There is few franchise, where the hardcore fans don't see quality anywhere else, just what they think the best is. Heroes franchise is the best example. Seeing other reviews, it can be found the most of the negative critics like "Heroes 3 the best, this is not as good...so i give 1-2-maybe 3 stars." If anyone knows the franchise, its me. I played almost all from Heroes 1-Heroes 6 (Heroes 7 was something which was not supposed to be released at that state). I liked almost all, even the Heroes 4. Heroes 5 brought back almost everything we loved at Heroes 3 plus we got +nice graphics and animations (town screens are awesome) +unique race abilities +better combat system +logical hero upgrade system +better AI +etc. However i should give right about who's complaining about the story, it's little bit generic and lack of interesting characters. However a gameplay experience is so good, it compensates you all.