Chasing the Ghost of a Legend
Heroes of Might and Magic holds a special place in my heart. While I grew up playing primarily on consoles, I did get to enjoy the occasional PC game. This of course included cultural phenomena like The Sims and Rollercoaster Tycoon. But it also included the less known, but still beloved by its fans, Heroes of Might and Magic games. More specifically, Heroes of Might and Magic III, which balanced map exploration, combat, and city management beautifully, to create a fun and replayable strategy game that was great both solo and with friends.
While there have been several entries in the series since then, many have changed the formula in ways that have been received both positively and negatively. But, for me, these later entries never quite recaptured the magic of Heroes III. Which is why Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, which clearly plays on that nostalgia and appears to return to that game’s structure, immediately caught my interest.
Replicating the Classic Formula
Right away, Unfrozen and Hooded Horse have managed to replicate much of the formula that made Heroes of Might and Magic III so engaging. Map navigation, combat, and city management all feel like they did years ago, in the best way possible.
The core gameplay cycle is focused on your hero units, which can move around the map to collect resources, claim mines and castles, and battle enemy units and other heroes. The gold and resources gathered by these heroes is then used to build up your fortress and recruit new units and heroes.
Combat occurs on a hexagonal grid, where each unit will take up a number of spaces, making the most of different attack and movement patterns. Some units need to shamble across the map, while others can fly or teleport past objects and hazards. Different units will attack in different ways, from classic melee and ranged attacks, to special area attacks. Units that are recruited can be stacked together or separated into multiple units to move around the combat arena. Stacking many units increases their attack damage, but it limits their mobility and actions compared to splitting them up.
Spells and Smites
The hero unit will also have spells and unique abilities they can use during the combat sequence to affect the tide of battle. Think of the likes of throwing a fireball at groups of enemies, or smiting the strongest unit on the field to balance out the encounter. There are many different ways to approach combat, and it all feels similar, yet also improved on.
Many of the classic systems have been expanded, instead of modified. This means more structures to build, more options for interacting with and customizing hero units, and quality of life features in combat that weren’t present in Heroes III. Some of these mechanics were present in later entries, and they’ve managed to take them and incorporate them into the Heroes III formula in a way that doesn’t dilute or take away from the experience, creating something new, but familiar.
This is all subject to change of course as Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is still in Game Preview and early access. That means bugs need to be handled, balancing can happen, and features can get removed or added that change the experience. Foundationally though, Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era seems to be taking all its steps in the right direction.
Graphically, the 3D art style has taken the place of the old school pixel sprites, which is honestly something that the series used to do incredibly well, and I do prefer that to the newer art direction. But that’s something that can be looked past with good gameplay, which Olden Era is prioritizing.
Beyond the Campaign
The game features a campaign, which isn’t fully complete yet (remember, Early Access!), but it does provide guided and unique mission objectives to help ease players into the mechanics. Especially those unfamiliar with the series.
There are also challenges that allow players to engage with specific aspects of the gameplay to hone those skills, as well as custom games. These custom games bring opportunity to play against other players or bots on various pre-made maps. Each player and bot can have their specific army type pre-selected or randomized, and these army types affect the types of spells and skills heroes use. Further, it changes the structures they build in their fortress, along with the types of units they can recruit, and what resources they need to prioritize.
During the course of a game though, it’s possible to sack other fortresses and make them your own, as well as recruit heroes from other factions that use different spells and start with unique units. The goal of the custom game is to conquer the map, making every fortress yours and defeating all enemy heroes. It’s also possible to lose your fortress, but manage to claim another with your surviving hero or heroes and rebuild as an entirely new army.
More Than Just a Nostalgia Trip
As mentioned, there are new mechanics and features that have been added to Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, so this is far from simply a rehash of old successes, which is always a concern with games that play into nostalgia. But they all come back to create an experience that both old and new fans of the series can enjoy.
While it’s not perfect and there is more work to be done, I am genuinely excited at the prospect of what is to come with Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era.
You’ll find Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era on the Xbox Store and Steam, currently playable in Game Preview and Early Access on PC. It’s included in Game Pass Ultimate and PC tiers too.
