Heroes of Might and Magic 5: any good?

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I don't know anything about the Heroes of Might and Magic series of games and have never played any of them. The lack of new RPGs has me eyeing this one even though I think it's some type of RTS. Is that right? Would an RPG fan find this game fun?

 

It's turn-based strategy with slight RPG elements. I haven't played 5, but Heroes 2 and 3 were frighteningly addictive and a lot of fun.

 

Heroes 5 is basically Heroes 3 with fancy graphics and lots of bugs. I'll hold off getting it till further patches if i were you

 

More imporatnt if you've never played the series, get HOMM 3 Complete which has all the expansions as well first, and wait for 5 to come out better patched.

As Tassadar says the game is addictive and I think well worth the price for Heroes 3. Use the links above to Amazon, I know they have it, that's where I recently got it from.

 

Heroes of Might and Magic 5 Complete is excellent value for the money. Even if you hold off playing Homm5 until later patches fix it properly, the other games, especially Homm3, are very good.

 

So a thumbs up for Heroes 5 then?

 

I'm playing it right now, picked it up at a sale. Good game, but it seems unstable and it's eating my PC for breakfast (though that may be symptomatic of a larger problem with my vid card, so don't take that as gospel.)

 

Played it and didn't find any bugs.

However, there are a few things you should be prepared to expect if you decide to give HoMM5 a try:

-- Horrible voice-acting. I mean: the campaign characters act and sound like mentally incapacitated jerks. Worse, you can't even skip the cut-scenes.

-- The goal of the game is always the same: gather the biggest army and have a one-on-one dick-fight with the enemy. Unlike more developed games, like Disciples 2, HoMM5 has no cap in army-sizes. Therefore: the one with the biggest dick wins. This is what HoMM5 is all about.

-- The actual fights can be rather strategic, though. As long as you play against the AI. Human players will rarely have units like "zombies" and no-spells heroes in their army. Then it just boils down which army can suck up damage the most, which leads back to army-sizes.

-- The graphics are okay and should work at max settings on a few years old rig. The music is okay too and I particularly liked of the music in elven towns.

In overall, I'd say HoMM5 is an entertaining game for a while and it does have some fun moments. As long as you ignore what it is all about in the core. If you aren't a critic or are new to RTS games, you should be able to have at least one, relatively good playthrough and some fun with the scenarios.

 

Wordplay, how does it compare to Heroes 3 (which is what I think is the benchmark of the series)?

 

It's an upgrade with horrible voice-acting.

 

Heroes III is the high watermark for the series, and if Heroes V is an upgrade, that's a good thing.

Also, calling Disciples II "advanced" is crazy talk. The Disciples series is enjoyable in its own right, but it's much, much more simplistic than Heroes.

 

Haha oh well, I don't think strong voice acting is really the strength of the Heroes franchise.

 

@ Killjoy: Just don't make any mistake of it: HoMM5 is a sequel. Not the original, nothing revolutionary, and not much new. Just a bare upgrade with prettier graphics and some tweaks.

Disciples 2 is simpler skill- and item-wise, but at the same time more complex due of the capped army-sizes. At max, you can have only 5 units per hero, so each unit really counts. Hopefully they make Disciples 3 someday and make it a grand fínit to the serie.

 

Bits and Bobs of HOMM5:
-Voice acting needed work
-The campain is realy hard (third level of second campain)
-Great music (the music in HOMM4 seemed to be mostly people trying to sing but screaching insted)
-Balenced teams
-Lack of a real "good guy" teem (I think the Haven fraction are nutters whatever anyone else says)

I like the game and I managed to become addicted to Academy (The wizard team)

 

Agree with The Magister. The music is really what's keeping me playing the game. The story twists are telegraphed (I mean, the mission TITLE is "Fall of the King", for Pete's sake!), and the campaigns are too scripted. I don't like being railroaded like this - if the game doesn't want me to exit this map by going north, then don't put a garrison and a road there. Filling the garrison with dozens of Archangels to make it clear that I'm not supposed to go there is just annoying.