It's...actually as good as a real sequel to HoMM 3 sounds. The new factions are colorful and fun and fit right in and it expands the base game in helpful ways. Highly recommended!
Look, HoMM 3 was impossible to follow up. HoMM 3 took everything that 1 and 2 did well and pretty much perfected it. I'm not saying that this game is perfect, because it ain't--but it makes some fun choices that really expand your options, and I'm sorry that it failed the way it did. I still play it and I still like it.
People act like it's easy to make a fictional world as fully realized as this, and they're crazy. This game is amazing: fast, violent, philosophical and funny.
It's fun! It has a lot of elements familiar to any fans of the genre, but it does a good job of adding things like multiple altitude layers without making it overly complex. I'm enjoying it quite a bit.
Rodney666's review is pretty much right dead on. It adds a slew of new content, which is something to be excited about--but it definitely does change the flavor of the gaming experience. Nations don't colonize in neat, contained lines anymore; they'll push hard towards your base, and you can expect scouting and raiding parties to start in earnest even on the easier difficulties. It's hard for me to complain about, just for the sheer volume of content--but it's definitely designed for a certain type of play, and I don't much enjoy that type of play. I wanted to take my time and turtle, or else start out with a midgame summon right out of the gate... *sigh*. Oh well.
