Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia
Description official descriptions
Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia takes place long after the ending of Heroes of Might and Magic II: Price of Loyalty and partially concurrently with Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven. Receiving news of her father's death, Catherine Ironfist, Queen of Enroth, sails for Erathia to attend her father's funeral. Fearing the worst, she assembles a military fleet as her escort. Arriving on the coast of Erathia, Catherine finds an allied wizard's tower, devastated from battle and abandoned. There she learns Erathia is falling to its enemies. Mustering local armies, Catherine marches to Erathia's capitol, restoring lost land along the way.
The Restoration of Erathia retains the bulk of the gameplay from its predecessors, with significant additions and modifications. It features 8 entirely distinct towns with 7 creature levels each, but this time all creature levels (save for neutral-only ones) can be upgraded. Also new are war machines, a total of 122 artifacts, overhauled spell list, new and edited map locations, an alignment mechanic which affects interaction with some of the map locations and spells, and 7 single-player campaigns with a vast set of single scenarios which can be played against the AI or other human players.
Spellings
- Герои Меча и Магии III: Возрождение Эрафии - Russian spelling
- 魔法門英雄無敵3 (主程式) - Traditional Chinese spelling
- 魔法门之英雄无敌III:埃拉西亚的光复 - Simplified Chinese spelling
Groups +
- Fantasy creatures: Dragons
- Fantasy creatures: Dwarves
- Fantasy creatures: Elves
- Fantasy creatures: Goblins
- Fantasy creatures: Mermaids / Merpeople
- Fantasy creatures: Minotaurs
- Fantasy creatures: Orcs
- Fantasy creatures: Unicorns
- Games that include map/level editor
- Games with randomly generated environments
- Heroes of Might and Magic series
- Middleware: SDL
- Middleware: Smacker Video
- Might and Magic universe
- Protagonist: Female
- Protagonist: Female (option)
- Protagonist: Royalty
- Sound engine: AIL/Miles Sound System
- White Label releases
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Credits (Linux version)
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 87% (based on 39 ratings)
Players
Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 169 ratings with 11 reviews)
The Good
It's very addictive. I'm not sure exactly WHY it has such high replay value, but even repeating the same scenarios over and over again is a lot of fun. The graphics are good, in my opinion. A turn-based strategy game doesn't NEED top-of-the-line graphics. The backgrounds and creatures are actually beautifully rendered. The only graphics that probably should have been a little more intricate are spell animations. Compared to Heroes II, the AI seems to be more on a level with what is possible for a human player to do. In the previous game, it seemed as though the AI had access to more resources than I did, and that my creatures could therefore never compare. In Heroes III, the AI is more equally matched, and sometimes your computer opponents will fail to take advantage of blatantly obvious opportunities... it's nice to be given a fighting chance. It's a fun multiplayer game for two or three people, although many more than that and it starts to take huge amounts of time to finish. The map builder is a fun feature too--makes you appreciate how difficult it is to create a challenging but win-able scenario.
The Bad
The campaigns are terrible. Each one gives you three scenarios. Without exception, the first two are so easy that they are not any fun--the sole purpose of the first two scenarios is to build up your heroes for the third one. Kind of akin to walking around purposelessly in an RPG to try to get your characters up to level 99... and I HATE doing that. And then, once you finally trudge through to the third scenerio, it is way too hard. The AI has overwhelmingly superior forces from the start. The scenarios are nice moderate levels of difficulty, it would be so nice if the campaigns had been similarly designed.
The Bottom Line
Very fun, very addictive. I didn't exactly lose any sleep over this game, but it is a great way to run out a dull afternoon.
Windows · by hikari_no_tsubasa (9) · 2002
This game has taken up many hours of my life.
The Good
The different varieties of monsters, castles, and magic spells. The map editor was one of my favorite parts of the game.
The Bad
The Inferno group only has one shooter. If it had one more it would have been my favorite group.
The Bottom Line
You start with a castle and you build it up. You can buy buildings to create men and then recruit them, and you can build your mage guild (place where you learn your spells). When you have acquired an adequete army you can try to take over the world!
Windows · by Attila (553) · 2004
I ought to *love* this game, but I don't...
The Good
Awesome graphics. It has wonderful maps and finely detailed buildings. A neat bonus is the underground sections you can explore, and pop up in a different part of the map.
The Bad
I can't help it... I have to compare this game with its predecessor. And by comparison, this game just doesn't measure up :( I wish that it did.
I can't get past how busy the graphics are on the map. Everything is so detailed that it's difficult to spot the important items that you ought to be looking for.
The cities and monsters are more complex than they need to be. I've never gotten past the fact that you have to wave the mouse over just the right place on your city screen to see if it's possible to build a new building.
How many types of cities do you need? Why can't the graphics just be sharpened up and the game play left as it was?
The Bottom Line
HOMM II, but without the simplicity, straightforwardness, and understanding.
Linux · by ex_navynuke! (42) · 2005
Trivia
Mythology
Heroes of Might and Magic III made a complete major screw-up in Greek Mythology. This refers particularly to: the Gorgon and the Medusa.
In Heroes, the Gorgon is a fire breathing/death staring Bull from the swamps. In Greek mythology, the only creatures that closely fits this description are the Khalkotauroi. The Khalkotauroi were a pair of fire-breathing bulls forged from bronze by the Smith God Hephaistos as a gift for Aeetes, King of Kolkhis. These bulls were later killed by famous Greek hero Jason, in his quest for the Golden Fleece.
Now the Gorgon in Greek Mythology actually refered to a race known in Heroes as the Medusa. Gorgons are a race of vile creatures that had hair of live snakes, necks covered with scales, they have tusks similiar to of a boar, golden hands and bronze wings. Oh, and they're famous trade mark: anyone looking at them would be turned to stone (due to their extreme ugliness).
Initially there are 3 known Gorgons (other sources say there were more): Stheno, Euryale and their most famous sister: Medusa. Medusa was later killed by the Greek hero - Perseus.
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Related Sites +
-
Celestial Heavens
Tons of informations and dozens of maps & campaigns -
International Web Site
International Web Site -
Torre de Marfil
Spanish fansite of the saga
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by MAT.
Macintosh added by Kabushi.
Additional contributors: Indra was here, tarmo888, Xoleras, Silverblade, DarkDante, Stratege, Paulus18950, Shu Nin, Patrick Bregger, Plok.
Game added May 27, 2000. Last modified March 31, 2024.