Metareview - Heroes of Might and Magic V
by Alan Rose 
{ May 26th 2006 at 2:05PM }
It's been a trial by fire for Ubisoft and Russian developer Nival Interactive as they have attempted to revitalize the Heroes of Might and Magic franchise. The re-launch of one of the longest running strategy series has suffered delays, beta tester petitions, and negative previews, but Heroes V has finally made its way to store shelves.The game includes a slick new 3D engine, lengthy campaigns, and six colorful factions that fans will instantly recognize. In addition, most of the critics agree that Nival nailed the fundamentals of the traditional Heroes of Might and Magic combat formula. However, a major criticism of Heroes V is its small number of maps, as well as the initial absence of a map editor (due this summer, according to Nival).
- GameSpot (82/100) was impressed with the enhancements to online multiplayer: "Heroes V makes a few efforts to speed up online play by offering options for quick stat-based combat resolution, timed turns, straight hero-versus-hero duels, and the new 'ghost mode'."
- GameSpy (70/100) did a lot of camera spinning: "The switch to 3D, while a successful one, has its drawbacks. The camera is a tad finicky when moving on the underground map. It can be hard to place the camera where you need it and it's also too easy to miss objects that are hiding behind a tree or a mountain."
- Yahoo! Games (70/100) cautions new players unfamiliar with the sometimes complex attack orders and unit stats: "The biggest failing of Heroes V, which you can almost anticipate from its emphasis on looking so good, is that it's stingy with information. And the bad documentation here kills a lot of what makes the series great."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
magic_man @ May 27th 2006 5:03PM
This game looks ok and the demo wasn't bad. I'll wait til the price comes down, though.
darko82 @ May 27th 2006 6:47PM
Has anyone else played this game? Who's going to buy it?
Is it better than HMM IV?
krazyk @ May 30th 2006 9:25PM
I have played HMM V and it is better than 4. It plays more like 3. The 2 biggest problems are the lack of a map editor (one of my favorite features of the series), the book that comes with the game is horrible. It does not tell you anything about the game no skills, spells, or monster info.
owens @ Jun 7th 2006 3:49PM
I'm new to the series and just bought this game. I really do like it. It does come with a number of quirks, but overall the game is very fun and addictive. Of course, I haven't tried the multiplayer yet (and I've heard that it's pretty weak and buggy though). They just came out with a patch though, so maybe those problems are resolved.
Chris @ Jun 27th 2006 7:50PM
A beautiful game, it brings forward a lot of the best of HOMM III and IV in an engine not dissimilar to Warcraft III. The major problem is the lack of multiplayer maps and a map editor. I would not suggest purchasing the game for anything but single player until that is resolved.
kaiser @ Jul 22nd 2006 8:30AM
I have a problem, when I want to install the patch 1.1 I seen the window with: Heroes of Might and Magic V is not installed.Patch cannot be applied.
What I need to do it?Please HELP!
Stephan @ Sep 2nd 2006 1:54PM
I had the same problem. I downloaded heroes_might_magic_5_eu-c_101.zip from gamershell which did not work, then I downloaded heroes_might_magic_5_1.01_eu.exe from ubisofts site which did work. Seems to be a version mismatch.
Regards, Stephan
(who is busy fighting demons at this time :-)
hhookatrophy @ Dec 19th 2006 11:17AM
I am on the invasion sequel of the game and orange player has been eliminated how ever the game goes on and orange bar loads every turn suppose to destroy cyrus with the ring but there no orange players on the map.pc version
Hoang @ Jan 16th 2007 11:51PM
Well, i'm playing the death of Vampire Lord Nicolai, After i killed Nicolai (found the Dwaft Treasures) i saw a path about the end when the elf kill him... but after that the game just broke and jump to the windows Screen...
bartek @ Jan 31st 2007 12:32AM
gret steatergy game