Heroes of Might and Magic® 3: Complete

This was sort of a comparison review between HOMM 2 & 3 so I'm adding it also to this one: I love Might & Magic and Heroes of Might & Magic franchise. I grew up with these, so there's definite nostalgia there.. but they are just plain great games too, no matter what perspective you look them at. Heroes 2 is just up to par there with Heroes 3 as the best game of the franchise in my opinion. What's different about them? Well HOMM 3 has more different alignments with more units, more bonuses, generally more everything -- and it's at least as well balanced as HOMM 2. Both have good music, but HOMM 2 takes the win in my opinion slightly. Music in the series is just plain great, as is in Might & Magic VI - VIII. Steve Baca, Rob King and Paul Romero (correct?) were heck of a composer team for the music, that really cranks up the atmosphere. On the other hand, HOMM 3 graphics fail slightly. Themes are good as in part two, but they look bit too bland and oiled up (sprites, menus). While in HOMM 2 lower detail graphics look more colorful and alive. There's some cool little things in HOMM 2 balance that I do prefer over the third. For example, in HOMM 2 you cannot swap artifacts between heroes thus preventing you to create overly powered superheroes (which will be born anyway in XL maps, just not in so great extent on HOMM2). You also cannot drop artifacts, which makes you think more wisely, which artifacts to pick up so you're not loading crappy ones to the max and then not be able to pick up the best ones later in the game. There's also some negative artifacts giving downsides, and if you pick one up you cannot drop it off. It's sort of a cool feature, though adds some random element to the balance, but also makes you memorize which artifacts did what (when you see them laying on the world map). On the other hand, HOMM 2 expansion's Ghosts boiled the game balance a bit being overly powered. I give both HOMM 2 and 3 thumbs up through the roof and call it even! Feel free to visit my blog at www.thegamersdungeon.com

Install the HD+ mod for a large quality of life improvement: https://sites.google.com/site/heroes3hd/ Features and fixes: High resolution can fit more things on the screen. https://sites.google.com/site/heroes3hd/eng/description/extended-ui https://sites.google.com/site/heroes3hd/eng/screenshots https://sites.google.com/site/heroes3hd/eng/description/bugfixes I've played HoMM games since I was a kid, here's my comparison rating: Graphics: Heroes 3 > Heroes 2 Balance: Heroes 3 > Heroes 2 Multiplayer: Heroes 2 > Heroes 3 Enjoyment: Heroes 3 > Heroes 2 Overall: Heroes 3 > Heroes 2 Multiplayer: Heroes 3 is the best overall, but the problem with it is that it has so many things added and changed. Don't get me wrong, that is awesome and fun, but the multiplayer suffers a bit because of it. Heroes 2 feels more to the point and makes for a better multiplayer experience, despite the bigger imbalances in the different starting races/castles. I say this because I mostly play Heroes in Hot-Seat multiplayer. If you predominantly play single player, then this is less important. There are mods to change the balance though, for both games. Magic and combat: In Heroes 3, utility magic is too strong, and destruction magic is too weak, while in Heroes 2 it's the other way around. In Heroes 2, units get 10% bonus damage per attack rating, while in Heroes 3 it's only 5%, which actually makes your units strong. If I could, I would make it 7.5%, and balance the destruction and utility magic. Other Heroes games: I like the graphics/sound/atmosphere in Heroes 1, but otherwise, other installments are better. I won't discuss Heroes 4 and higher, because they are not Heroes, and are in my eyes, inferior. They aren't bad games, but they have no soul, that gripping gameplay, and the 3d graphics are retarded for a board-like strategy game. I haven't played them much so take this judgement with a grain of salt. This ended up more as a comparison than a review, but it is what it is.

This is the original game, with the 2 extensions, easily moddable (I personnaly recommande the mod Horn of the Abyss, which contains a HD mod). Don't buy the new "Heroes 3 HD" game on Steam ; it' doesn't contain (and will never have) the 2 extensions, is not compatible with mods (there is a free mod who put the game in HD the same).

Nothing more to add. I was playing in 90's, playin in previous decade and playing now. Next to Civilization 2 ToT - best game ever

I joined GOG solely to find a operable working version of this game to run on Windows 10. I spent hours and hours of my life, replaying random scenarios. So addictive. So delighted I can once again waste away hours of life on this amazing old game again!