Heroes Chronicles: All Chapters

Although it doesn't offer much in terms of options, Heroes Chronicles contains a plethora of missions, richly detailed lore, and a story that fills in the gaps for fans wondering what happened between Heroes 3 and Heroes 4. The game-play is more of less like that of HOMM3 Complete Edition, so it would help a great deal if one is familiar with HOMM3 before playing this game; however, you can jump directly into it nonetheless. All in all, this is still a great game - even after all these years.

I am a huge fan of the Heroes series, particularly the 3rd installation. This add-on content was pretty cool because they were sold separately and could run on their own without needing the original game. I still have the original discs, but the GoG version addressed compatibility issues that made t he original release crash or not work at all. The games themselves are a lot of fun, each one putting you into different terrains and focusing on different monster and city types. The game play is solid and addicting and will make you late for dinner as you take just one more turn. The only gripe I have is that the episodes tend to be much easier than the original release. You can adjust the difficulty, of course, but inflating the hit points of the mobs you face seems like a weak fix for levels that might have been designed a little better. In any event, a solid game! These chapters would be great for people new to the series, or returning users who enjoyed the HOMM3. But if you completed HOMM3, these chapters will likely seem easy.

And i put those quotes for this reason: when i completed homm3 and both expansions, i missed more enjoyable time playing with the same "game" but with diferent story. That is heroes chronicles: all chapters. Recommended buy.

There is so much to say about these games. First of all, value for money - it's quite reasonable to say each game will average you at least 5 hours to complete, and there's eight of them. Even if you only play through it once, 40+ hours of gameplay is well worth the price tag. The gameplay is fantastic and involves many different elements. To start with you need to carefully manage what you build in your starting town(s), rushing the Capitol for increased gold won't get you anywhere if you don't have any troops to buy with it. Choices become especially important on day 7, do you get your powerful unit or more of all your other units? Do you utilise the marketplace (at massive loss) for the few extra Crystals you need? Then there's weighing when you can take on mobs on the map, you start with a very small army which is usually not enough but clever tactics and some sacrifices might get you that Gold Mine a bit earlier. Then there's the heroes themselves, one or two of your allies will persist through the campaign so it's important to pick which ones will follow you, spread out experience and ensure they get the right abilities. It's not without its faults. There are Witches Huts that teach your heroes a specific ability but it doesn't tell you which until you visit it, and it just forces it onto the hero. As you can only have a limited number of skills, you'll find yourself save scumming to get the desired traits. Parts can be a chore without Town Portal and the Earth Magic skill on each hero. Magic is also a bit overpowered in the later missions. The early game "can I take that mob" dilemma becomes pointless when you can Chain Lightning away 3/4 of them on the first move. There's also a bug in one mission that allows the enemy heroes to pick up a horde of powerful monsters very early and confront you with an unstoppable force - you'll probably need cheats or memory hacks to overcome it. These are minor issues however, overall these are still fantastic games.

There is one way to have a total blast with Heroes Chronicles. Just ignore and don't apply during your gameplay everything you learned with your hundreds or thousands of hours-long journey with Heroes of Might and Magic 3. Try to focus on recreating the fun we all had when we were starting the game for the first time. Select "noob" abilities, don't rush things, or don't use spells at all. There are many ways to make things spicier if you want a challenge. But if you, despite playing the franchise for long, still are not quite "pro" (hey, that's me!), then it's even better for you. Even on higher difficulty levels, these are frankly easier than the main campaigns in HoMM 3, so it might be good preparation for a "real" thing. If you want more of the official Heroes 3 stuff, these spin-offs are really fun to play and are definitely worth the money. If you are not if you want to buy the game at full price, wait for a sale - you can easily snatch these much cheaper, up to 75%, during bigger sales. Just let's not forget there are actually 8 different chapters, and most of them can be finished within 5-6 hours each. That's quite a lot of playtime in total, wouldn't you say?