Product Details
 | Heroes of Might & Magic 5 |
| List Price: | $19.99 |
| Price: | $5.65 |
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Product Description
Platform: WINDOWS 2000/XP/VISTA Publisher: UBI SOFT Packaging: RETAIL BOX Rating: TEEN In the renowned Might & Magic universe demon swarms spread chaos over the land in a relentless assault. The fate of the world is at stake and Heroes from a variety of legendary factions must stand up to defend their causes. Live their fate lead their forces to victory and unveil the secret goal of the Demon lords.Game Features:Complete strategy experience that includes RPG elements: Six campaigns and over 30 missions in which players conquer territories manage cities recruit armies and raise and upgrade heroes in a user-friendly yet deep strategic gaming system. Heroes series for the first time in 3D: A breathtaking 3D animated world will immerse the player in the Might and Magic world like never before.Customizable speed of play: Use the original turn-based system or switch to the new active time battle system for a fast-paced battlefield New darker and more sophisticated fantasy universe: Includes all the deep fantasy elements from the original series but with a more fully realized universe including six unique factions and over 40 different creatures and spells. Competitive and intense multiplayer: Play five different online modes via hotseat LAN or Internet; challenge your friends in furious battles and create your own level with the editor. System Requirements:Supported OS: Windows 2000/XP/VistaProcessor: Pentium 4 or AMD AthlonM 1.5 GHz (Pentium 4 2.4 GHz recommended)RAM: 512 MB (1 GB recommended)Video Card: DirectX 9 compliant w/ 64MB RAM (128 MB recommended)Sound Card: DirectX 9 compliantDirectX Version: DirectX 9 or higher (included on disc)CD-ROM driveHard Drive Space: 2+ GBMultiplay: Broadband internet connection NOTICE: This game contains technology intended to prevent copying that may conflict with some disc and virtual drives.Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #2435 in Video Games
- Brand: UBI Soft
- Model: 68292
- Released on: 2006-05-23
- ESRB Rating: Everyone
- Platform: Windows XP
- Format: CD-ROM
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 1.50" h x 5.50" w x 7.50" l, .54 pounds
Features
- Experience new darker heroic fantasy universe in this adventure strategy RPG
- 6 campaigns and 30+ missions; cutting-edge technology; 3-D animated world
- Deep scalable turned-based battle system for challenging and tactical combats
- 80+ different creatures; 200+ skills; storyline with side quests and plot twists
- Battle opponents in exclusive Duel mode
Editorial Reviews
From the Manufacturer
The
Heroes franchise enters a new era. Dive into the new groundbreaking
Might and Magic universe for the most complete strategy gaming
experience ever created.
- Cutting-edge technology: for the first time, experience the world of Might and Magic in a full breathtaking 3-D animated world supported by a consistent and modern graphic style.
- Deep scalable turned-based battle system for challenging and tactical combats: Find out the combat system that made the success of the Heroes series or experience the brand new Dynamic Battle System. Choose from over 200 skills, 170 creatures’ abilities, and 40 spells to build up your heroes and their armies.
- New darker heroic fantasy universe: discover a completely revamped and more mature universe that features six unique factions and over 80 different creatures.
- Complete strategy experience: during six campaigns and over 30 missions, experience the finest blend of adventure, strategy, tactics, management, and role play ever brewed, through a user friendly yet deep turn-based system that favors tactical thinking over button mashing.
- Competitive and addictive intense multiplayer parts: The wait is over. Discover for the first time new options that will allow you to play simultaneously or even when it is not your turn!
- Heroes of Might and Magic V also introduce the new exclusive Duel mode: challenge your opponent in fierce battles where only the slyest shall prevail.
Customer Reviews
A Good Game is added to the Series
I started playing the Heroes
franchise with Heroes of Might and Magic III. I am glad this new
developer took many of the best features from III and made it new again.
This game is immediately playable. I have already spent hours playing
through the Haven campaign, exploring the entire map in each level. The
graphics are fantastic, which makes playing the game enjoyable. The
control mechanics are simple and straightforward. Because I was familiar
with III and IV, I had no trouble jumping right into this game and
feeling like I knew how to do everything, including building
construction, troop recruitment, and combat. The combat in this game has
improved--the difference in unit types and how they act adds to the
overall strategy on the combat field. With the addition of many new
spells and abilities, each Hero feels different in combat. Since combat
is a major part of the game, I was glad to know the developer made the
combat fun and straightforward as well, meaning you may spend countless
hours in combat over the course of the game, yet each battle is not
repetitive. There is always something going on to make it different.
However,
the game does have some problems. A reviewer here on Amazon wrote a
great deal about the game--turns out, he is correct. There are many
strange things about the game--things I can't believe a developer would
overlook. For example, in combat, you do know the result of your unit's
attack before the animation even plays. If you look at the bottom of the
screen or watch the initiative bar, you know the results before
anything happens. This is an annoying oversight--I try not to look at
those bars while I play. Also, the battlefield is completely scaleable
in 3D as well. However, whenever an animation of the combat occurs, you
leave your custom view for the animation. If that's the case, then why
make the battlefield rotate and zoom? I play with it zoomed all the way
out so I can see the entire battlefield. I am also surprised that in
this day and age, the developer released a game that has missing
elements. Like the reviewer said, how do you know what an object does
without a description of it? Trial and error I guess, but that is not
how a game should be made.
Like the other reviewer, I also
experience some slow-down on the large world map. It seems that if you
zoom all the way out, the game stutters as it tries to compute all the
animation on the screen. I have a very fast Alienware computer, and if
it stutters on mine, I can't imagine how slow it must be on others. I
get around this, I usually zoom out to see where I want to go, then zoom
back in to move. Rotating the camera at a closer range to your hero is
not a problem, but it is slow zoomed out. Again, I don't know why the
developer did this, but it is something I hope they can fix in the
patch.
I also feel that this game has a very narrow market. If
you played M&M III or IV, then this game will appeal to you. It is
fun and addicting. Go buy it right now. However, the publisher needed to
include better documentation to appeal to the non-fans. There is no
creature and town hierarchy chart that always came with the other games.
The manual is small--M&M III had a bound book for instructions that
included a lot more information, back-story, and game play.
Overall,
I think this game is great fun, and I look forward to advancing to the
other campaigns. But I think this because I was already a fan of the
series and because I am willing to over look a few of its flaws. If you
can get past these issues, then I think you will enjoy the game. It
looks great, plays great, and is an addicting turn-based game. If a
patch comes out that fixes many of these issues, then I will put another
star back into my review.
UPDATE: There is now a patch for this
game that makes significant upgrades. It adds an Easy mode, the abilitiy
to check for future updates, speeds up some of the slow down we have
been experiencing when zoomed out, and fixes some of the leveling up
skill trees. But most importantly, it fixes the initiative bar--now
combat updates at the same time you attack, the way it was meant to be.
There is a long list of fixes you will see in the Readme file when you
download the patch. Since these fixes make the game so much better, I
would give it 5 stars.
A joke of a game,
with huge potential.
September 29 2006.
The
second, and last, edit to this review.
Well, the map editor is
finally out, and I must say that they did a excellent job with it. Sure,
it needs a little trail and error to lean how to use it. But it is
pretty much 90% the same editor like in H3. If you know how to use that,
you know how to use this one.
Now, as for the rest of the game,
have 3 patches changed it? Yes it definitely did. It still isn't
perfect, there still are bugs in the game, but they are (relatively)
small, and the kind you will find in any game nowadays.
Now this
game is worth buying, and I would suggest that you do.
A few more
things. In my initial review I said that the game was very stable; it
is... for me. I never had a single crash, never had a problem with the
game freezing; nothing like that. But I have read in the official Ubi
forum that not all people are that lucky. Most interesting, the more...
exotic... you computer is, the more change there seems to be for a
problem. So it might very well be that someone with a beast of a
computer all geared to playing games has a problem with it, while the
other person that has a more common computer that only just makes the
system requirements has no problem with the game at all.
If you
do buy the game, my advice is to immediately download the patches and
install them before even playing the game. This also because some save
games didn't work anymore after a new patch was installed. Very
importantly, DL the right patch. If you have the U.S. version of the
game, you also need the U.S. patch. There is even a difference between
normal and collectors edition. In total there are something like 7
patches for every version of the patch, so make sure you got the right
one. If you try to install a patch and you are told that `Heroes 5 is
not installed' then you are using the wrong version of the patch.
It
took 4 months, but now I can finally suggest; go buy the game. It's
fun, it's good, and it keeps you entertained. The map editor (btw no
Random Map Generator, that comes with the first expansion) is out 2
weeks now at the moment of me writing this, and some good fan made maps
have already appeared. So now you really will get those countless hours
of fun.
H.W.
Edit: Somewhere in the last two weeks,
the line `map editor provided' was finally removed. Notice the date when
I posted this review (May 25th) and the fact that somewhere in the last
two weeks that line was removed. So the line was in the description for
two months after the game hit the stores. Also, just so that you are
up-to-date, as of this date (August 4th) the map editor still not
exists. It is rumored that it will be `provided' in the next month, but
Ubisoft is NOT giving out a clear date.
Original review.
I'm
sorry to say this, but at the moment this game is a joke.
(The reason
for the never the less high rating is given at the end of this review.)
Even
worse is that they lie to you. I don't mean a little bit of enhancing
of the product that everyone does, no I mean lie. In the product
information above it clearly states: `Battle opponents in exclusive Duel
mode; map editor provided' and `Experience everlasting adventure thanks
to the map editor provided.' See the `map editor provided'? Well, it's
not. There is no map editor on the CD. Did you also notice the wording
`map editor PROVIDED.' They don't say included, no they say provided.
The reason for that is simple. The plan is to at a later point bring out
a map editor and PROVIDE it to you through a patch. So, I guess if you
wait long enough the words will eventually be true. That doesn't take
away that at the moment of me writing this, there is no map editor. I
bought the game retail, (so it's not some kind of demo or trail), I
installed it, I also went to their site to look for patches. Nothing.
There is no map editor at this point, so... they lie.
That's not
the only thing that is badly in need of a patch though. Other things in
the game as well. There are for instance items that have no description.
Case in point, I found a necromancer helmet. Great, what does it do? I
don't know. Why don't I know you wonder? Because the description of the
item was... necromancer helmet. That's it. Does it enhance my
necromancer skill? In that case I can't use it because my hero is not a
necromancer. Does it grand me the necromancer skill? In that case I most
certainly want it since my hero doesn't have that skill at the moment.
See what I mean? A description would be nice.
Now, I'm not going
to complain about how few artifacts and recourses there are on the maps
that have been provided, nor about the fact that the maps seem
incredibly small (the largest maps give you the same feeling of plying
on a small map in Heroes 4, and a medium map in heroes 3. The reason I'm
not going to complain about that is, frankly, I haven't played the game
long enough to do so. It might very well be that in fact this time
around they have the balance right and I simply have to get used to it
yet.
I AM however going to complain about maps, or the lack
thereof. There is a ridicules small amount of maps provided. In the
product info above they boast that there are over 30 maps in 6
campaigns. Yes, that's true, but just look at that and ignore the big
number. What you see is that in fact there are ONLY 6 campaigns on the
CD. If you want to play a standalone map it's just as bad. There are 6,
count them 6, standalone maps (or custom games as they call them) on the
CD. Want to play multiplayer? Great, at least there you get more. Well,
4 more; 10 in total. So what you get is 6 campaigns, 6 standalone and
10 multiplayer maps, and no way to get more maps at the moment. See the
problem? That's just enough to play so that you can get a feel for the
game. In fact, the six standalone maps are each set to one faction,
which you can't chance. So it really is nothing more than an opportunity
to play with the different factions and see which ones you like. I
assume that they think that by the time you played those maps they might
have the map editor out and you can create random maps. I just hope
that their wishful thinking time table works out.
Now, is all
about this game bad? No. There are some very good points. First, it's
stable. In a time where games are brought out with flaws in them so big
that you can't play them without crashing until a patch is provided,
such a stable game like this a welcome change.
Second, they clearly
used Heroes 3 as the basis of the game. If you don't know Heroes 3 or 4,
trust me, it's a good thing they used 3. You are once again back to
Heroes being part of an army and that those Heroes can't go outside the
town without those armies, nor can creatures go out anymore without a
hero to lead them. You are once again back to building your city and
upgrading structures so that if you want you can still buy the base or
the upgraded creature. Gone are the choices of just which creature you
want to build and where choosing one means that you can't make the other
anymore. I really do think that they did very well in getting the
Heroes 3 feel in to a 3D game.
Third, the graphics are truly
stunning, but come on, doesn't it say enough that you need to use great
graphics as a selling point instead of a great game play? As wonderful
as the graphics are, they get boring. When I saw the first battle I was
in awe about the beauty they managed to get in there. By the tenth
battle however, I had set the computer to `quick combat' (skips the
fight and just tells you what you lost or won in the battle.) Why?
Because as wonderful as the graphics are, they are still just the same
thing over and over and over. A blade warrior uses the same `slice,
slice' move over and over. You are tired of it after having seen that a
couple of times. By that time you are more interested in the game play,
and then great graphics don't take away from the fact that this game
still needs work. A drawback to these great graphics is also that they
battles themselves are boring. With Heroes 3 and 4 the battles were more
of a chess game with the focus on which creature should you have attack
which other creature. The graphics of the fights there were just to
dress up those `chess moves.' Now they take their good time to show the
move. As I said; great at first, boring later.
So, where does all
of this leave us? It leaves us basically with a half done product that
has been pushed in to the stores too soon. I honestly think that this
game does have the potential to be absolutely great. I do think that
with a little bit of extra work this game can even surpass Heroes 3 in
popularity. But...
We aren't there yet. This review was about the
game that you get on the CD, and as I started out; that's a joke. Now,
you could say that in a time where there are games being sold where the
CD only enables you to get online and play the online game that it's not
a big thing that you have to download patches. If you think that, than
you are right, BUT, the problem is that these patches don't exist at the
moment of this writing. If you buy one of those `online game CD's' the
online game is there and you can play it as soon as you installed the
rest of the software on your computer.
With Heroes 5 you buy a
half finished product and HOPE that they will add the rest in patches.
What if they decide that the map editor isn't needed since the sales are
good enough? You aren't sure, and that's my point. You aren't sure what
they will hand to you for free in the future. Why would they spend a
lot of time on patches if they don't make any money from it? Because of
that, if you buy the CD you have to look at what you get on the CD. The
game is sold as such; everything is supposed to be on the CD (well,
PC-DVD-rom actually) and it's not.
If you are new to the world on
Heroes and are wondering why I make such a big fuss about the fact that
there is no map editor, let me tell you why. Just for the heck of it, do
a internet search for `Heroes III maps' or `Heroes IV' maps. You will
see that there are hundreds, if not thousands of maps on line to
download; made by fans of the game. That's literally thousands of hours
of fun. And if you ever do get tired of those maps, or worse, don't have
an internet connection and you can't download them, the map editor has a
`create random map' function which simply makes a new map for you. You
never again run out of maps with heroes 3 and 4.
Now compare that
to heroes 5. Just how long do you think it will take you to run out of
maps there; seeing that there's no real number of maps to speak of. THAT
is why I'm so annoyed about it not being there. Especially since they
clearly say that it is and even use it as a selling point. Not nice.
There
being no name tags for some things? Sloppy, but forgivable. There being
no map editor? Now that's plain and simple false advertisement.
Let
me point out again that the map editor does not exist at the time of me
WRITING this. At the point of you reading this it could have been added
as a download on their site.
So, I assume that you are reading
all of this because you are wondering if you should get the game. My
opinion on that; yes and no. Don't buy it yet. First go to the official
site of the game maker and see if they have patches by this time. If
they do, and especially if they now have a map editor then my advice
would be by all means run, don't walk, to get this game. If however they
don't have those patches yet, eh, just skip the game and wait. Trust
me, the anticipation of the long wait is better than the disappointment
of getting the game now and seeing just how big of a joke the game is
without the improvements hopefully provided by patches.
Lastly,
you might wonder why I have given the game such a high rating if I'm
clearly not that thrilled with the game. The answer to that is simple;
the high rating is based on hope. As I said, there is a very big
potential for this game. I honestly think that if they put some more
work in to it (patches) this could be the best game you have bought in
quite some time. The rating I have given the game is based on that. On
that, and on the hope that those promised patches really will arrive at
some point.
H.W.
Heroes is
Back!
Being a fan of the series
since King's Bounty, way to many years ago, I was really excited to hear
that UBI was bringing the series back to life.
You'll notice
right off the bat a few changes. Having played every game in the series,
my favorite was Heroes III and I absolutley hated IV. So if you had
similar feelings, you'll be pleased to know that this game to me feels
almost identical to Heroes III.
With that said, there are a lot
of changes some good and some bad. Combat in this game is a lot of fun
and feels better than even Heroes III. It appears that a lot of thought
has gone into the balancing of the various units and even some nice
changes given to make all of them worth using. Even Heroes III had units
that were worthless.
Combat has several features that are nice
as well, as you hoover over targets the screen displays where that unit
can potentially move as well as your range for units killed. This might
be None to a range of numbers like 2-15. Catapults, Healing Tents etc
all take care of them selves and the nicest feature added might be the
initiative bar. It's really nice seeing the units next few rounds and as
morale bonuses change the order.
While there is a lot of
positives, there are a few negatives. I personally don't think every
game on the planet needs to be 3D. Combat is really nice due to the 3D
graphics, but the main map suffers in a few areas. First, it's really
hard to tell what's eye candy and what you should be running around
picking up. Second and most annoying is the option to invert mouse is
limited to 1 checkbox that inverts both the horizontal and vertical
camera movement. I'd really like to have these as seperate options as I
want to invert 1 but not both for my style of play. I'm sure that the
fact that map is 3D is also why a map editor and randomizer haven't been
included. It's a lot harder to program these things with 3D maps. Part
of me wishes that the main map had been left 2D with the combat engine
being 3D. Don't get me wrong, the screens are beatiful but the game does
feel like it might be a bit small as is and in need of some additional
maps.
My advice is to give the demo a try, it can be found on
file planet and perhaps a few other sites. This does feel a lot like
heroes III and I've enjoyed playing through the first 5 scenarios. I'll
be interested to see how multiplayer and custom maps play out. That is
where I got the most enjoyment out of the heroes series.
This one
is worth giving a try and possibly a purchase.
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