Hero's Hour Review (PC)

One big Phoenix is moving across the map, targeting enemy archers, while my hero stays back, flinging fireballs and healing to stabilize my line and limit the enemy’s effectiveness. It’s not a question of if I win this battle but of how much I can limit my losses. Just as my cannon finish off a big enemy hero, I hold off from using a final fireball. I might need the mana for another engagement soon, with at least one enemy castle somewhere on the periphery of my sightlines. To make my assault more likely to succeed I plan to meet another of my heroes and strip him of troops, maybe even fight a neutral army to get experience and gain another level.

Hero’s Hour was created by Benjamin Hauer, with publishing handled by Goblinz Publishing and Maple Whispering Limited. The title is available on the PC via Steam. It offers an at once modern and retro take on the classic Heroes of Might & Magic experience.

There’s little in the way of a narrative in the game, which has no traditional campaign, but there is lore. The game features 11 factions, each with its own set of creatures. It’s important to get to know them and the in-game lexicon is a great source. Make sure to also read about items, spells, and abilities, to get ideas about the best ways to develop heroes and kingdoms.

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The focus of Hero’s Hour is on the two layers of gameplay: turn-based strategy and real-time battles. On the lovely map, gamers will control heroes, who ride along with their army, claiming resources, exploring points of interest, deciding where to try and expand next, or trying to find buried treasure. Castles are the other point of interest. Players will create and upgrade buildings, sometimes choosing between types of troops, other times unlocking magical spells or other advantages for their faction. These elements feel lifted almost entirely from Heroes of Might & Magic and work well.

The big tweak in Hero’s Hour is that combat is not centered on turns and hexes like players might expect after engaging with the strategy layer. Instead, the game delivers real-time action with no direct control over the various troops the player army fields. Gamers can put forces in formation and loosely direct them. But the player character mainly exists to buff his own forces and to launch spells that can turn the tide of an encounter.

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I didn’t like the lack of control at first. But once I accepted the terms of the game, I came to appreciate why the developer made the choice. Limited control means it is more important to wisely choose which troops to put in the field and which skills to focus on for the hero that leads them. Equipment and spell choice (linked to mana management) play a smaller but still important role, especially when facing high-level enemy heroes. The focus on strategy over tactics also means that the game moves at a faster pace than a more traditional design.

The 11 featured factions play very differently, and there’s even more variation when it comes to heroes. It really pays off to read about units and to watch fights to understand behaviors. I had my greatest successes with heroes that emphasized boosts for their entire force and the ability to revive forces after an encounter. But I was also heavily defeated by enemies that struck with spells I didn’t yet know and fielded only the biggest and most powerful creatures.

Hero’s Hour does not look like any of the modern Heroes of Might and Magic games and uses a low-fi pixel design to its advantage. The strategic map is easy to understand and fun to explore. Things get messier during the real-time battles, but the relative lack of control limits the readability issues. The soundtrack, despite being as retro as the visuals, is the highlight of the game’s presentation. It switches between themes quickly and all the songs are catchy, providing solid background for the strategic gameplay.

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