Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Eratha (‘HOMM’ going forward) is the third game of the series, which went to become one of the most popular games of the franchise, even after twenty years!
It was released in March 1999 by New World Computing and featured two expansion packs: Armageddon’s Blade and The Shadow of Death. While these two are the official expansion packs, there is an active modding community keeping the game fresh even after all these years.
HOMM 3 maintained some core aspects of the prequels. Aside from the updated look, Heroes III refined the castles, heroes, artifacts, primary and secondary skills, magic system, and so on. It took the best things out of the first two games and combined them into an amalgamation of beauty.
Gameplay consists of a strategic exploration of the world map and tactical turn-based combat. As with the series in general, the player controls several “heroes” who act as generals and command troops comprising various types of creatures inspired by myth and legend. The player can complete or “win” a map by achieving the objectives set out by the creator of the map. Objectives may include conquering all the towns in the map, gathering a set amount of resources, or piecing together a puzzle to find the Grail artifact. If a player loses all of their towns they will have seven-game days to capture a new town. If they fail to do so, they lose, and the game ends. If a player loses all their heroes and towns, they will lose the game.
Positive Aspects:
– Diverse units, which can be upgraded to higher tiers;
– A lot of town and heroes, which makes every game unique;
– Colorful visuals;
– Engaging gameplay, from choosing a faction to selecting the way you customize the hero;
– Multiple difficulties in choosing from;
– Multiplayer is still alive and updated frequently.
Negative Aspects:
– Difficult to master;
– Several overpowered tactics (ex. Diplomacy);
– Elitist players in Multiplayer.
The most significant change compared to the previous two games, is multiplayer, which was created by the heroes community. There are multiple balance changes to the game, which makes it much more enjoyable and keeps it fresh. The community also added a new town and will add a second one in early 2020.
The game was praised by critics and received 90% out of 100% by GameRankings, 9/10 IGN, 8,8/10 by PC Gaming Magazine.
Multiplayer helped establish new meta and strategies; the games are fast-paced and can be tailored to the player’s needs. If you would like to enjoy multiplayer as well, all you need is a copy of Heroes 3 & the ‘Horn of the Abyss’ addon, which can be downloaded from the Heroes Community website.
The game was truly revolutionary at the time and is still active to this day, showing an insane staying power on the market. It is my favorite childhood game, and for many active players, it was as well. Stay tuned for more HOMM reviews in the next days.
