Heroes of Might and Magic® 4: Complete

If you have ever played the epochal Master of Magic, I bet you thought of something like "Ahh, the NWC guys are sooo good, I wish they took Master of Magic and brought it to life". Well, here you go! :) This is as close to MoM as you can get in HoMM: global spells actually can do something useful, heroes fight, the combat map view is essentially the same (albeit, turned right instead of left), wandering monsters! Unfortunately, by the time HoMM 4 was released most of it's core audience were HoMM3 adepts, so they just did not understand the spirit of those changes. Hence the image of "Heroes 3 with a twist". Plus the game was quite raw (use Equilibrium mod, use it!) and the graphics (after shiny and polished Heroes 3) were plain ugly (I especially love the bridge models). Still, to me HoMM IV was the pinnacle of the series, while HoMM 5 is kind of "Heroes 3 3D More of the Same for the masses". So if you want to play something that is like both Heroes and MoM combined - this is your best choice. The other would be Elemental (after it gets more patches).

This is the first HoMM game I played and which defined my look on the franchise. I am saying this with huge respect to all other reviews glorifying the HoMM 3 as the best version, but to me this one simply rocks. As most of 3 and 4-star reviews come from players which started with previous versions, the same applies to me: I tried HoMM 3 and 5 after it, but nothing could occupy me that much. As stated on HoMM website "intenion was to make unique game, not bigger or better than HoMM 3". + Overall graphics were great (although widescreen fix was never issued) they were jump ahead due decentl 3D view. +Fact that hero is actively engaged in all the combats (esp when leveled up in Scenarios and can defeat whole armies by him/herself). +Soundtrack - Orders are simply strongest class here due to: Mage Orders most diverse magic skills. (Forgetfullness, Teleport, Hypnotize). If he/she is accompanied with Genies (split in several units in hero's army, lets say 20+1+1+1+1) nothing can beat them. Lord Orders with their Advanced Nobility already speed up creatures growth significantly, and essentially you dont need to leave the town and fight but just end turns, await money and buy more Genies until you have enough to fight anyone. Cheers

I like HOMM3 and still play but I've always wished it to have more magic, map items, more uses for artifacts, deeper hero customization and graphics. HOMM4 is the answer but with one addition I hate. I don't like that hero can attack/be attacked. Lots of people like it. For me it kills the imagination. I also don't like that they didn't bring Mighty Gorgon to 4. Anyway, most of the good things have been mentions by others. My most favorite of HOMM4 is magic system. It is the best (of all other fantasy worlds/games/movies or even airbender). BTW, HOMM series has taught me that there can be so many different types of dragons. I have not seen this many types of dragons in anywhere else.

I have been a fan of the HOMM series since I picked up a demo of Heroes 2 back shortly before it's release in 1996. I loved Heroes 3 as well and so when I had heard about the changes in the mechanics that they were introducing to to Heroes 4 I recall being unsure of how I would feel about it. It wasn't until around 2010 that I actually bought the game and I have been hooked ever since. While the game is not perfect (you can tell that it's development was a little under funded and rushed) it's take on the HOMM series is spot on. I love that you can actually use your heroes for more than just moving around on the main map and casting a spell here and there; the heroes themselves finally feel like they matter. I really enjoyed the campaigns and they are my go-to thing to play (seriously, this is the first game I install every-time I format or change computers). That having been said, the game does feel a bit unfinished at times, especially after the masterpieces that were Heroes 2 and Heroes 3. The graphics of course are dated now, but they were alright for the time. The maps are generally spacious, but feel a bit sparsely populated in comparison to it's predecessors. It seems as if the developers had originally intended to have more content; I can't quite put my finger on it, but I suspect if they had been allowed more time and a bigger budget this game could have been genre changing.

This is my favorite Heroes game of them all for a few major reasons: I really love the atmosphere! For me, this is the most atmospheric game of all the heroes game. In particular because it has be best sound track in my opinion. My favorite music track. Graphics are also somehow nice and not overcrowded and work well with the beautiful music Secondly, this is the only Heroes game where heroes themselves appear in combat as units. Not only this, but you can have several heroes (theorically up to 7 I think) in combat. Ofcourse, every hero in combat means a slot not taken by units. Usually 2 heroes in an army is the sweet spot. No other heroes game anything like this and I think it adds an additional level of tactics. Really love it.