Heroes III VS Heroes IV

[Babri]

Now that i actually went through and read most of the replies on this topic im starting to think that only having heroes III is a bad thing for me and you guys are just about to push me over the edge to buy a new version of heroes..... so if anyone can give me a couple more big details in IV that arent in III then I might get that one and then V.... but otherwise im just going straight for V

Well, where to start?

1) Creatures can travel on their own, without the help of a hero. This is very useful as you can use them as scouts or simple reinforce your army without having to return to base. They can even initiate battles on their own.
2) Each town has the capability to build Caravans, with which you can move creatures from outside dwellings to your castle without having to visit them, and move troops between castles with complete safety.
3) My favourite feature - heroes can travel without creatures, and you can have up to 7 heroes in an army! Point 4 it gets even better...
4) Heroes no longer stand by the sidelines. They have hitpoints like other creatures and are physically part of the battle. They can become extremely powerful in magic and/or combat. The latter is a big improvement. I love playing with a high level Ranger or General and smacking the living daylights out of a band of black dragons.
5) No more upgrades. However, you have 4 levels of creatures, and from 2nd level onwards, you can choose which creatures to build (ie., either genies OR nagas).
6) I definitely felt that the magical aspect of H4 offered much more than H3. Each faction inherently had their own type of magic (except the Barbarians, of course), but they could also learn other magic types. This made more sense to me.
7) Battle was far more realistic in terms of retaliation and first strike abilities. One could also load or quite from within the battle screen, which was a big help if you realised that you'd bitten off more than you could chew.

Please stop me if I've said enough!

[Babri]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the external dwellings have only half the growth, so in four weeks you'd only get two blackies instead of the normal (town) four.

As for the HoMM IV battlefield, I happen to love it. The line of sight and other additions/changes add great diversity and tactical possibilities. HoMM IV combat is not as straightforward as that of the previous (and following!) games. In a nutshell, it is great fun!

The same can be said of the creature choices. Some people complain about it, saying how annoying it is when you pick a certain creature and then capture an enemy town (of the same allegiance) and find that they made a different choice. This to me is hardly a nuisance, and often the two creatures will complement each other wonderfully. Anyhow, being able to choose between creatures will lend your game greater diversity and in turn make your playing more enjoyable.

However, it should be said that HoMM IV had some problems, notably the memory leaks and the faction imbalance - some creature choices were absolute no-brainers (everyone chose the cyclops over the ogre magi, for por ejemplo). Fortunately, the first got fixed by a patch and the second by our friendly Equilbris team who produced a 'mod' by that same name which can be easily installed.

These inconveniences out of the way, HoMM IV is an amazing game, one of the very best out there!

I agree with you 100% Being from South Africa, I was only able to get my hands on H5 this weekend. I was severely disappointed to see that H4 had been totally disregarded when this game was designed. No longer are heroes able to roam freely on their own and physically partake in combat. No more caravans (though luckily this can be overcome by the summon army spell). I could rant on, but you probably know what I'm going to say.
All in all, H5 is definitely a huge adjustment which will take some time to get used to.

[DungeonMaster]

Wow thanks guys you made my day and its only 8:38 a.m lol well there is just one more question i have for you.... Is the game in first person? and if not the game is the battles in first person? Because with all this talk about only fighting enemies in your FOV seems like it is in FP.

Well I want to say thank you all for giving me details beyond my imagination. So to let you all know I am going to buy IV either today or tommorow.

[DaemianLucifer]

No,its not.It has an isometric view,which can be quite annoying at times(at least until your used to it).But the heroes are so lively done in the campaigns that you can really feel like your in their skin(especially the undead campaign:Half Dead).And dont bother getting the expansions,they are crap.Download equilibris instead,since it has everything the expansions offers,except for the crappy campaigns and a few crappy maps.

[Metathron]

DungeonMaster, I am glad you have found our commentary to be of some use, and even happier that you've decided to give HoMM IV a go. I would like to point you to the following excellent bargain, which contains all of the Heroes games (I - V) including all the expansions, at a great price: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... 69-2941214

Enjoy!

[DungeonMaster]

Thanks man, the only bad thing is im in America so i dont get those nice of prices.

[Babri]

Very happy that we could be of help. Why not try Amazon.com? (Here I am, sitting in South Africa and trying to tell an American where to shop).

[DungeonMaster]

lol... Thats fine I dont mind if you try and help, any help is still help.

Well I went to a few stores yesterday (memorial day) and most of them were closed but the one I went too didnt have Heroes IV. So hopefully I can go today to a store and find it, but when I was looking on the internet for the stores around me none of them had Heroes IV sooo I dont know what to do. Maybe just use ebay or something.

[Shhejtan]

Heroes IV. Every other game seems like a cildren's sandbox game except King's bounty which was way to cute to be true. I know, I've spend a great deal of my life playing them all. And Heroes V? Well, let me just tell you that we most probably wont be seeng any jewels like Hereos IV any time soon...

[george137]

Thanks guys, just wanted to know what you thought. After reading through the thread I've concluded that I like HoMM 4 better.

[Artas1984]

Talking about revival..

Ye everybody likes by his own taste, but the fact of the matter remains: Heroes franchise was not about the free actions of Heroes or monsters, it was not about 3D of shiny graphics either, it was about diversity and balance, simplicity of gameplay and realistic picture, strategy in it's purest form. That's why Heroes 3 will be the greatest game, because only Heroes 3 has all those qualities together, no matter which one you personally like more. This statement is unquestionable, uncriticized and undeniable .

[jeff]

That's why Heroes 3 will be the greatest game, because only Heroes 3 has all those qualities together, no matter which one you personally like more. This statement is unquestionable, uncriticized and undeniable .

You obviously haven't read through this thread or others, because when it comes to that statement it has been questioned, criticized and denied. That is not a criticism of H-III, great in its day and many believe when playing the good fan made maps H-IV was in its. Both have their detractors and supporters. It is really time to move on from this argument and hope H-VI is not the pile of pooh known as H-V.

[Lizzie_G]

I prefer Heroes III, it reminds me more about childhood:)
and it's way cooler!