Heroes of Might and Magic 7 comments. Might & Magic: Heroes VII – review. Who will come to us with a sword...
The Germans Limbic Entertainment were given a difficult and very important task: to return “Heroes” to its former popularity. The reputation of the cult strategy series was significantly damaged by the previous studio, which was responsible for the development of Heroes 6: the authors introduced too many dubious innovations to the classic game formula.
Fortunately, Limbic did not repeat the mistakes of its predecessor. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, the new developers went back to basics and borrowed the best ideas from past Heroes. This approach turned out to be correct: looking ahead, let's reveal the main thing - Might & Magic Heroes 7 is incredibly difficult to tear yourself away from.
Anyone who has played the third or fifth part will immediately understand the mechanics of the new “Heroes”: we build a city, hire units, send the hero to explore the surrounding area, collect resources, loot and fight neutral monsters or enemy commanders. Factions in Heroes 7 again have unique features that were not present in the sixth part: for example, necromancers can again resurrect skeletons at the end of the battle, and the sorcerers of the Academy use the most powerful elemental spells to support their soldiers.
Factional features, combined with an improved role-playing system (heroes have dozens of skills to choose from), make battles much more interesting and deeper in tactical terms: the number of different builds in Heroes 7 is huge, and mastering each one will take a lot of time.
To win in battle, the player must know which units and hero abilities interact most effectively. For example, when playing for the Academy of Magic, you must remember that the phoenix bird Simurgh increases the damage from all spells when it attacks an enemy, so it should be used exclusively in conjunction with the magician hero.
The heroes' skills play a decisive role not only in battle, but also on the strategic map. Now commanders can take on the responsibilities of governors: characters who specialize in managing settlements can improve the financial condition of the faction and speed up the construction of buildings in the city where they are located.
City development in Might & Magic Heroes 7 is a fusion of concepts and ideas from the fourth and fifth parts: here you need to move up the technology tree to construct new structures. At the same time, some elite buildings are mutually exclusive: in the same city of necromancers you cannot simultaneously build a castle for hiring death riders and a cemetery for bone dragons. This creates additional strategic dilemmas and at the same time encourages you to replay the same factions to see all the game's content.
Despite the fact that Might & Magic Heroes 7 is perceived as the quintessence of the entire series, the Limbic project still falls short of ideal. The main criticism of the game is the uninteresting campaign and weak plot, written at the level of a cheap paper fantasy. However, for most fans of “Heroes” this is not such a problem, because the franchise is primarily valued for its online battles.
In addition, the art style of Heroes 7 leaves much to be desired, especially compared to the fifth part: the game lacks its own identity, it looks like an ordinary project for smartphones, and not a AAA strategy from a major publisher.
Be that as it may, the unremarkable art style and weak story campaign practically do not spoil the overall impression of the whole great game. Might & Magic Heroes 7 brought back important features of the series that were missing in the sixth part (unique faction features, a comprehensive role-playing system) and only slightly modernized them without touching the basics. As a result, the seventh “Heroes” turned out to be modern and at the same time recognizable. But more importantly, the Limbic project, like the cult Heroes 3, is seriously addictive: this is a game that will steal all your time and ask for more.
You can buy Might & Magic Heroes 7 for PC at (RUB 1,999)
Another attempt by Ubisoft to surpass the legendary and standard third part of the heroes, as usual, was not crowned with success.
Previous versions of this game stood out for their innovative ideas, and Might and Magic: Heroes 7- a release collected from scraps of previous parts, designed to melt the hearts of fans of the third part.
Development of Might and Magic: Heroes 7
It’s very interesting how the developers, considering the third part of the game as a reference, which they constantly talked about, were able to make something so different from the classic Heroes? Promising to take all the best from the previous parts, they were clearly thinking about some other things.
The most interesting thing is that Ubisoft created the game by actively listening to the opinions of the gaming community. A special website was even opened The Shadow Council, where they invited people to vote on a variety of things that would be introduced into the game. Unfortunately, most of the surveys came down to the choice of appearance or name, which influenced the result only visually.
Overall, it feels like money was wasted on the game. There is no innovation, no zest, not even decent campaign design. You involuntarily begin to ask yourself why you tried to revive a dead man? After all, there are not so many fans of the game, and there are not more of them every day. Growing gamers will not be interested in either the seventh or the third part; now other games are in trend, where you need to think much less.
Graphics Might and Magic: Heroes 7
The game itself looks beautiful, but the mini-map, hero window and other panels are terrible in both image quality and design. Is it really possible in 2015 to prevent players from seeing bulging pixels and carelessly cropped images? Or was this made specifically for fans of the third part?
Ubisoft demonstrated the wonders of logical thinking, taking as a basis the graphics engine Unreal Engine 3, which is not very suitable for such games. We do not know how they were supposed to optimize it for the seventh part of Heroes, but we see that the developers did not really succeed.
Many probably remember the barrage of criticism against the sixth part? Probably, everything was so bad there that the developers decided to start from scratch. As a result, the seventh part came out terribly slow, the stupid AI walks for ages, and every now and then you encounter some glitches. For example, some players simply stopped spending mana, others’ heroes stopped attacking, freezing in place, and after hundreds of clicks they instantly made several attacks in a row.
Maybe all these sacrifices were for the sake of graphics? Yes, the landscape is not bad and sometimes even very beautiful, but decorative ruins and ubiquitous weather effects litter the map so much that sometimes it becomes unclear where to run.
Once again, for comparison, we will have to turn to the third heroes, where the map was similar to the board game, this is exactly the kind of map that players would like to see in subsequent parts of the heroes. Leave weather effects and decorations for the design of cities and screensavers for companies. The map turned out to be almost an exact copy of the fifth part in terms of visual implementation.
Another banal flaw: different animation speeds of creatures during battle. Some run as if stung, others barely move. This can be corrected by manually adjusting the animation speed on each of the monsters, but the sediment remains.
Pros of Might and Magic: Heroes 7
Several sensible ideas came to the developers. The most noticeable improvement is the cancellation of all simplifications that were introduced in the sixth part. The developers have made compromises in many aspects, for example, in the zone of influence of castles, mines can now be captured, but they will be returned to the owner after 3 days.
Changes for the better appeared in the development of the hero and the reconstruction of the castle. From now on, there is no place for chance here. The skills available for learning are now determined by the choice of hero, and the order of learning is chosen by the player. The basis for this system was the “wheel of skills”, again from the fifth part of Heroes.
Finally, they introduced mutually exclusive buildings in castles, which were promised for a very long time. Now players have a new strategic mini-game, they need to think about what resources and units the castle will produce, and what bonuses the guest hero will receive and several smaller nuances.
Creatures have grades: now there are ordinary, elite and legendary warriors. There are again two types of the latter, but the player can only hire one type in each castle.
The lock security system has also been upgraded. It was separated from the growth of creatures and now, by improving fortifications, you also strengthen the garrisons that are responsible for defense. So even if the main army is far from the castle, it is not so defenseless. Steward heroes now receive special skills that will help in the defense of the castle. Each race has its own fighting machines, and mage guilds can be customized to suit you.
Espionage has also been changed and simplified for the better; now you can simply buy the information we are interested in from spies. Caravans also work very well.
The game has normal multiplayer and a map editor has been added, now players will be able to finish the game themselves in order to play normally in online mode.
Cons of Might and Magic: Heroes 7
The battle mechanics are quite interesting if you turn off the part of the brain that perceives crooked animation. Attacks from the flanks and back deal more damage, but this has changed little, because the main thing during the battle is not to inflict maximum damage, but to save more creatures. Consequently, very rarely will units go behind the backs of enemies, thereby exposing their back.
The creatures’ special abilities and racial bonuses are not impressive; one gets the feeling that you just need to take a monster that is stronger in terms of defense and attack parameters. Combat magic is too powerful compared to utility spells and battle cries. All this makes the fights a little boring.
A little more about computer intelligence. During a game with bots, some kind of confusion occurs: armies are burned in fiery walls, cities are left unprotected, half of the resources on the map are untouched, there are so many units in the castles that there is enough for another full-fledged army. The computer's turn takes so much time that you can play 5 turns in the third part of Heroes.
The game balance is also not very good. Thanks to randomness, you can get the ability to shoot across the entire map already in the first moves. There is always some kind of garbage in the spell book, half of the artifacts and items simply do not work.
Well, I already talked about the horrors of the interface.
Price and quality Might and Magic: Heroes 7
Considering all of the above, we can safely not recommend Might and Magic: Heroes 7 for purchase right away; wait for discounts, bonuses and patches. One gets the impression that the game was created only to get another portion of money from fans of the series. At the same time, Ubisoft clearly neglected the quality of its product. At a considerable price, you get a rather crude mixture of the third and fifth Heroes.
Might and Magic: Heroes 7 System Requirements
Minimum:
Processor: Intel Core i5 660 3.3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 @ 3.2 GHz
RAM: 4 GB
Video card: NVidia GeForce GTX460 or AMD Radeon HD5850 (1GB video memory)
OS: Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8/8.1 (64bit versions)
Processor: Intel Core i5 2400 @ 3.1 GHz or AMD FX-6100 @ 3.3 GHz
RAM: 6 GB
Video card: NVidia GeForce GTX670 or AMD Radeon HD7870 (2GB video memory)
Video Might and Magic: Heroes 7
A month after the release, Ubisoft released a video with lessons that will make it easier for beginners to complete Might and Magic: Heroes 7:
“These guys can take a punch pretty well,” a fleeting thought flashed through when a brigade of four thousand crossbowmen simultaneously fired a hail of arrows at a hundred magical giants, after which only one of them remained standing on his stone legs. At such moments you can’t help but think: when does victory come? With the fall of the last enemy castle, or when you realize that your army no longer has equals?
The story of Heroes of Might and Magic is full of ups and downs. If the even parts followed a dangerous path of experimentation, then the odd ones always returned it to its roots. But is this the kind of return fans of the series were waiting for? The answer is somewhere nearby, in the review of the game “Might and Magic: Heroes VII”.
- My God! Treasure chest! I'm rich!
- Third level, and already considers herself rich. Nubye...
"The Big Bang Theory" (2008)
Astrologers have announced a week of bugs
Productivity is halved.
If you were to ask me what feelings and emotions the seventh “Heroes” evokes, one word would come to mind - fatigue. When one map captivates you for more than three hours, and there’s barely enough time for the entire campaign, you feel like after a grueling day of work, where there was no place for rest.
But instead of internal satisfaction, there is only bewilderment, emptiness and the question “what was that all about?” New part legendary series burns so much time not because game process fascinating, but because everything in it works to delay time, from the insidious opponents with their dozens of heroes dancing in circles in their possessions, to the loading speed and playback of animation in battle.
The effects of the week have become many times greater. Some are funny, and some are extremely useful. Banning ranged attacks or not countering can dramatically affect the outcome of the game.
It’s time to recall our review of the sixth “Heroes” expansion and understand that either the experience of Ubisoft’s past releases did not teach us anything, or the publisher was aware of the possible problems, but they seemed acceptable to him to launch the third stage of beta testing. No longer due to volunteers, but through the efforts of angry customers who managed to strike back with a series of negative reviews.
You can argue that in time everything will be fixed, technical side you will be smart and the game generally has great potential, but you will never be right. All the problems of the “Seven” will not be solved either by patches made in haste, or by full-scale additions with new factions and campaigns - they can bring the patient back to life, but not raise him to the level of the cult “Troika” or even the despised “Six” by many.
Bugs of the seventh "Heroes". Note #1. Incorrect work lighting. In fact, this is a desert and it is far from night.
The root of all evil is artificial intelligence. Yes, he is bad in nine games out of ten, and constantly complaining about this in reviews is already indecent, but this case is special. The virtual brains in Heroes VII aren't even bad, they're... absent. The enemy does not collect resources, does not fight with neutral units, does not attack us - he can easily sit the entire game in his castle without doing anything at all.
In campaigns, such passivity is most noticeable; even scripts cannot help. An enemy hero, at the click of an invisible switch, can run into your city and be killed by an army that is invincible for him, and sometimes he simply gallops nearby, even though he is capable of taking the stronghold. Sometimes the opponent will endlessly respawn with the same army and level until you complete a certain event, which is quite annoying.
There are plenty of picturesque arenas in the game. True, you can never guess the size of the battlefield, which is why the tactic of quickly approaching the shooters risks failure.
Tactical battles are also not without quirks. The computer rarely uses impact magic, does not run away from the battlefield, and often orders a large squad of shooters to take up defensive positions instead of finishing off the fighters blocking them. Sometimes he doesn’t move closer, sending troops parallel to your retinue, and when he runs to all available cells, he substitutes himself for shooters, instead of going only the distance that will allow him to attack in the next round.
The intelligence of allies is at the same level. The system for calculating the outcome of the battle does not work correctly, because magic is not used during automatic battle, and you can lose troops where, in theory, you should kill everyone before they wait for their turn.
Bugs of the seventh "Heroes". Note #2. The Minotaur stood on a square where an enemy squad was partially located. Now he can't be attacked.
With such a track record, the AI manages to think about its moves on the map for a long time, so for now it is better to refrain from trying to play a game in a world of maximum size and with a bunch of opponents. But even with a fair amount of patience, you are unlikely to finish it - at some point the game will crash with an error due to a memory leak, and the latest saves will not be able to load for the same reason.
The cost of your playing area and the number of memory sticks have practically no effect on this matter - the enemy will think for a long time in any case, and the game will eat up all the available memory. The latter is already a hallmark of Limbic Entertainment, since its game Might and Magic X: Legacy had a similar problem, but then only users of 32-bit versions of Windows were affected.
For Uplay points you can unlock pixel mode, but this view is hardly pleasant.
There were fewer problems with Uplay this time. The game has been taught to update automatically, like on Steam, there is no longer a strict gradation between the digital and retail versions, as well as a ban on playing with foreigners. The Conflux network service has sunk into oblivion: now there is no need to constantly connect to the network to get full access to game functionality (like weapons in the right hand).
We were only deprived of the choice of language. Wherever you buy the game, you will receive a monolingual Russian version. And even though the voice acting is done at a decent level (although the actors sound too theatrical in places, with overacting, as if at a children's party), the very fact of such restrictions is frustrating, especially on Steam, where the possibility of reselling cheap versions to the West is completely eliminated.
Who will come to us with a sword...
He'll get sick of the magic.
There is no point in dwelling on the bugs in more detail - the most striking ones that I personally encountered can be found in the illustrations. Otherwise, the game is not as hopeless as it seems: even taking into account the fact that the overall work was done with a C grade, individual elements deserve, if not applause, then at least praise.
The most important argument of the defense is that conceptually these are the same “Heroes”. With exploring the world map, leveling up heroes, collecting resources and rebuilding cities, and, of course, tactical battles, where units take turns beating each other until one of the sides is completely destroyed. In this aspect, the series was more fortunate than Sacred or Command & Conquer, which degenerated into something unclear.
Close-ups in battle are now shown not only when luck is triggered. Their frequency can be adjusted or completely disabled in the settings.
Changes for the better are most noticeable in the skill system. If earlier it was possible to train any hero into anyone, only the racial property and specialization remained unchanged, now we get a wheel of skills, seen in the Heroes of War and Money browser, where ten groups of skills are available, suitable for the style of the hero, three of which can be study up to a master's degree.
Taking into account the fact that advanced skills cost the same as training ones, you can master the highest rank in one of the categories already at the fifth level, which makes short online games more interesting and varied. The only problem is with balance: any mage with a pack of weak gargoyles in a blitzkrieg will disgrace the warrior hero if he is lucky with a class spell of mass destruction like “chain lightning” or “tsunami”.
The skill wheel is a lot of visuals, but I wanted to provide at least one high-ranking section for the player to choose from, so that during online battles there would be something to surprise.
New enchantments are now, as expected, studied in city magic guilds and shrines scattered across the map, provided that the hero is not a complete ignoramus and understands something about the magic of his school. For those who rely on weapons and numbers, battle cries are still available and can be learned as skills, but playing as a fighter is not very comfortable now, especially at first.
There are also relatively peaceful specializations such as diplomat, researcher or economist, so a couple of minor characters are not a luxury, but rather a necessity. While the commander quarters monsters, the logistician follows on his heels, collecting unattended resources and capturing mines, and the philanthropist improves his financial well-being when he becomes the governor of the city.
Bugs of the seventh "Heroes". Note #3. Bunches of resources don’t always bring something, although in theory they should.
The developers carried out a construction reform, for example, mutually exclusive buildings appeared in the “Seven”. You have to choose between the type of legendary creature's dwelling (hydra or black dragon), an additional mine and a source rare resource, an altar with a temporary bonus and a protective moat.
There are not just more buildings, some of them open up new opportunities. With the help of the Thieves Guild, you can find out about the number of enemy heroes and the level of its economy. The differences between the factions were also emphasized through the buildings. So, magicians learned to create spell scrolls and disassemble artifacts for resources, and the dark elves began to send spies to rob enemy enterprises.
A lot of bad things have been said about city screens, but this is the last thing critics should be paying attention to right now.
Among the advantages we can add the plot, although indirectly, but continuing the events of the sixth part. It tells the story of the civil war that engulfed the human duchies after the death of the last empress of the Falcon dynasty and the emergence of the Griffins as the ruling family of the Holy Empire.
Starring the cover man with the endlessly tolerant face, Duke Ivan. He assembled a secret council of representatives different races, and before going to the enemy with a saber drawn, he wants to listen to the arguments of each of the participants. In this elegant way, the game leads us through six main campaigns, of which it is enough to complete two to gain access to the finale. But the more stories the future emperor listens to, the more opportunities and side missions We will have endings in two missions.
Choosing Ivan's bride is one of the game's few dilemmas. The decision will determine who will help you on the final task.
The story is presented in the form of dialogues familiar from “Six” with portraits of the characters, sometimes interrupted by videos made in the style of hand-drawn slides, which looks very beautiful and atmospheric... especially against the backdrop of the dialogues in the council room, where close-ups of the narrators with their mouths open are shown in frozen poses. There wasn’t enough time to make the animation or whether it was intended that way, it’s difficult to understand.
The events of the main campaigns take place at different times and in different places, and even within the same chapter characters sometimes they change, but their stories are captivating, and despite the predictable endings, it’s always interesting how and how it will all end. The writers did a particularly good job of referencing the plot of the game “Might and Magic X: Legacy” - the development of the Ashan universe and the disclosure of this world within three series (role-playing Might & Magic, “Heroes” and Dark Messiah) so far no complaints at all.
The Force Awakens
Why aren't these the heroes you're looking for?
The love of knights, exploits and valor was instilled in many of us in childhood, but in the seventh “Heroes” we appear not only in the role of readers and listeners. This is the part that cannot be fixed with updates without reworking everything. If artificial intelligence is a kind of step on the path to success, then the design and level of elaboration of the cards is a delicious smack on the asphalt.
Most of the campaign scenarios and maps are played according to the principle “pump up the hero -> gather an army -> take out the enemy -> complete the plot action.” Something original occurs at most once in five games, and even then the incentive to think appears only due to the time limit or the lack of obviousness of how to get to a certain point. As a result, the whole process turned into a routine, sticky and monotonous.
There is too much unused and just empty space on the maps. This results in you running longer from one useful point to another.
Similar symptoms appeared already in “Six,” but there were dynasties, multifaceted in-game achievements, leveling up along the Blood or Tears path, memorable battles with bosses, upgradeable artifacts, motivating even a hero to fight neutral armies maximum level. All this is missing from Heroes VII, and the developers haven’t figured out how to fill the void.
At some point in the game, you will simply discover that playing has become no longer interesting, and apart from the desire to find out the outcome of the story, nothing is holding you back. The situation is also aggravated by the low difficulty: even at the “heroic” level, neither neutrals nor enemy heroes pose much of a threat, and the balance of scripted battles, where we fight with fixed armies, is set up so that even a baby can win them.
Sometimes there are puzzles in missions. But they are here to distract you from monotony and routine, and not to challenge your ingenuity.
The game is not capable of captivating with its novelty. Before us are the same “Heroes VI” with limited opportunities, where for a couple of really good ideas there are three unsuccessful ones, or pleasant innovations are too insignificant against the backdrop of current problems.
For example, in battles bonuses to damage now work when attacking from the flank and from the rear, heroes have mastered new marching spells such as land reconnaissance and a temporary increase in mine production, and some creatures began to attack with elemental rather than physical damage. Fighters from a fort in the surrounding lands can be hired directly in the city, and the forts themselves can also be improved so that they immediately give birth to improved versions of creatures. But all these are minor changes that could be added to the same sixth part with a patch.
We won't be allowed into this city. But you've been there before, haven't you?
The connection with predecessors is also expressed in direct borrowings. Some of the portraits, models of creatures, cities and buildings, as well as part of the interface, migrated here straight from the sixth part with minor changes or no changes at all. The armies of the Forest Union and the Academy were practically carbon copies transferred from the “Five”, only some of the creatures were renamed and shuffled between ranks.
But where a big problem creatures - impersonality. In the sixth “Heroes”, every second fighter had some kind of trick like an enhanced attack or spell, but here most of our charges are just shooters and melee fighters, differing in attack, defense and health indicators, and a couple of insignificant passive skills. Even skeletons lost their signature bonus of protection from shooters, and their ghost counterparts, in exchange for resurrecting the undead and the chance to miss, were given ridiculous immunity to attacks from the flank and rear.
The game has a built-in encyclopedia. In the picture, the newcomer to the castle of magicians is the Simurgh, who can to some extent be considered the successor of the phoenix.
Problems also hit those who saw good potential in Heroes VII. network game. There are only eight handmade cards, and the generator random cards although accessible... but not entirely. It is launched from the editor, and if it does not freeze at the moment of world creation, it will offer territories dotted with narrow paths, where some of the buildings are simply impossible to get to. It is not yet possible to create a map with a mixed landscape - either desert, or forests, or snow: it is always one thing.
Such shortcomings are no longer surprising, because even in campaigns the map design is the worst in the series. The maps are mostly linear, although the developers tried to hide this by dotting them with a network of portals and passages between the surface and the underground, and side quests, opening up alternative routes, are very rare.
Bugs of the seventh "Heroes". Note #3. One day an invisible man crossed Ivan's path. He had no name and, unlike other opponents, left no trophies.
You can never tell whether it is enough to do what is written in the task diary, or whether something else will be thrown at you later. This is especially critical for rare but unpleasant missions with a time limit: you have planned a route, calculated the situation several moves ahead, and then it turns out that this is not the end and you have to start all over again because you did not meet the timer.
Hence another annoying factor: unpredictability. Let's say we pumped one character into attack and another into economy. Then it turns out that strike hero by the will of a plot twist, he goes over to the side of the enemy along with the entire army, and you are left with nothing with a guy who, instead of attack and magic, taught logistics and economics. By loading a save, you can prevent the loss of an army and artifacts, but the very fact of such precedents for a game in the strategy genre is unacceptable.
Five of the most pointless things in the game
Not all sources are equally useful.
Altars and seals of the dragon gods. Often key places are blocked not by a strong army or a hero on the principle of “gather troops and prove your strength to win a reward”, but by seals. Everything reaches the point of absurdity: in order to get what you want, which is very close, you should find and visit an altar (perhaps even more than one), located God knows where in the outskirts of the game space, which provides you with unreasonable running from one edge of the map to the other.
First aid tent. Did you miss her in the sixth “Heroes”? If not, that's fine, because it's hard to find a more useless device in the game. She was never taught how to resurrect the fallen, although this solution has long been suggested, so you will often see how she restores 5-10 units of health to fairies or swordsmen. And even upgrading the “Art of War” skill line will not help: how the crumbs of life were restored, so everything will remain.
Guards in the garrison. Previously, the construction of fortifications increased the weekly growth of creatures, now the walls provide the castle with additional security in case of a siege. Alas, it does more harm than good, because professional soldiers cannot fight off a serious onslaught, and the AI likes to kill small units, since the death of a group now affects the morale of the troops. There are also guards at the outposts, and such a garrison cannot be disbanded as unnecessary, which is annoying when the enemy is constantly repelling a key passage.
“Army and equipment” and “Continue move” buttons. Double clicking a mouse is a wonderful invention of mankind. But neither our compatriots from Nival, nor the Hungarians from Black Hole, nor the Germans from Limbic know about it. You can open the hero’s menu by clicking on his portrait, and to walk around the map, just double-click on any part of it. So why duplicate these options with separate interface buttons? And why is this block on the screen at all, if options can be assigned to hot keys?
The hero hasn't made his move yet! (click1) Dear Player, be like a hero! (click2) Please note that your hero has not done anything yet this round. (click3) No, I will not give the go-ahead for your last unit to attack this round, reconsider your decision. (click4) You really don't want to be a hero? OK.
Conclusion
For all their shortcomings, there is no feeling of hostility or contempt for the seventh “Heroes”. The attitude towards this part is rather like a child who has misbehaved - you need to scold him and, if something happens, put him in his place, but not out of hatred or righteous anger, but in the hope of making a man out of him. And while this message is unlikely to reach the developers, let it serve as a warning to those interested in the series.
For now, the game should be put off until patches are made to fix artificial intelligence, memory leaks and numerous bugs, and for those who haven’t gotten hold of it yet, it’s better to postpone the purchase altogether until release Complete Edition with all corrections and additions. The game is not bad, but it is still far from even the level of the sixth part, and given the lukewarm reception from the players, it is appropriate to ask the question: will it even get better?
Verdict: trying to sell a game with an “indie” soul at the price of a summer blockbuster is a gamble in itself, but returning to the basics on the principle of cutting down opportunities is almost a fatal step.
Rating: 6.7 (“Not bad”).
Vitaly Krasnovid aka Disintegration
We express our gratitude to:
- Ubisoft for providing the key for the game.
- Might & Magic: Heroes VII - Performance Testing
Summary testing of thirty-one video cards (including the latest products) and forty-five processors in a couple of resolutions and two operating modes. - Discussion of the game at the conference site.
Today we will talk about the game “Heroes-7”, a review of which will be given below. Let's start with the fact that the first part of the series appeared almost 20 years ago. In total, more than twenty projects related to this virtual universe have been created.
Manufacturer
Ubisoft has prepared the game “Heroes-7 (beta)” for all fans of the series. Review separately for test version we won’t do it, because very soon after its appearance the full one came out.
Development
We already know who created the Heroes-7 project. The review of the game should begin with a description of its development process. The seventh part of the series was worked on by studio employees from Germany - Limbic Entertainment. Prior to this, the specified team worked on official additions. This time, the developers carefully studied many critical comments from fans and tried to correct the shortcomings. Before its launch, a special section was created on the official forum of the game, where everyone could express their views on the future of the famous series. The company also conducted a number of important surveys, reworking some areas during the creation process. It was thanks to fans of the series that the dark elves became the sixth faction in the plot, although initially this place was supposed to be taken by Inferno. Devils have also returned to the Heroes universe. However, later - in a special add-on for the game “Heroes of Might and Magic-7”. An overview of the plot can be boiled down to the fact that it covers the time period between parts 4 and 5. We’ll talk more about the development of events later.
Plot
Empress Meeve died. The Falcon Empire has weakened greatly, it is literally falling apart. The main building was built around young Ivan story line games "Heroes-7". Let's continue the review brief information about him. We are talking about the Duke of the Griffin family. He is not yet sure whether to take part in the struggle for the throne. However, the Shadow Council, with the participation of all allied factions, decides to support Ivan. Thus, he becomes the new head of the Alliance of Light. From this moment on, the struggle begins, during which the Duke will have to become a real strong and wise ruler. The plot is divided into 7 campaigns. Each one tells about the best hero one of the factions. The main character of the seventh story is Ivan himself.
"Heroes 7": gameplay review
Several factions await us. Each has its own skills, abilities and capabilities. Initially there are six of them. The Alliance of Light is represented by people whose leader is Ivan. Powerful sorcerers rule everything at the Academy of Magic. Rebellious tribes appear in the form of fearless orcs. As for the ancient race of undead, it is here called Necropolis. The Forest Union includes elves. The Dark Elves created the League of Shadows. As the story progresses, new factions come into play. Each race will have its own heroes, as well as unique units. Let's say a few words about their composition. The units of each faction include 3 basic characters, 3 elite fighters, and two champions. Various combat vehicles known to us from the third and fifth parts of the game will appear again.
Surprises
When traveling on the map, you can customize the interface based on your own preferences. It is now possible to move menu items to customize the game window as much as possible. Creatures in each city will be added locally. They can be transferred through caravans, but the process will require a certain number of resources. In total, we have 12 schools of skills for heroes. Levels are also provided. Three schools allow you to achieve the title of “master”.
The project introduced restrictions regarding construction within one city. You cannot organize a couple of structures in the castle to attract champions. The same applies to some other buildings that provide significant benefits. The game is based on Unreal 3. The player has the opportunity to assign the most popular spells and skills to cells, thereby providing quick access to them.
The number of characters strictly depends on the city where they are hired. The hero's ability and skill wheel has been redesigned. The hero receives points that he can spend on choosing a skill or ability, or gaining access to levels or schools.
The game was announced in August 2014 during the international exhibition of electronic entertainment. The official website was opened immediately after the described event.
The elf faction was added to the game based on the results of a user vote, in which it prevailed over the Northern clans. Another poll was conducted in which the dark elves defeated the demons.
The official release was scheduled for September 2015. The game could be pre-ordered ten days before its official unveiling. In turn, Ubisoft distributed the product key on the appointed day of the presentation. Soon the new product appeared on Steam. Now you know everything about the game “Heroes-7”, a review of which we presented today.
To get rid of a long introduction, let's do it this way. Go to the kitchen, heat 2 liters of water to 40 degrees, dissolve 3 tablespoons of salt in it. Then pour it all onto your vest. Be brave! Poured it? That's it, let's assume that I told you the story of the Heroes series.
Heroes 7 is like a former world champion runner who gets hit by a truck and now gets out of his wheelchair for the first time and tries to take his first steps. It’s just a pity that his attending physician gave him bad advice - to go straight to rollerblading.
The game greets you with a wild mixture of styles: Catholic stained glass windows, Greek names, fairy-tale hyperboles, tragic characters - all at once in one heap. For the angels who serve the dragon gods, I want to subject the authors to exorcism. When entering the campaign, take a deep breath: they have prepared for us... sketches? Slides? Radio shows? However, the main menu already speaks eloquently about the budget of the next incarnation of “Heroes”. Hope for conscience Ubisoft is sent back to the world of ghosts.
And you immediately ask yourself: why is Ubisoft doing this comedy with “Heroes”? The genre is not relevant. The fans' demands are too high. There is no experienced development team. Why not try Dark Messiah 2 or some online action game in the Ashan universe? Why not entrust the series to a third-party team with experience working on step-by-step strategies or, in the end, not learn the basics of the genre from them?
But Ubisoft is strong in its head, which it demonstrates by breaking down walls with it. For "Heroes 7" Unreal Engine 3 was used, and - yes, you are right: shooters are usually made on this engine. I'm not asking how it was supposed to be optimized for the strategy. I’m interested in something else: was it true that “Heroes 6” was so criticized for its graphics and technology, so that the old developments had to be thrown away and a different solution looked for? They changed it perfectly: the game slows down and freezes on any hardware, the computer takes 5 minutes to complete, there are a lot of glitches, even the most critical ones. In one game I stopped using up mana, good thing I was a wizard. In another, the hero’s attack froze, I clicked a dozen times and was ready to restart the game, but it suddenly responded, and the hero made all ten attacks at once, in one move.
As for the beauties for which such sacrifices were made, there aren’t really any. Sometimes you tell yourself that the landscape is not bad: there are decorative ruins, there are weather effects. If you don’t look closely, it’s the same “Heroes 5”, only dimmer. At the same time, there is an epic decision regarding animation speed: the player must choose it himself. In “Heroes 8” we need to go further and make a slider for each creature separately, because now, no matter how you look at it, some units are infuriatingly slow, others twitch like frightened insects. If I wanted beauty, I would have learned from Disciples 2. This is where the game was, to which everyone was forgiven as soon as they saw the animation of the battles.
"Heroes 7. Don't turn it on, it will kill you!" - I want to write on the label after the first hours of the game. And it will certainly be wise not to buy “Heroes 7” before the first patches and discounts (the game costs more than “The Witcher 3” and MGS 5). But if you look at it properly, Limbic’s work is not hopeless; there were cool heads on the team. Their main merit, of course, is the abolition of almost all the simplifications imposed by the sixth part. We made a compromise only with the zones of influence of castles: mines can be captured, but after three days they are returned to the owner of the territory.
With a sigh of relief you look at the development of the hero and the rebuilding of the castle. The first mechanic is based on the “skill wheel” from “Heroes 5,” but without the influence of chance: the available skills depend on the hero, and the order of learning is completely determined by the player. Long-promised mutually exclusive buildings were introduced in cities. Now you can choose which creatures and which resources will appear more, and what bonus the guest hero will receive. Creatures are divided into ordinary, elite and legendary, and each race has two of the latter, but you can only hire one in each city to choose from. The defense of the castle was finally again separated from the growth of creatures (note: it was in “Heroes 3” that they first thought of lumping both together). Upgrades to fortifications not only affect the towers and the strength of the walls, but also organize a reserve of creatures that enter into battle only when defending the city. Thus, even in the rear, your cities will not be left unprotected. The heroes-deputies have been brought to mind: special ones are provided for them powerful skills, some of which are useful in a siege, some of which affect friends and enemies in the castle’s zone of influence.
Looking at such useful improvements, you understand that “Heroes 7” actually did for people. You can customize the mage guild for yourself. War vehicles are different for each race. Espionage has been reworked: now we simply buy the information we need from spies. Caravans operate clearly and conveniently. It's nice to find a fly in the ointment.
There is a minimum of experimentation in the mechanics of battles. Initiative as in “Heroes 3”, cells as in “Heroes 5”. The new option - attacks from the flank and from the back now deal more damage - did not radically affect the tactics. The variety of battle arenas that every first clone of “Heroes” promises is really noticeable in this game, so a lot depends on the placement of the squad. At the same time, from other games we are already accustomed to interactive objects: all sorts of exploding barrels, reinforcing cells, destructible obstacles. "Heroes 7" haven't heard of this. Minimized special abilities creatures, racial skills are also not impressive. Warcries and tactical magic are clearly inferior to offensive spells. All this makes the battles a bit boring: all attempts to plan the battle affect the outcome less than random events.
The hope of enjoying the game is computer intelligence. Whatever he does! Go straight through the fiery walls? Please! Skip resources to global map? Easily! Leaving the capital unprotected? Easily! Neutral creatures do not try to surrender even in the face of a huge superiority of forces. The losing hero does not run away. In the captured castle, an entire army's worth of unredeemed creatures are discovered. And all this with such time per AI move that it is faster and easier to train your cat and play with him through hotseat.
There are also plenty of holes in the balance sheet. The ability to shoot across the entire map is easily learned in the first minutes of the game. But don’t expect to significantly increase the hero’s power reserve. The 1st level spell Heal is a nightmare for the undead. And then there’s all this rubbish in the magic book, like increasing initiative. Some abilities and artifacts simply don't work. Beta test? He was. But Ubisoft broke the tradition of delaying the release of “Heroes” for six months in vain.
Against the backdrop of general dampness, it’s even inconvenient to talk about such trifles as an obscure interface or ugly city screens. But there is a network mode and a level editor - well, the players themselves will figure out how to turn this imperfection into a game. We have...what's his name? "Shadow Council" Actively, according to Limbic, participating in the development of “Heroes 7”. Let him connect, there’s nothing to grab.
Verdict
Serious shortcomings mask the even more deplorable fact that the tandem of Limbic and Ubisoft, with the support of the community, did not come up with anything better than re-releasing the same Heroes 3 or 5, having neither their own ideas nor real ambitions. The river of time flows forward, but the Heroes series rows back with all its might, into the quiet pool of old-school nostalgic projects.
Final score: 6 points out of 10.
