I've played every version of HOMM up until this game. I have been absolutely addicted and in love with all three of the previous titles. HOMM4, however, is an absolute disaster right from the beginning and is down right unplayable. The first quest was actually fun and I thought that it was going to be just as fun as 3, if not even better. But the second quest which involves seeking an oracle almost made me quit playing the game altogether. I must have loaded my game 40 times trying to defeat the monsters guarding the Sword of the Gods and every time I was handily spanked. Tried waiting around for more monks and crusaders and the monsters guarding the Sword just grew in numbers right along with me. THERE WAS NO WAY TO WIN. I eventually just cheated in 20 black dragons and hurried through the terrible quests. The next couple of quests were more of the same, it was basically just 5 heroes running around together with no armies... And any time you get in a fight with long range monsters they would just target your hero that wasn't allowed to die (or you lose) and then it would be over. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY THIS GAME IS NOTHING LIKE HOMM 1-3. If you want to learn an entirely new system and game play then this is the one for you.
