Coming from developer Unfrozen (Iratus: Lord of the Dead), Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is quite the unexpected return of the legend. The series, originally created by 3DO, won over the hearts of fans back in the 90’s – magical Heroes I, the war for succession in Heroes II, and the legend that was Heroes III, all taking place in the same fantasy world of Enroth.
Having been destroyed during The Reckoning, a cataclysmic brought forth by the clash between the Armageddon’s Blade and the Sword of Frost, Antagarich gave way to Axeoth – the world of Heroes IV. However, the game did not receive quite the same popularity as its predecessors. Many players were not fond of the massive gameplay changes, drastically different from the usual canvas: heroes who could directly fight in battle, daily recruitment, armies traveling without heroes, and more.
Things seemed especially dire when 3DO collapsed, but Ubisoft acquired the rights and released The Dark Messiah of Might & Magic and Heroes V, having breathed new life into the franchise.
However, the series largely faded into obscurity following the release of Might & Magic: Heroes VII. While Ubisoft continued releasing various mobile adaptations, the mainstream AAA-type Heroes game was something we could only dream about.
With the classic turn-based strategy games being quite a niche, the fans left without their favorite series set their sights on the newer releases: King’s Bounty 2, Disciples: Liberation (and the upcoming Domination), Songs of Conquest… But, while great in their own ways, they had one major flaw: they weren’t Heroes of Might and Magic.
Now, after almost a decade since the release of Heroes VII (2016), it’s time to go back home. Even the music might be more nostalgic than you’d expect. Unfrozen also released the playable demo that you can try for yourself right now on Steam. Whether you’re a Heroes franchise veteran or a newcomer to the genre altogether, you’re sure to have a grand time in the Olden Era.
If Ashan (Heroes V-VII) and Axeoth (Heroes IV) weren’t for you, then you’ll be happy to know that we’re returning to Enroth, although before the events of Heroes III, with the familiar names and faces: the continent of Jadame (Might and Magic VIII), space-aliens-turned-devils Kreegans, and more.
While the demo does not provide much narrative content, this return serves as an explanation as to why the game looks like Heroes III reborn on a new engine from time to time. Certain buildings like the Stables, Redwood Observatory, Traveling Circus, or Dragon Utopia look like they’ve stepped directly from Olden Era’s predecessor right into this new installation.
In the demo, you can go through a short tutorial that will teach you the basics of city building, hiring creatures to build your army, exploring and leveling up, collecting resources, and clashing in turn-based combat.
From there on, you can hop into the single-player mode, featuring four factions (Temple, Necropolis, Dungeon, Schism) and three separate sub-modes: Classic (the usual multi-hero), Single Hero, and Arena if you just want some quick fights without all the associated city-building and exploring.
From the very first few moments you spend in the game, it feels like the developers from Unfrozen have spent their time dissecting and studying the previous games of the series under the microscope, extracted the core that made them into Heroes game, put it together, and added more juice – Faction Laws, multiple upgrades for creatures, Spectator Mode, and more. That way, gameplay both stayed familiar but remained fresh.
You can even glimpse certain elements from various non-Heroes III games in the series as you look around: the 3D-towns like in Heroes V, your heroes riding various mounts instead of just horses like in Heroes V-VI, the interface itself is closer to HVI as well, certain creature designs being obviously inspired by the existing units from the game’s history, and more.
My favorite gameplay addition is absolutely the Single Hero game mode. Gone are the days when you had to stop your conquest, turn around, and chase a level 1 enemy hero with a single imp for the army that was insidiously stealing your mines.
It was the most frustrating – but also fun – part when enemy heroes would scatter like roaches but then come crawling back from the woodwork the second your army sets off. That, and a million-hero-long caravan to send your reinforcements to your main hero from half across the map.
Overall, Olden Era feels like picking up Heroes III for the first time again – there’s an unexplored fantasy (or technofantasy) world waiting to be conquered by your armies turn-by-turn, enemies skulking around in the fog of war, your town and its advancements, creatures to hire or defeat, and more.
It’s hard to hold back excitement at the thought of diving back into the world of Enroth, learning new secrets, exploring new storylines, and fighting hundreds if not thousands of battles along the way. Not to mention, seeing how new features affect the classic gameplay.
So far, the only things dragging the Olden Era down in my eyes are the graphics and the UI.
When it comes to graphics, the previous Heroes games have struck a perfect balance. Simplify what isn’t important (including UI), add weight and complexity to the things you want players to pay the most attention to.
This approach led to a minimalist UI, detailed creatures that had unique shapes and colors, beautiful but largely plain backgrounds, and easily noticeable map objects to interact with. Think of it as a hierarchy or focus, centered on the heroes and the units.
At the moment, Olden Era does not have that balance. It feels like the developers have overdesigned every single element of the game with the exception of the UI, leaving the map readability to suffer from the clutter. It also makes the creatures, heroes and objects less unique and grand, blending together into a single mass since everything has just about the same level of detail to it.
The UI, on the other hand, is under-designed. Not only does it not fit the whole aesthetic of the game with its modern, sleek look, but it’s also all over the place with its tiny, indistinguishable icons, further reducing the visual clarity. Personally, I’d love to see it adjusted to the fantasy setting of the game or even customized to the race you’re currently playing as.
All in all, my first impression is incredibly positive – especially considering that I’ve largely given up on the Heroes franchise by now. Seeing HoMM: Olden Era, created with love and attention to details (perhaps too much of it at times…), has been a treat, and I look forward to the upcoming game iterations.
The demo shows that there’s a strong foundation that simply needs some touch-ups to be great. I hope the developers listen to the community, especially in terms of graphics, visual fidelity and pixel density, add some unique colors, re-do the interface to be more atmospheric – just remember the old Victory/Defeat screens from Heroes III! – simplify the town & troops menus, and more.
Still, I couldn’t be more thrilled that we’re in for a new Heroes of Might and Magic title, it had really been too long.
