Heroes of Might and Magic V Hammers of Fate Expansion Pack (PC)

Having completed Heroes of Might and Magic V (HOMMV), and after the cliff-hanger finish to the storyline, I was keen to get my hands on the first expansion pack Hammers of Fate (HOF).

GAME INFO.

Genre = Fantasy, strategy, turn-based
Developer = Nival Interactive
Publisher = Ubisoft
Players = 1-2 Players
Online = Yes (though I've not played online, so I can't comment)
Age = 12+ PEGI ...
...gems, etc) rather than the heroes spell points. I also like the various sub-skills which become available to dwarven heroes, all of which are logical and fit the style of play you’re likely to adopt with your dwarven troops. The new Haven troop-types are good too; demonstrating the fanatical zeal of the disciples of the demon-touched Queen Isabel and lending themselves to much more aggressive tactics than the regular Haven army.

For ... more

Having completed Heroes of Might and Magic V (HOMMV), and after the cliff-hanger finish to the storyline, I was keen to get my hands on the first expansion pack Hammers of Fate (HOF).

GAME INFO.

Genre = Fantasy, strategy, turn-based
Developer = Nival Interactive
Publisher = Ubisoft
Players = 1-2 Players
Online = Yes (though I've not played online, so I can't comment)
Age = 12+ PEGI rating
Released = 2006

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Windows 2000/NT/XP (XP recommended)
1.5 GHz Pentium IV or AMD Athlon (2.4 GHz recommended)
512 MB RAM
64 MB video card (128 recommended)
4x DVD-ROM drive
2 GB hard disk space

HOMMV

Since this is a review of an expansion pack, I’ll not dwell on the basics of the game, but I’ll give you a brief overview of the nature of the game and the storyline. The general idea of HOMMV is to build an army or armies with which to crush enemy armies. All armies are lead by heroes, who gain experience and abilities as they battle their way around the adventure map, fighting free-standing groups of neutral creatures or enemies and amassing the resources with which to build up your settlement(s) and thus recruit more and better troops.

The game is set in the world of Ashan and the principal players are the Griffin Empire (knights), the Elves of Irollan, the wizards of the Silver Cities, the subterranean warlocks, necromancers and the demons of Sheogh, the demonic underworld.

WHAT’S NEW?

The HOF expansion pack features 3 new campaigns (half the number in the original game) focussing in turn on the Griffin Empire, the dwarves and the warlocks, 5 single player maps, 10 mulitplayer maps, a new faction – dwarves, alternate versions of the upgraded Haven (knight) troops, new artefacts, new neutral creatures (wolves and manticores) and the welcome return of the caravan function.

MY OPINION

I’ve said before that HOMM is my favourite series of games and that still holds true now that the franchise has passed from 3DO to Ubisoft. Given that we’re talking about an expansion pack here, the graphics and sound are obviously of the same quality as the original HOMMV, which is to say high quality. Mind you, I still miss the operatic singing that was present earlier in the series. The storyline developed in HOMMV continues to thunder along here and still has me gripped.

The new dwarven faction is well designed, with both their settlements and the troops looking suitably grim and fearsome. I like the racial skill of the dwarven heroes, placing runes on troop units, which work like spells but consume resources (wood, ore, gems, etc) rather than the heroes spell points. I also like the various sub-skills which become available to dwarven heroes, all of which are logical and fit the style of play you’re likely to adopt with your dwarven troops. The new Haven troop-types are good too; demonstrating the fanatical zeal of the disciples of the demon-touched Queen Isabel and lending themselves to much more aggressive tactics than the regular Haven army.

For me, the biggest plus point of the expansion pack is the return of the caravan function, which first appeared in HOMMIV but was dropped, along with a number of the game features of HOMMIV, for HOMMV. Caravans allow the movement of creatures from one settlement to another and the recruitment drop free-standing creature dwellings, without the need for hero intervention. Thus we no longer need to have secondary heroes whose sole purpose is to wander in an endless circuit of creature dwellings to ship troops to settlements. In fact, I like the new caravan system more than I liked the old one, because now caravans actually appear on the map, rather than almost magically depositing the caravanned units after a set number of days. Whilst also being a more logical way to work caravans, it also means that you can attack enemy caravans whilst they’re en route, or intercept your own caravans to save your hero travelling back to the nearest settlement. Of course, your caravans are also susceptible to attack, but that just adds to the level of strategic thinking needed.

HOMMV is notoriously full of glitches and apparently HOF is not without its share. However, having installed the latest patch (2.1) before playing, I’ve yet to notice any problems and, thankfully, none of the crashing problems that were rife with the original HOMMV. Patches can be downloaded free from www.gamershell.com.

The additional single-player and multiplayer maps add to the longevity of the game, but I’ve had more than my moneys-worth of play from the campaigns alone. I suppose they’re a considerable boon for the truly hooked though.

PRICE

I paid £9.99 for my copy, which I bought direct from Ubisoft via the might and magic homepage (www.mightandmagic.com). From most other sources, the price varied from £10.99-11.99, although I’ve seen it for considerably inflated prices on e-Bay and elsewhere. Whilst £9.99 is a reasonable price, it’s worth noting that a combined package of HOMMV and HOF is now available for around £15, which is positively bargainous!

The second expansion pack, Tribes of the East, featuring Mongol-themed Orc tribes, is due for European release in September 07, so for those who can wait that long, I should imagine a triple pack featuring HOMMV and both expansion will be available shortly thereafter for an even more thrift-mendous sum.

NB. I don’t think the categories below are entirely applicable to this game, because it’s more of a strategy game with RPG elements, rather than an RPG proper. 

...less