Heroes of Might and Magic (Jewel Case)

A few games from these classics survive more than a year or two.

Of those that survive more than a year or two, an even smaller select number survive five years or longer.

This is one of those games.

It's turn-based, so it will work on your super-duper fast machine. Its artwork and animations were cartoonish for the time, and survive well as a result. The music is among the best ever used in a computer game.

This seven-year-old game has the right combination of simplicity and depth to still be fun. There's a mixture of strategy (move your heroes around the map to control the resources which allow you to build troops) and tactics (move your troops around in battle to use them to their fullest) that has been successful enough to spawn three sequels and an entire a genre of strategy games, which boasts fine entries such as Age of Wonders and Disciples.

The series currently consists of four games (not counting the seminal King's Bounty), but each of the four games provides enough of a change to make them interesting and fun in their own right. I keep all four on my machine--and play them.

Also, this first game is simple enough to be played by a relatively young person, probably in the 7-10 range. My son learned a lot about reading and math by us playing the series from around the time he was three, but at about five, he managed to win some of the simpler scnearios in this version.

You may see some gripes about the graphics, but the graphics in HoMM I and HoMM II had a special quality that was lost in III and is totally gone from IV when they started going 3D. Not every game can or should push the technical boundaries.

Recommended.


Not Enough Might and Not Good Enough Magic for Me   October 24, 2001
 5 out of 14 found this review helpful

I bought this game thinking it was going to be cool. Probably if i bought it when it first came out it would be cool, But the graphics are old school 2D. With games out like Final Fantasy 7-9, Comand & Conquer, Fallout 1-Tactics, and other 3D games, this game just didn't strike to me. Probably in its time it was an out-brake RPG but now its just not at all strikingly impressive to me.


The most gameplay for your dollar   September 3, 2001
 9 out of 9 found this review helpful

I purchased this game when it first came out. I have returned to it regularly ever since. Other games, such as EverQuest, take most of my gaming time now, but once in awhile, I forego the fancy new titles and play this worn but true old standby. It's offspring, HoMM II and HoMM III also take a fair share of my gaming time, but when I need a fast and clean challenge to that part of my brain that desires strategy, this is the one I choose.

Some games just never go out of style, no matter how simple they may seem compared to their competition. Chess, for instance, continues to be played even in the face of more complex computer games. If you are a strategy game player, this is worth having, as you will come back to it over and over again.

And with the price, you can't go wrong.


Great Strategy Game - and its not an RTS -real time strategy   June 19, 2001
 10 out of 12 found this review helpful

This game is completely addicting. You will get totally engulfed in the game and play it for hours on end (girlfriends will hate you :) ) ... The game is a kin to the Command and Conquor / Warcraft type games, except the movement is turn based which gives it more of a classic RPG feeling. Now that its available in an inexpensive package its a GREAT DEAL. The game has the BEST built in instructions, right-click on anything to learn about its function. Get this game, you won't be sorry.