Is it a sequel? yes Is it a remake? also yes Is it unique? very much so I want to say a lot about this game; but I'm not sure that I'm actaully capable of doing so. There is an immersive and engaging story and world in this game and the gameplay systems re-enforce them. This is a game that is easily art, it has a lot to say and is using the strengths of it's medium to say it. And I don't think any other games went as far as it does in bringing gameplay to help it make it's statement. Gameplay isn't always fun, it can get really frustrating because it seems, and often is, unfair. That's also one of the points it's trying to make
The concept for this game, and many of the ideas in it are excellent, but playing can be a chore. You basically play as Dr. Evil attempting to build a doomsday weapon to take over the world. It plays similar to Dungeon Keeper (where you don't have direct control over minions). You do however have henchmen that you can directly control when needed (such as when you *really* need someone not to be alive). Unfortuneatly there is a lot in this game that does not work; like having a hotel as a front. It's a great concept, but the tourists will never stay on that area of the island, they always wander into your base and start causing issues. Another major problem is the low (default) unit cap, by late game it's exceptionally difficutt to keep progressing with the 100 unit cap as you need to ensure you have a cash flow income by stealing; which raises noteriaty; which makes the governments send enemies to your base; wich now needs more people defending it (also it turns out that the best people to have when defending your base are also the best at stealing...). Even then I'de say the game is worth a shot, look online on how to alter the game ini file to allow more minions and you'll have a better time
This game not only defined the HoMM series, but is the game that defines the genre. It was wonderfully made with sprites that are clear to see (the maps never get noisey) and good art design across all factions. The gameplay is excellent though factions are definetly unbalanced (*cough*necropolis*cough*), It's a game i've been playing at least a few skirmishes a year since shortly after it came out. There are not many games i've played that consistently over that long of a time. This game is definetly worth being in your collection
The 1st game was much clunkier than the second, but made way more sense in terms of progression and story telling. Characters/locations generally lead to a few different locations and people to talk to and it's pretty easy to figure out where to go after you invesigate a few places (providing you take notes). The 2nd game has some of the worst parts of adventure games of it's time such as pixel hunting, need item X from Y scenes ago in order to progress. It's also more of a pain in to figure out what your supposed to do or where your supposed to go that the mean streets (and as a result I felt that the story was weaker). If you like adventure games they're worth a shot; otherwise try something else as an intro to the genre.
I want to like this game more, but it's really not for me. I've playd about 2 hours and got fed up with the minigames (well the sculpting mostly). The setting and writing seemed really interesting but I'm not willing to put up with the sculpting to figure it out.
