King´s Bounty English Demo

[michiganjf]

Well, after attempting to make the most of all three hero types, my WARRIOR hero was by far the most powerful. I actually did fairly well with him against the Medusa Hero, killing all but a few beholders, a couple of druids, a few archmages, and a hoard of those pesky plants which were sprouted from the battlefield dead. I couldn't come anywhere close to that with my Paladin or Mage heroes. If the Medusa hero is a typical level 10 hero and her army is a typical level 10 army, then King's Bounty is going to be a good, challenging game. Battles require a fair amount of creativity to win when you're outclassed, and even a little trial and error from reloaded saves. I am a huge Heroes fan (as I know many are in this forum), and have played the hell out of every version going back to the original King's Bounty. From what I can tell from the demo only, I think I still prefer Heroes as far as exploration and Hero development go (this may change when I can play the full version of KB). The battles, however, are far more interesting in KB than in any Heroes game. I believe this is due perhaps to the better mix of unit abilities (strengths and weaknesses), and surprisingly, the more limited # of troops, which forces you to make tougher choices to maximize outcome. WOG brought in a pretty good mix of unit talents, but I still found myself using the same tried and true strategies in WOG I had used in most other heroes games. I'm looking forward to playing the full version of King's Bounty, and I think that the innovations therein will spur even greater creativity in the development of the next HOMM or HOMM-like games. Cheers!
Edited on Sat, Sep 20 2008, 00:18 by michiganjf

[krs]

Game is surprisingly good, but some stuff (minor but annoying) need tweaking.

- Not been able to look freely through the map,

- not seeing easily how many creatures were killed,

- although it is a different concept I miss the heros initiative bar

- lot of annoyng message windows for nothing!... like for example when you find some gold you have to click ok to close the window, like you coud do anything else. A fading message would have been more appropriate.



I think it will need a lifecicle just like Heroes V had with lots of patches fixing stuff users did not like, and then will be THE game

[Moragauth]

I do hope they try balance the heroes. Perhaps some classes will be more powerful than others depending on race? I hope not...

[waffen]

Krs, there is possibility to see sequence how units go in battle. Try hitting ALT key.

[Darmani]

I love what I've seen so far. I have a strong urge to record the full animation for Zerocko's Smashing Sword (the one which actually shows him fully materializing and the sword hurling into the sky) and post it on Youtube, but not strong enough to buy the programs/equipment necessary.



Unlike others, I think it's extremely important that you can't pan through the map (unless they implemented a fog of war system, which would look extremely awkward in the behind-the-shoulder perspective). As an RPG at heart, the focus is on your hero, and thus you can't watch what happens halfway across the town!



I thought I'd remind everyone, that, in a way, cooldowns already exist in Heroes -- Heroes IV has several "wand" artifacts which have their own regenerating mana supply, meaning they can become a de facto "cast Fireball with a 3-turn cooldown" artifact.



I must say I'm pretty impressed by the abilities they've given units. Like in H4, every unit has at least one; unlike in H4, I don't feel any were created* just* to make sure everyone has one (especially considering I haven't seen them bragging about it). "Running" is a very simple and excellent idea which helps to make maneuverability and ability to get across the field distinct attributes. "Fighting Trance" is another favorite of mine as is "Telekinesis.

Things like "Greed" are a lot more gimmicky, although still useful enough (would be moreso if you could predict whether a chest will be in a battle).



I think the action point system is a mixed blessing which increases tactics at the expense of strategy, and will give battles in KB and heroes a distinctly unique feel. The ability for archers to move and shoot in the same turn (present in original KB, taken out in HoMM for good reason) I especially want to be KB-only. As cool as being able to move a unit out of the way, cast Evil Shoal, and then attack with it is, it does remove the need for forethought and creates the feeling that, no matter minor mistakes I made last turn, I'll have something up my sleeve to render it almost entirely irrelevant to this turn.



Lastly, I must say I'm not sure whether balancing the classes in single-players games is necessary, especially if they're distinct enough to play the game with each.

[Skullmane]

I've never played the original, but this game seems fun. Made it through training, and went on do die in the tournament. Although it has one incompatibility - my PC's sound is hooked to a stereo via USB, and the game refuses to transmit sound through it. I have to connect my stereo to the sound card for it work, which is very inconvenient. I've never had such a problem before, tried some basic stuff, but can't fix it. Maybe someone else has a solution?

[darknessfood]

Well, i got my sound hooked up through a cable. Just a red and white cable, plug it in your stereo and it's done. Worked fine for me, and never had problems with it, because you just put the other end you put into your green hole in your sound card. No configuration or anything needed because the sound if just put to another place.

[Skullmane]

Yes, I know how to connect it to the sound card (I stated I did that).
I was hoping someone knew a way to "rewire" KB to the stereo.

[Moragauth]

TBH, the move and shoot tactic does make sense. Heroes might omit it for balance/strategy reasons, but I like it.



As for the cooldowns, it'd be nice to see them expanded to units in Heroes. It's not a bad concept, I like it now. I hope Nival considers it for HoMM VI, if it's the developer.

[michiganjf]

I don't know... cool downs in Homm for magic doesn't really make sense as there is no cool down for might... it is theoretically might vs. magic in terms of hero strengths, after all. There is a sort of cool down in HOMM for magic... you have to renew mana after using it. Of course, as we all know, this usually only matters early in the game or on small maps. I do like it in KB though.

[Ravenheart87]

No cooldown for might? How about giving some nasty abilities to might monsters and heroes, which need cooldown too (ie. Horned Demon's leap, Assassin's Stealth)? I like cooldowns, because in Heroes, after all mana is down, there's nothing interesting in spellcaster creatures - they'll just attack like the others.

I also like the idea, that ranged creatures can move and shoot. In Heroes though, I would give a D&D-like attack of opportunity to the melée units adjecent them.

[jerseys]

You get a message when you finish the demo? I killed all the monsters and seemed to visit all the places on the map and there was nothing more to do, but I don't remember fighting with beholders or medusa heroes or druids. Am i missing sth?

[Moragauth]

Needless to say, I agree with Ravenheart. Mana should be for the heroes. Cooldown will work well for units. Maybe have a shorter one for spellcasting units, to symbolize their greater reserves of energy. It'd be cool to see Invisibility, for instance, as a cooldown ability.

[Ryder]

jerseys. if you go to the temple and speak to the original guy (forget his name) you can do several fights against different level enemies.



It gets extremely difficult.
Edited on Sun, Sep 21 2008, 16:13 by Ryder

[jerseys]

Thx Ryder

[michiganjf]

For a tantalizing, but not satisfying look at some of the troop types that don't appear in the creature section of the official King's Bounty website, hit the "records" button on the menu page of the demo. Also, note that the #1 record holder of level 30 completed 85 quests! This game is going to be fairly extensive in scope.

[Jolly Joker]

I played the demo as well - and I wonder about replayability. I mean, playing the same quests over and over again will be dull, right? You can do it with 3 different heroes and on how many? Four? different skill levels, but it's like the game has only a campaign mode. Or am I wrong? Is there something like a standard quest mode with variations in the full game?

Don't misunderstand me here. While the game isn't Heroes that's just as well - a more quest-oriented game feels like a real alternative, but I'm tired of the training quests already after having them played once - going through them in every new game would be a real bore wouldn't it?

[Ya5MieL]

Yes, there will most likely be far less replay-ability than in heroes game, but we expect that replay-ability simply because we are heroes players that are used to it.

Authors said the game will take 30-ish or so hours to finish, which is quite a decent amount of fun for an today's computer game.

I guess you could do a second run and do the evil side of quests but that's it. It wont stop the game from being a huge success, because some people don't have much time to spend on games anyway. And in the end it will make everyone more appreciative of heroes, appreciation which somewhat lacks in fan circles nowadays in my humble opinion.

[Jolly Joker]

Authors said the game will take 30-ish or so hours to finish, which is quite a decent amount of fun for an today's computer game.

No, I disagree. 30ish hours play is a game you buy and sell FAST at Ebay or buy for a fifth of its initial retail price a year or so later.
Secondly, with all the care that went into creating skill trees and monsters it's a shame the game comes this limited - it looks like a waste. I'd say that it's the wrong game concept.
But I don't want to spoil anyone's fun. Amazon.de says it will cost 38 € in Germany. This doesn't look like a bargain to me, but that's probably only me.

[Ya5MieL]

Well, when you put it that way it seems to be 1,25€ for a hour of game-play which indeed isn't a bargain .



But I'm quite satisfied with 30 (and hopefully 40-45 with full quests and exploration), considering most games last even less than that.

Price, I'm not satisfied with if that's true. Especialy considering the price for TotE which is of much more value as a game.

On other hand, many action games sell for same amount and can be finished in much less than 30 hours, and I've played some that didn't last to see the 2nd day.

I guess its just that strategy/rpg games usually last longer that rises our expectations.



Now, onto waiting, hopefully most of us will end up satisfied with this one.