Heroes of Might and Magic® 2: Gold

While HOMM1 picked up and greatly evolved from King's Bounty, HOMM2 completely surpassed HOMM1 in every aspect, finally turning this series a standard for decades and other games to come. So King's Bounty started it all... well, Heroes 2 started it all again. You start out with one of half a dozen factions, each with their own set of units (you can have units of other factions by conquering their towns). For example, barbarian faction has goblinoid units, warlock is focused on aberrating monsters, wizard has magical creatures and so on. Each army is commanded by a "hero", a character that you hire and will level from that point on, learn spells an skills, equip magic weapons. The graphics are very colorful and vibrant, although the combat animations might feel simplistic nowadays. Combat and probably most of gameplay feels a lot like a board game. I know this might scare some players off, but I must say it just FEELS right. Those looking for realistic combat will want to look elsewhere, but somehow having to count hexagons to maximize your spell effects or better evading your enemies is still great fun in Heroes 2, so much that the all-3D Heroes 5 still uses its tested and true formula (Heroes 4 departed from this model and was a much less successful game). Although simple, the fun factor of this game is impressive. Both the single player campaign and single/multiplayer maps work marvelously well. It's smooth and polished, and highly replayable. I think it's worth to say that all sequels after HOMM2, although great games in their own right, didn't innovate much on top of this gem. They improved graphics, added new missions, but the system was still there, most spells and heroes were still the same, skills, monsters, the map layout, the combat grid. Finally, what else is there to say? This game is pure gaming greatness history for just ten bucks.

I agree with what others have reviewed here,and if you look up magazines like PCGamer you'll see this gem is in their top 100 games of all time.And that's a hell of alot! My first experience with this classic came from an old cd demo disc,and I was bored with access to few games.So I checked out the demo,only available one map which so-happens to be my favorite Heroes map of all time,Broken Alliance.The options were limited for the demo,but ZOMG the fact that you could choose what type of faction to play as,heroes and armies to hire,the wonderful rpg elements of leveling them up(heroes that is) and finding armor etc,and even starting location and bonus is so wonderfully balanced!Sometimes a bit more challenging in places based on who you choose to play as and where,what resources are available and whathaveyou make this very replayable,but add to that a HUGE assortment of maps,tons of options,campaings,a good map editor and even hotseat multiplayer! I can't tell you how many hours I spent with my best friend and sister inbetween our rpg sessions playing this game.We had our favorites,would make alliances and take down a tough computer,omg the sheer enjoyment is unheard of these days.Which is a shame they dont make games with that passion anymore,nor do they do it with such genuine style.I'm a sucker for anything fantasy and drawn and this game has it all:great music,effects and art.I do wish some creatures were a bit different out of preference(centaurs are my favorite fantasy creature,so I'd love to see some better stats on them),but all in all,its top quality stuff for the time.Some great heroes too,I particularly love Jezebel and some of the Elves,barbarians and warlockes/witches/sorcerors. All in all I'd definitely rate this game a 5/5,especially for allowing such deep gameplay without getting overbearing or complicated.This series has always been generous to the novice,and its ease of use has always been a strong point in my mind.Its a game that you want to keep playing into the wee hours of the morning or the fancy strikes for a quicky and it goes way beyond that.This is a work of art,shame New World COmputing isn't still around to craft more gems like these and Might and Magic.

I was tired of finding my CD for HOMM2, so I've waited for months for it to show up on GOG -- I think I'll be playing HOMM forever, and I look forward to finally finishing it with the GOG copy. This is a turn-based game that is a huge jump from HOMM1 and set the standard for all the HOMM games to come, and which was perhaps never surpassed by other strategy franchises.

This was the game which turned me into a PC gaming addict. Up to the time i played HMM2 i wondered how people spend so much time for a game on pc. Then i met HMM2 and it was all clear. I have not played HMM2 with expansion . Hmmm better install it asap. Please do not hesitate to purchase and play this old game. You will be amazed how addictive it can be...

Heroes of Might and Magic 2 is perhaps the best turned-based strategy game ever. It doesn't have the wildly thick numbers of HoMM 3 while not dumbing it down. You get to recruit heroes from taverns, level them up, and fight in the worlds displayed in Might and Magic 6 and 7. Your heroes can recruit creatures from the wilderness and your towns -- which you also level up. The one minor down-side is that you often know exactly how you want to build your city. The game could practically built it for you. But since it takes 4 seconds to build something, it's hardly a nuisance at all. If you haven't tried this one, you're doing yourself a big unfavor. So un-unfavor yourself and buy this gem.