Official HoMM VI Reviews.

[parcaleste]

Top Game Moment: Finding a rare artefact that gives your hero a debilitating spell that he can utilise in battle.

[Metathron]

http://darkstation.com/reviews/might-an ... heroes-vi/ 8/10

Top Game Moment: Finding a rare artefact that gives your hero a debilitating spell that he can utilise in battle.

[Khelavaster]

http://www.strategyinformer.com/pc/migh ... eview.html 8/10

Good grief, that was terrible. I'll add my own picks to the list...

Sadly, I can’t muster the same enthusiasm for the battles when considering them from a tactical perspective, mainly because they’re about as tactically engaging as a First World War general.

Er... what?

Fortunately, unlike previous HoMM games, it doesn’t take seventeen lifetimes for the enemy AI to complete its turn

I thought he said this was his first one?

At one point I ended up using my recruited heroes to form a constant supply-chain of units to boost my main characters’ vanguard force, enabling me to relentlessly push forward against my adversaries.

Well that's just unheard of and well worth reporting!

Heroes VI is a triumphant return for the series, albeit one slightly spoiled by a ridiculous name change and irksome DRM.

When picking two negative aspects of the game you're reviewing, make sure to express your righteous indignation that the name change "slightly spoils" the experience (in a series you have never played before, remember). That trumps making comments on the galaxy of bugs plaguing the release, the multiplayer issues, or the state of the AI.

[Khelavaster]

http://darkstation.com/reviews/might-an ... heroes-vi/ 8/10

Might and Magic Heroes VI is the latest entry in a series that I have never played, so I wasn’t sure what to expect after installing the game. I did a little research on the title before starting and I came away with the impression that Heroes VI was a real time strategy game, a genre that always seemed to beat me at every attempt to better understand it. However, after getting settled in, I came away surprised with the game’s unique blend of real time strategy and turn based combat.

Hold on, I'm seeing a pattern here....

[klaymen]

Wait, what?

He never played it before, so he did his research, fair enough.
From his research he got the impression that HoMM 6 is a RTS.....what the holy hell was he smoking?
Then he came to conclusion that it is a blend of RTS and TBS - now I've yet to play HoMM 6, but is there any new feature which I don't know about that gives you such impression as he got?

Either he actually played King's Bounty, or he is a troll.

[Khelavaster]

Wait, what?

He never played it before, so he did his research, fair enough.
From his research he got the impression that HoMM 6 is a RTS.....what the holy hell was he smoking?

He seems to associate certain things like adventure maps and fog of war to the RTS genre:

Exploration and resource collection is done entirely through the Adventure Map, which looks not unlike what you’d see in a typical RTS. A fog of war covers the entire map and lifts when you explore new territory.

Later he appears puzzled by some basic mechanics:

For some reason, the game points out that you can attack a unit from any angle, but I fail to see the benefit of this because the enemy will turn and face you and I was under the impression that attacking their flank would yield some sort of damage bonus.

The whole article reads like something written by a casual gamer that has just had his first contact with a TBS game (note that he admits the RTS genre isn't his forte either). Unfortunately, he may be a better representative than myself of the demographic Ubi is aiming for, and on those grounds it's hard to contest the score. These reviews may be useful for a total newbie to the series, but for me they're basically meaningless.

[parcaleste]

For some reason, the game points out that you can attack a unit from any angle, but I fail to see the benefit of this because the enemy will turn and face you and I was under the impression that attacking their flank would yield some sort of damage bonus.

First I had a good laugh, but when you think of it this is actually a good idea (that was mentioned around here somewhere some time ago).

Still after playing KB (and even Disciples III!) the battles seem kinda "stuck" in the old time. Perhaps because and of the AI, but mostly they didn't put too much effort to improve them/learn from other recent games that came out (too busy with making the "beautiful 3D graphics", I assume ).

[arthureloi]

You have awesome taste in games. ^_^

Dungeon Siege 3 really disappointed me overall. The design is ENTIRELY different from the first two. Frankly, the game is unrecognizable as a Dungeon Siege game at all. But I could deal with that, if it was just the change in design: I'm a big proponent of assessing a game or movie on its own legs and not what came before. It's just the damn multiplayer that ruins it for me. It's not engaging to me as a single player game, and the multiplayer's implementation is too flawed to enjoy it that way.

I totally agree with preferring Blackhole have ironed out the flaws at the start; it sucks when good games fail as a result of easily found and Beta-reported bugs. And, again, even though I have yet to have any problem with it, the Uplay requirement is asinine and needs to go away. But I'm quite happy to have Heroes 6, and I would easily recommend it to anyone who was considering it and likes this type of game.

- Tale

Thanks for the compliment, friend! I'm glad you like my taste!

As for your Dungeon Siege 3 experience, I agree it's just so disappointing! I've had a similar experience previously: I tried playing Bethesda's Hunted: The Demon's Forge with my brother. It just sucks so much and I had so much hope! Ew, really bad. If the 6th installment of a game should look like that, I'm glad they did not go for the 6th of my favorite series (Legacy of Kain).

On topic: I think these latest reviews are really plain and generic: All of them giving 8 and speaking good, generic things about the game, but the reviewers look like they don't know nothing about it nor have any experience with the franchise or this kind of game. I really suspect some heavy greasing is going on here...

[arthureloi]

New review from MMGM (8 out of 10).

MMGM reviewer:
Very much a numbers game - It doesn't matter how skilled you are or what your tactics may be, battles are always going to be a numbers game. If the numbers don't add up, you'll be slaughtered. It can be rather frustrating to lose some of your best troops with a tactic you know is great, simply because of a difference in numbers.

This review is very short but I like it. It could cover the multiplayer aspects more though.

[Mozared]

New review from MMGM (8 out of 10).

MMGM reviewer:
Very much a numbers game - It doesn't matter how skilled you are or what your tactics may be, battles are always going to be a numbers game. If the numbers don't add up, you'll be slaughtered. It can be rather frustrating to lose some of your best troops with a tactic you know is great, simply because of a difference in numbers.

This review is very short but I like it. It could cover the multiplayer aspects more though.

Link?

The part of the review you cited is kind of typical for my experience with the game so far. The 'skill' and 'tactics' in this game is for 90% to achieve those oh so important numbers. It's not as much in the battles as it is in careful movement, building, and speccing your hero.

[Metathron]

http://www.tentonhammer.com/reviews/homm-vi 68/100 (Metacritic say 61, though, must be a mistake I suppose)

Pros:

Lots of little nifty fixes to reduce hero caravans/micromanagement
Some awesome combat animation
Really nailed the setting for most of the factions, especially Sanctuary

Cons

Auto battle is good, but where’s my straight up auto-calc/end combat?
Some interface/tooltip issues—this game had a long beta, why are these still in?
Just doesn’t go far enough with the new stuff.

[arthureloi]

New review from MMGM (8 out of 10).

MMGM reviewer:
Very much a numbers game - It doesn't matter how skilled you are or what your tactics may be, battles are always going to be a numbers game. If the numbers don't add up, you'll be slaughtered. It can be rather frustrating to lose some of your best troops with a tactic you know is great, simply because of a difference in numbers.

This review is very short but I like it. It could cover the multiplayer aspects more though.

Link?

The part of the review you cited is kind of typical for my experience with the game so far. The 'skill' and 'tactics' in this game is for 90% to achieve those oh so important numbers. It's not as much in the battles as it is in careful movement, building, and speccing your hero.

Hello friend. I've placed all the links in my first post, for easy access! Thanks!

[Metathron]

http://gamingtrend.com/game_reviews/rev ... heroes-vi/ 8/10

PROS:

The graphics and art style are good
The Might and Magic Heroes formula is intact
Hotseat multiplayer is present
The lengthy campaign will give you your monies worth
It has an addictive “one more turn” quality

CONS:

The learning curve is high for newcomers
The voice acting and dialogue is not good
Ubisoft’s DRM can actually make you lose game saves
Some indication of which order to complete the campaigns in would have been nice

[arthureloi]

One more 8: http://palgn.com.au/pc-gaming/19885/mig ... vi-review/

PALGN reviewer:
Might and Magic Heroes VI is a title that is very much catered towards fans of the series, but also invites newcomers with its excellent presentation, visual flair and inviting atmosphere. While the campaign's story and voice acting is quite average at best, you'll still want to play it purely for its gameplay which is superb and addictive as it always has been with the series. Once you're done with this (which can take a good 30 hours), you've got custom scenarios you can play on with custom Heroes and varying degrees of AI difficulty, and you've also got the return of Hot-seat play which can pit two friends against each other for a few hours or days, depending on your rations. It's a title certainly worth getting if only for its replayability and purity of gameplay, as there's a near infinite amount of play you can get out of this. Recommended.

[Banedon]

PROS:

The graphics and art style are good
The Might and Magic Heroes formula is intact
Hotseat multiplayer is present
The lengthy campaign will give you your monies worth
It has an addictive “one more turn” quality

CONS:

The learning curve is high for newcomers
The voice acting and dialogue is not good
Ubisoft’s DRM can actually make you lose game saves
Some indication of which order to complete the campaigns in would have been nice

Bleagh, my games have the "can't the AI just stop being annoying", or "can't the AI clear all the neutrals in his territory so I don't have to clear them" or "are we there yet?? Why is this map so big??" qualities. Pressing the end-turn button gets annoying fast, jeez.

This really is the worst part about HoMM 6. It's so goddamningly tedious. All my campaign missions so far have been like this. Once I survive the first hurdles in the map, the rest of it is just mop-up. The fact that the AI doesn't clear its neutrals just adds to the tedium.

[parcaleste]

... The fact that the AI doesn't clear its neutrals just adds to the tedium.

Plus not collecting additional resources and treasure chests.

Anyone else find the boss battles EASY AS HELL? Once you managed to conquer all the towns and till the time you get to the boss you just mop the floor with it. Not to say the bosses I fought with so far are missing Endless Retaliation which brings their downfall faster than the Lehman Brothers one.

This aspect of the game needs serious nerfing, either be the boss health/damage being calculated on the size of your army before the battle, either you'll have a time limit to get to them (3 months, whatever), either go to for the KB system (which will fit PERFECTLY with this one Heroes incarnation) - LEADERSHIP (meaning at lvl 20 you are able to cary X of Liches, Y of Lamasus and Z of Fate Spinners).

Not to say at the end of the map, when you suppose to have this BIG battle the AI has been left with a pathetic number of creatures, while you have like 10 towns and tons and tons of MF's to wipe it on Quick Combat with minimal loses.

[Metathron]

http://www.gamechronicles.com/reviews/p ... eroes6.htm 8.5

[Metathron]

http://www.gamespot.com/might-and-magic ... _title%3B2

Gamespot review finally here. 8.0/10 Like so many other reviews, no mention of bugs.

EDIT: Well, here's one solid review that does: http://www.game-over.com/reviews/pc/Mig ... es_VI.html 7.5/10

EDIT 2: Another review: http://www.rpgfan.com/reviews/Might_And ... index.html 61%

[parcaleste]

The second one is just so painfull and still so nailed to the head, lol.