Valiens Nantaris
Head Admin
So…in the deep dark days of 1996 when I was just finishing primary school, my neighbour got a magazine with a demo. It was a demo for Heroes of Might & Magic 2 (after this HOMM2). It was fun to play, if a bit confusing. My friend moved away, time moved on, but I always remembered it.
And then, just before Xmas I was waiting for DA3 to install (and it was a long time to wait) and I thought of it again, for it for a couple of dollars on Steam and went for a nostalgia romp.
The results were…unexpectedly brilliant! The game has a simple elegance about it which the more complex and flashy later titles have always lacked. It’s deceptively simple, yet very hard to master well, and requires sound strategic thinking and management.
So here, 18 and a bit years later, is my review.
And then, just before Xmas I was waiting for DA3 to install (and it was a long time to wait) and I thought of it again, for it for a couple of dollars on Steam and went for a nostalgia romp.
The results were…unexpectedly brilliant! The game has a simple elegance about it which the more complex and flashy later titles have always lacked. It’s deceptively simple, yet very hard to master well, and requires sound strategic thinking and management.
So here, 18 and a bit years later, is my review.
- Graphics: 8/10. The graphics are simplistic, mainly bitmaps, wide overheads and almost cartoony…and yet they hold up really well even today! There was a brief period in PC gaming where things had moved from the pixel mess of the early 90s, but before things moved to the poor early 3D of the late 90s. This period had bright, clear graphics, obviously dated now, but not horribly so. So taking into account the times and the fact they are still highly effective today, I give this a high score.
- Sound: 7/10. Though there is no voice acting, the sounds are good and the music is actually rather brilliant. It does the job and the music doesn’t get boring. There are games released today with far worse scores.
- Gameplay: 9/10. For what this game sets out to accomplish it achieves wonderfully. The six types of armies are well balanced, the combat system is simple yet elegant and the spell choices add a lot of depth. There are of course downsides, and it lacks the complexity of a modern game, but for its time it was brilliant. Even now it’s engrossing enough to play almost 19 years after release!
- Story/Plot: 6/10. HOMM2 suffers here due to limitations of the engine. It’s hard to blame them, but the campaigns feel much like Warcraft 2 – somewhat interconnected levels without much scripting or plot. Still, it was effective for the time.
