Heroes of Might and Magic Olden Era Preview - The Fan in Me is Cautious

Probably many players, along with me, thought that Ubisoft decided to forget about the Heroes of Might and Magic series and never look at it again. Almost a decade has passed since the release of the seventh installment, which, to put it mildly, was not well received. However, the time of redemption and trial is coming, as the new game will be a prequel to the entire series. We are returning to the planet Enroth, more specifically to the Jadame continent. The new Heroes were announced during Webedia’s Find Your Next Game event at gamescom.

We are to learn about the events before the first game, meaning the arrival of Lord Ironfist on Enroth. Older gamers will meet familiar characters, and newcomers get a chance to enter a universe that is several decades old.

By fans for fans

Heroes of Might and Magic Olden Era is developed by Unfrozen studio. The team's portfolio so far only included the well-received Iratus: Lord of the Dead. Now we know what Unfrozen has been doing for the last few years, as they announced that they already have a lot of ready material: the core of the gameplay, all mechanics, interface, map editor, random map generator, arena mode, and online mode.

I had the opportunity to watch Unfrozen's presentation on HoMM Olden Era and I saw what the game they were working on looked like. The developers call themselves big fans of the series, and their main inspiration was supposed to be the most popular game in the series - Heroes 3. Some elements reveal that Unfrozen actually wants to return to the past.

In Olden Era, models on the world map or during battles are three-dimensional, but the camera is locked, giving the impression of a 2D look. One of the more enjoyable elements of the new game is the use of designs from the third Heroes. Seeing the stone of knowledge, the star, the observatory, or the dragon utopia, I felt like Leonardo DiCaprio pointing his finger in that scene in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.

Olden Era is supposed to be HoMM 3+

The developers have repeatedly emphasized that the third installment of the series is the basis for their game. At the same time, however, they want to add something extra, so that people who have been playing the same game for over 25 years can experience something new. The question is, will the gamers want this? After all, if they got bored of playing HoMM 3, they would simply stop playing. The changes shown, however, do not seem to be invasive enough to discourage the fans. At least for now.

The gameplay's core remains the same, which is to expand our cities, gather resources, and fight opponents. The devil is in the details (but in Olden Era there are no devils in Inferno or they were not shown) and familiar systems have received something extra or were slightly changed.

Among other things, all units in the army are to have active skills, so even a common peasant has something to offer other than being cannon fodder. The heroes' abilities received an interesting modification. When choosing a new level of a given skill (or a completely new one), we also decide on how to upgrade it. For example, advanced command gives +2 to army morale - however, we can also choose a bonus that gives us +1% chance for an additional turn for the unit for each morale point -1 to enemy army morale or +5 morale until the end of the next turn for the unit, if it received negative morale in its turn. Of course, players will quickly check which bonuses are the most valuable.

The artifacts have also undergone changes. From what I understand, it appears that all items are to be divided into sets. If it consists of six items, then you only need to collect three to unlock all the bonuses, so you won't have to hunt down all the artifacts to unlock the boosts you're interested in.

Not all changes were explained, although they were shown. For example, in cities, each unit has its three versions: basic and two upgraded ones. However, I don't know if, like in the fifth game, we have two options to choose from, or if the developers chose the dragon path from the second Heroes, which means upgrading a given monster twice.

The soul of HoMM 3 in mobile graphics

The things I like least about HoMM Olden Era are the graphics and interface. The whole thing looks like a mobile game, and the most stereotypical one at that. It's very colorful and cartoony. The graphics affect the reception of the entire game and even the city models, which are usually an element I really like in Heroes of Might and Magic games, didn't impress me.

The models of units look more serious. They could be used in any strategy or RPG on smartphones and no one would notice. However, the interface is close to that of the sixth Heroes and it also lacks that "something". I realize that visually the UI in HoMM 3 was very simple, but apart from that, the game had a very atmospheric presentation. Olden Era lacks this – for now. However, I take into account that this is not the final version of the game yet.

Personally, I'm also not convinced by the battlefields made from hexagons. I would prefer an option to enable grid, and the current looks to me like the developers were inspired too much by Songs of Conquest, a game that has a very specific style where everything works together. In Olden Era this approach clashes too much with the rest of the graphic design.

Maybe the reception will be better when I hear the music. It was not present at all in the presented materials, which could have affected my perception. I hope that Paul Romero is working on the score. Without his work, the Heroes of Might and Magic series wouldn't be the same.

Reviving a corpse or a worthy successor?

I'm definitely feeling excited about the new installment of Heroes of Might and Magic. Finally, the "Heroes" in the title returns to its place, and the logo inspired by the font from the fourth game also refers to the good old times (although probably not for everyone). The announcement suggests that we may get a good game. Although the artistic direction seems like it is not working, but if the gameplay is good, the graphics won't matter.

However, my concerns are related to other elements of the game. Everyone surely remembers the performance and AI problems in HoMM7. This ruined the chances of the game's success and this cannot happen again with Olden Era. We don't know yet how the servers will handle online gaming. Such technical elements can affect the reception of Olden Era. There is also the brand recognition. If it was Unfrozen who came up with the idea of creating a prequel, they just added work for themselves. If the campaign is weak, many fans will not forgive them.

There is also the monetization issue. Initially, the game will feature six different cities. However, the developers want to add new ones with DLC. Yes, "DLC", not "expansion". Maybe I'm a little bit paranoid, but this could mean monetization, the growth of which may later discourage new people from buying the game, because the basic Olden Era will seem like a lacking product.

However, I will definitely add the game to my wishlist and will be observing the progress in early access. I want the game to be successful, but I remain skeptical. I'm most curious whether Unfrozen will manage to distract the HoMM 3 HotA players who have been involved in the professional scene for years for an extended period of time. This would require Olden Era to be an outstanding game.