Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia

The Good
The game is a lot of fun and gives you a lot of different races to play around with. The best part about the game is that it is simple enough to learn in less than an hour, but has enough gameplay depth to play for months. The sounds effects and graphics are top notch.

The Bad
I didn't like the fact that network play is only supported with other Linux players and not with players on the Windows version. This is not really Loki's fault since they would have to reverse-engineer DirectPlay in order to be compatible, but it is a disappointment. Also, while gameplay is generally balanced, some of the factions are quite a bit weaker than the other factions in unit strength, and the cheapness of their units doesn't make up for it.

The Bottom Line
This game is in the top of the class of turn-based strategy games. Only the Warlords series and Civilization series equal or exceed its playability and game design.

The Good
Audiovisuals are the best bet of HoMM3. Graphically is pleasant, and creatures are well designed and animated (and it's a TBS game). Music is also excellent, and sound effects don't fall from the standard.

The Bad
Replayability suffers greatly from repetitive gameplay. Although there are many campaigns to choose from, every game quickly becomes the same as the previous. It's a matter of improving your cities as soon as possible, therefore improving your creatures. Then, raise as many creatures as you can: in battle, your best chance is outnumber the enemy, even with weaker units. But most important is to find the best hero/monster/spell combination (like regenerating vampires under command of a hero with Vampire specialty). Once found, the game becomes easy even at the King level.

I don't understand also why forests and hills block travel completely: It's a poor way of simplifying and I think shows the designers paid more attention to visual aspects than to game itself. The list of spells is far from being large, and creatures are actually half of the total, as "minor" versions quickly become obsolete.

Supposedly, the Map Editor expands replayability, but making your own scenario needs patience, too much patience. And what's the fun of exploring a world you already know from head to toes? Perhaps playing maps created by others... but as I said every game is the same.

The Bottom Line
Nothing more to say... I think HoMM3 may appeal more to RPG gamers than Strategy ones, as it focus on Heroes (curiously), and has a strong Fantasy paper-and-pencil RPG feeling.

The Good
Heroes of Might & Magic III is a dangerous game. It belongs to that seemingly innocuous category of turn-based strategy games. Just one more turn... Slow, ponderous gameplay without action that should bore you to death. Of course chess is such a game and it has endured for centuries. And chess has no dragons, knights (well not ones in shining armour anyway), no magic and heroes. It hasn't any beautiful cities to build and expansive maps to explore. No music such as the truly epic score of this game ranging from Celtic pieces to gothic themes inspired by Berlioz. It represents a huge improvement to an already excellent game in almost all respects and it is dangerously addictive. Just one more turn... The different castle types vary aesthetically as much as in tactical terms and the campaigns are challenging and varied. Heroes have more skills and their specializations make them interesting and unique. Battles are a treat for any aspiring tactician and the choice of skills has a definite impact on the effectiveness of any particular strategic approach. Hot-seat is an added bonus, and it was greatly appreciated by many players. And it only adds to the game's huge addiction factor. Just one more turn...

The Bad
The music, although easily within the top 20 game soundtracks of all time is not quite as good as the stunning operatic pieces of the previous game. Some people disliked the shift from the story book, slightly comical 2D graphical look of HOMM 2 to the more "serious" pseudo-3D creatures of this game. Some creatures still look funny, such as the cute imps, but overall the creatures appear more somber than before. Some may find the resource system cumbersome and the magic system is a little imbalanced in higher spell levels. The same goes for Might versus Magic. Any hero without at least some magic is going to suffer in battle. Finally, hero specializations are interesting, but make some heroes potentially more powerful than others.

The Bottom Line
This game has dominated my life until the sequel appeared and I returned to it yet again. It's not that the sequel was not a worthy successor. It just didn'r have the same lasting appeal of its predecessor. I've brought many first-time gamers into the fold with this game and not one of them has forgotten it, not even those who mocked the game before they tried it. A Warning to the Wise: Do NOT try playing Heroes of Might and Magic III for the first time if you do not have lots of time to spare. LOTS of time.