells an skills, equip magic weapons. The graphics are very colorful and vibrant, although the combat animations might feel simplistic nowadays. Combat and probably most of gameplay feels a lot like a board game. I know this might scare some players off, but I must say it just FEELS right. Those looking for realistic combat will want to look elsewhere, but somehow having to count hexagons to maximize your spell effects or better evading your enemies is still great fun in Heroes 2, so much that the all-3D Heroes 5 still uses its tested and true formula (Heroes 4 departed from this model and was a much less successful game). Although simple, the fun factor of this game is impressive. Both the single player campaign and single/multiplayer maps work marvelously well. It's smooth and polished, and highly replayable. I think it's worth to say that all sequels after HOMM2, although great games in their own right, didn't innovate much on top of this gem. They improved graphics, added new missions, but the system was still there, most spells and heroes were still the same, skills, monsters, the map layout, the combat grid. Finally, what else is there to say? This game is pure gaming greatness history for just ten bucks.

I agree with what others have reviewed here,and if you look up magazines like PCGamer you'll see this gem is in their top 100 games of all time.And that's a hell of alot! My first experience with this classic came from an old cd demo disc,and I was bored with access to few games.So I checked out the demo,only available one map which so-happens to be my favorite Heroes map of all time,Broken Alliance.The options were limited for the demo,but ZOMG the fact that you could choose what type of faction to play as,heroes and armies to hire,the wonderful rpg elements of leveling them up(heroes that is) and finding armor etc,and even starting location and bonus is so wonderfully balanced!Sometimes a bit more challenging in places based on who you choose to play as and where,what resources are available and whathaveyou make this very replayable,but add to that a HUGE assortment of maps,tons of options,campaings,a good map editor and even hotseat multiplayer! I can't tell you how many hours I spent with my best friend and sister inbetween our rpg sessions playing this game.We had our favorites,would make alliances and take down a tough computer,omg the sheer enjoyment is unheard of these days.Which is a shame they dont make games with that passion anymore,nor do they do it with such genuine style.I'm a sucker for anything fantasy and drawn and this game has it all:great music,effects and art.I do wish some creatures were a bit different out of preference(centaurs are my favorite fantasy creature,so I'd love to see some better stats on them),but all in all,its top quality stuff for the time.Some great heroes too,I particularly love Jezebel and some of the Elves,barbarians and warlockes/witches/sorcerors. All in all I'd definitely rate this game a 5/5,especially for allowing such deep gameplay without getting overbearing or complicated.This series has always been generous to the novice,and its ease of use has always been a strong point in my mind.Its a game that you want to keep playing into the wee hours of the morning or the fancy strikes for a quicky and it goes way beyond that.This is a work of art,shame New World COmputing isn't still around to craft more gems like these and Might and Magic.