It is fresh spin on the HoMM formula with mechanics that keep the game engaging and interesting, but right now (EA phase) it lacks content. There are only 2 short campaigns (4 missions), and about a dozen of skirmish maps. Most of them small 1v1 settings. There are 2 other campaigns planned. 4 factions only right now, but there's been some talk about more coming. The music is very nice and gives a fantasy vibe. I'm not a fan of the graphics though. The campaign map looks decent, espcially when you scroll out, but the units on the battle grid look like pixalated blobs. There are some key differences to HoMM: - army stack size cap, which means there is no main hero, and the forces are split between many commanders, also you can have several stacks of the same type - heroes level up quickly, and there's a lot of xp sources on the map - there's a special building that let's you recruit from any of the owned settlements immedietally - you can choose spells yourself, or use auto-recomendation, there are no magic guilds - no mana, spells are cast based on specific points acquired from unit actions, campaign map buildings, and hero skills and traits - no town screen, buildings appear on the campaign map - no special skills for factions (like in HoMM5) I'm giving this 4 stars, becasue the gamplay is very solid and it's still in EA. Keep in mind though that right now the content is dissapointing.
Yes it's that old. Almost 22 years after release, HoMM3 remains one of the best strategy games. There's really no point in writing a review for this. If you're an old fan, get it, get the HD+ mod, and immerse yourselves once again. If you're a strategy fan and have never played this, then... WTF?!
