Heroes of Might and Magic: Complete Edition

The Good
First, the Heroes of Might and Magic is a great series of tactical games based on a classic fantasy setting. If you like those two elements, you're likely to like this series. There are endless discussions weather part II part III or even party IV or Vis the best. It doesn't really matter; it's a great series because the programmers did a lot of things right. There background story is interesting. The fantasy setting has tons of details. There are hundreds of playable creatures. Unique heroes. Special abilities. Useful magic. Tons of maps. Long campaigns. Many different fractions which use individual strategies. Cut-scenes. Everything. Even the AI is, why still no real challenge for an expert, not half as dumb as in many other games.

And all that comes in a really nice box with some extras. It'll look great on your shelf and kill your social contacts for weeks - unless you play mulitplayer (lan, online or per mail!).

The Bad
Each game has some weaknesses, but many of those weaknesses can be discussed. Some thing the heroes-in-combat model of part IV sucks. Others think it's great. I could go on now, but those flaws mainly depend on personal taste.

There, however, one aspect that does not fall into this category: HOMM Complete is not complete. Sure, it contains all part of the main series (released till then), but King's Bounty is missing. Yeah, it does not have "Heroes" in the title, but that nearly all. Play that game for five minutes and you'll see it's indeed HOMM Zero. Why couldn't they include that? It was released on some six systems, even on DOS (though the Amiga version has better graphics and the NES version is in real-time)! Okay, maybe it's not 100% HOMM. And it's an old game. I can live with that.

But where, where are the Heroes Chronicles!? And don't tell me "it's not Heroes of Might and Magic, it's a series of its own". That's not true! The four Heroes Chronicles games use the same engine, the same graphics, the same everything as part III! And, most important, they story of Heroes Chronicles links the stories of part III and IV.If you finish part III and start with part IV, you will be like "What the hell is going on?". This would be the one chance to create a Heroes III Complete that is really complete.

The Bottom Line
I felt cheated. Really. Why get a complete edition when it's not complete? Unless you are the most die-hard fan, better purchase the games individually. It's not as expensive.