14 DAY TRIAL // 
When I first encountered my first Heroes of Might & Magic game I was probably 13 years old and it was awe inspiring, more complex than anything else I could play on my home computer, much more difficult to understand than Dune 2. I was always on my back heel and every victory felt earned.
Then I got my hands on Heroes III and my turn based fantasy universe was again expanded with the tough yet delightful adventures of Queen Catherine and the elf Gelu and the hint of catastrophe that was always in the air. Unfortunately the cataclysm that followed created two underwhelming games, IV and V, which led me to take a long break from the Heroes of Might & Magic series.
Now Ubisoft and Black Hole Entertainment have launched Might & Magic Heroes VI, which is a pretty radical reinvention for the series but fails to deliver on its potential and further clouds the good memories I had of the second and third games in this series.
Story
It's clear that the developers were trying to set Might & Magic Heroes VI as a sort of grandiose mix between themes like faith, politics, the nature of evil, something akin maybe to the A Song of Fire and Ice series. The setup seems pretty promising, with an Empire that is lead by angels that might not be what they seem and an assassination which brings trouble just as a horde of Demons is set to invade the land.
The main protagonist are also members of the same family and they all engage in the kind of psychological based drama with added swords and sorcery that could be right at home in a low budget series set during a fantasy generic universe on a channel like Syfy.
Unfortunately this is the Heroes of Might & Magic series (or the Might & Magic Heroes series, according to the new naming conventions used) and it has managed to deliver complex, political stories in both the second and the third games in the franchise and it's simply unacceptable to me as a fan that modern developers cannot do the same, considering the wealth of backstory and concepts that they could use.
Gameplay The Might & Magic Heroes formula implies two turn based layers: one which is strategic, allowing players to develop cities, explore a map, recruit creatures and tag resources, and one that is tactical, with armies of creatures, with support from their heroes, engaging each other for control of the battlemap.
The changes are that heroes are no weaker even when fully decked out in battle gear and that most troops now have special abilities that actively shape the way the various races are played. There are also less tiers for the cities to build, more skills for heroes and a sort of zone of control feature is implemented on the battle map, which ties mine control to cities and makes the stealing resources mini-game all but impossible.
It's a rather simple concept which allows for variety, engagement, a lot of involvement with the heroes and some pretty brutal battles for control over resources, artifacts and castles.
Even for the first mission, playing on the Normal difficulty level and trying to just get to the last battle and defeat the enemy hero, the difficulty feels badly adjusted. It's not that the game is hard but that it's poorly balanced, with the player unable to recruit more than one type of troops from his dwelling, which forced me to sit and just push End Turn for two weeks to get enough soldiers to stand a chance in end of the level fight. Things do not get better for the rest of the campaigns, which at least have variety when it comes to motivations and to the troops available to the player hero.
Most level design is also pretty uninspired, as the whole world feels less like a living, breathing thing than like a series of quest corridors that heroes are funneled through on the road to their respective objectives.
And the game experience is not helped by the way the enemy Artifical Intelligence is coded, with one very powerful hero always standing in their home base, serving as an obstacle to any quick assault, while lesser minions move around the map, mostly stealing forts and mines, but unable to actually challenge the player controlled heroes (as long as they are properly commanded). It also seems that the A.I. gets to cheat by seeing all the map and getting some extra units each week for its stacks.
Of course, should that very powerful hero actually move the player would be at a severe disadvantage so he actually needs to be still but the weirdness of the mechanics only underlines the bad balancing that the developers have done for Might & Magic Heroes VI.
The overall design of Might & Magic Heroes VI is also missing some of the grace and the simplicity of Heroes III, which I still consider the high point of the series.
Players also need to keep in mind that Might & Magic Heroes VI is one of the those Ubisoft titles that needs to be always connected in order to be played, which means that if you have a problematic connection this game might frustrate you. There are some benefits to the always online concept, including the fact that a number of rewards can be redeemed, special leveled up items can be used and the achievements of the player are tracked. It also means that all of this is absent when the connection drops and progress can also be a casualty if you have not saved before being dragged back to the main menu.
Graphics and audio
When it comes to looks Might & Magic Heroes VI really delivers, especially if you have a machine that can support full anti-aliasing and the options all set on High. The colors are crisp and the world looks like something worth fighting over. The characters and the monsters move seamlessly around the battlefield and the special attack animations are impressive to look at the first couple of times, even if they will become annoying after a player has hundreds of battles under his belt.
My main gripe with the presentation is that cities are no longer covering the entire screen with their buildings, something that could have looked really cool with the new engine and some animations, but reside in a small screen where the player will be more focused on building and recruiting rather than on admiring his creation.
The in game cutscenes are also pretty good, even though some characters are a little block like and some movements seem unnatural. They do a good job of setting up the various scenarios and a couple of times I even smiled at the banter between some of the characters.
The voice work is weaker than the graphics, with some of the characters sounding as if they were forced to read their lines. The music is well suited to the fantasy space, soaring when big battles are ahead and dropping down to show that evil things are afoot.
Multiplayer
There are 14 maps that gamers can choose for multiplayer games (they are also available for matches against the computer) and they are pretty varied, although long term fans will quickly grumble about needing more after choosing the two or three which are best suited for games.
It's easy to set up a game and go online using the interface that Ubisoft has created but those interested should be warned that the big maps can take quite a few hours to complete so chose players who are ready to commit to the whole experience.
The gameplay mechanics, both in the turn based battles and on the strategic map, are solid and the game looks pretty great but the overall feeling is that it lacks a bit of soul, with a story that makes little sense and an overall art style that seems too clean and stylized for this series. Long term fans of the Heroes franchise should pick this up just to polish their skills and see how the future looks for their favorite series while those who are new to this game universe would be well served by tracking down a copy of the complete edition of Heroes of Might & Magic III and playing that and moving on to VI only if they fall in love with what they see and play.
The Good
The Bad
Conclusion
