Reviews
- by Psychobabble
I feel bad. Not very many map-makers take me up on my offer to review their map if they ask me to do so in this thread. However, first time map-maker Sauron did just that with his XL Equilbris map War Of Eranol and expressed his hope that I wouldn't get bored playing it. Unfortunately, as with many XL maps, I did and I wrote a fairly negative review. To better explain my boredom I decided to wax lyrical about the nature of computer games:
Even the most enjoyable of computer games can get boring after a while. At the heart of almost every game is a high element of what might look to be tedius repitition to an observer, but to the person who is spending hours playing the game this tedium is serving a higher purpose and is thus enjoyable. Think about it. Spawn camping in MMOs, playing endless rounds of deathmatch on the same maps in an FPS or RTS, following the same 4X path in every Civ game you play, cow level runs in Diablo II, trying to teach the new baby Sim that the potplant is not a toilet, wending your way thought the familiar D&D levelling path and fighting enemies graded on roughly the same difficulty curve in just about every RPG and, yes, endlessly fighting small variations of the same battles in Heroes of Might and Magic. But each of these tedius, repetitive, actions entertains us because they are being done for a higher purpose, levelling up, getting phat lewt, increasing your l33t skillz, mastering strategic niceties, saving the world from pixellated megalomaiacs and so on.
What does all this have to do with my review of the map? Read it and find out!
| Comments (3) |
- by Psychobabble
I received my review copy of the Heroes IV tile and card game about a month ago but unfortunately wasn't able to play it until more recently due to exams. However, I've finally got around to playing the game and have posted a full review. My impressions of the game are definately positive overall, though I did experience the high learning curve and complexity that other reviewers have noted. For players looking for a good strategic tabletop game which captures the feel of Heroes of Might and Magic, I can certainly recommend the game - it's got a lot going for it and provides a much different experience from the computer game. Also, some smart design decisions have made it so that even thought it's a "collectible" game, you don't need to do an excessive amount of collecting to get some fun out of the game, which is a nice touch.
| Comments (4) |
- by Psychobabble
Introduction
One of the strengths Heroes of Might and Magic games has been their ability to capture the feel of playing a good board game. The popularity of playing the game in hotseat mode is a testimony to this - playing the game becomes like playing a tabletop game with a vertical, pixellated board. While some criticised Heroes IV, perhaps unfairly, for not living up to the board-game feel of the series, it nevertheless seems that DGA games have in this game source material ripe for creating a good tabletop experience. This tile and card game (TCG) does a great job of capturing the essence and depth of Heroes IV with a faithful port of the game, tweaked where appropriate for the medium. While it's not a game for the faint hearted and the learning/familiarity curve is somewhat steep, for those willing to devote some time to collecting and learning the game and who can find a playing group (of at least one other person), it holds the promise of deep, strategic gameplay.
The cards
My review set consisted of one starter box and about half a dozen boosters. Starter kits are designed to be playable out of the box, containing the map sections, tokens and dice needed to set the game up and 6 selected booster packs from two alignments to ensure that two basic decks can be built (decks can range from 40 cards up, but an average deck is 60 cards). To add a bit of variety and to enable me to play a 3-player test game (you can play with 2 to 6 players) I augmented my freebies with a few extra boosters and ended up with three playable alignments without too much trouble. While this is a collectible card game, it's slightly different from others I have experience with (Magic and the now defunct Star Wars CCG) in that booster decks are somewhat pre-constructed. Each booster is of a particular alignment and includes:
- A hero of that alignment
- 6 level 1 creatures (one of each type that is available from the alignment's town)
- 2 level 2 creatures (both of the same type)
- 1 level 3 creature
- 1 level 4 creature
- The resource mine necessary to hire that level 4 creature
- A town which enables you to hire all of the creatures in the booster (you don't get branching creature selection in towns, it's pre-selected)
- 1 primary skill (which is 3 cards) and two secondary skills associated with the hero
- Two random cards (artifacts, map locations) or spells if you had a spellcasting hero in the pack.
Some boosters are a bit different, being filled with non-town creatures, locations and artifacts, but this is the general pattern as far as I can tell. This makes collecting cards much less of a pain. If you get a cool level 4 creature you will be able to hire it. If you get a hero of a certain type you will have the skills to level it up. It's a nice touch, and it means you only need to have three boosters of a particular alignment to have a pretty good deck for it. The nature of the game and these pre-constructed does mean that there isn't so much of a thrill of pulling an ultra rare card from a pack (though some of the better artifacts are fairly hard to get, and boats are very, very rare due to a printing stuff up), but that just means that having decent, playable, decks isn't out of reach for the person who doesn't buy boxes of boosters. Also, I'm not sure how carefully they make sure map tiles work together, but the seven (underground terrain) tiles I got with my starter fitted pefectly in a hexagon to make an ideal map for 3 players, and two could be taken out to make a perfect 2 player map.
The cards themselves are very well made. They are beautifully decorated , with superior artwork to the actual game, and are of a high physical quality, though I did get a small number of cards with manufacturing errors (faded colours, disfiguring lines) and there are some misprints, like "arsenal equipment" and spelling mistakes ("forrest" on a lot of the material, "mele" on the griffin card). The map tiles were somewhat warped but being made out of cardboard were fairly easy to flatten. The tokens, which are used heavily in the game, were a bit small and fiddly but it's not a critical problem by any means. Overall, the physical design of the game is excellent, DGA Games has done a great job on this front and due to good design decisions, the collectible nature of the game shouldn't be too much of a barrier to players - more cards merely gives you more options and stronger decks, it doesn't give you more playable decks.
Gameplay
Something that's often said about good strategy games is that they take a minute to learn but a lifetime to master. This, I think, is true of the Heroes computer games but unfortunately only the second part is true of the TCG. Making a game with as much going on as Heroes into a simple tabletop game is probably not possible, though, and effort has been made to minimise the complexity - for example the game doesn't require a pen and paper (unless an optional mana-tracking rule is used). Still, some of the most basic game mechanics are difficult to grasp and teach to others. For instance, a players' "hand" is divided into two sections, the "adventure stack" and the "hand". Each section is the same as the other except that only the "hand" part of the hand can be used for income and certain cards reference the adventure stack specifically. Once you get your head around the difference between your hand, your "hand" and your "adventure stack" the beauty of this game mechanism becomes apparent - it allows you to use cards you don't want at this phase of the game as income and it obviates the need for a separate income system - but it does take a bit of figuring out for new players. Another complicated area of the game is obviously battles. Having to keep in mind unit stats, bonuses from hero skills and artifacts, special abilities and spells gave me a bit of a headache in the bigger battles. I'm sure it would become second nature, but it's a (probably unavoidable) barrier to a casual player.
If you are in a position where you are able and willing to master the mechanics, there's a rich strategy game awaiting you. The essence of strategy is choice, and this game has choices coming out of its ears. Deck building presents some important pre-game choices, especially how much of the deck should be devoted to creatures and how much to things which will let you hire, support and augment those creatures (mines, heroes, skills, artifacts). If you have enough cards to play with (I don't), there seem to be many interesting combos and deck themes which can and no doubt will be figured out by enterprising players. The nature of in-game choices will be familiar to those who have played the computer game (explore or attack, upgrade the town or hire creatures etc.), but there are some TCG-specific twists, most of which relate to the fact that you can only use what is in your hand (and your hand is determined by the size of your income and how much you 'spend' out of it). For instance, heroes can only level up after a battle if you have an appropriate skill card in hand. If you don't, you have a choice of waiting to claim that gold mine later when you have the skill, or grabbing it now to get needed income.
Unlike the computer game there is player interaction right from the very early game. There are no neutral guard stacks, instead players "flip for guards" from their decks and then duke it out with creatures which are near the top of the deck (there is also an option to reinforce these stacks with cards from your hand, for free, presenting another interesting strategic choice). As in the game these battles aren't game-determining, but with a combination of luck and smart play you can give your opponent a few bruises. One problem I had with this mechanism is that units which are flipped this way must be used to guard the revealed location. Unfortunately I didn't have all that many high level creatures, so this meant that an opposing player could effectively place half my level 4 creatures out of play by not attacking the guard stack (with little opportunity cost if it was a creature dwelling). I played with a house rule that level 4 creatures didn't have to go to guard stacks, but I think the problem could have been avoided by making reinforcement optional and not allowing a player to flip for their own guards (which currently happens if the other players don't have any creatures on top of their deck).
Also worth noting is the length of the game. Tournament games have a time limit of 2.5 hours, but there is no particular expectation that they will finish in that time. If you're trying to play a full game with more than two people or, especially, new people then games are more likely to go for 3-5 hours. Players do have some incentive to attack due to the bonuses given to an attacker, but as heroes are just as powerful in the TCG as they are in the computer game, most people will probably spend some time building up skills and armies before attacking, all of which takes quite a bit of time.
Conclusion
Why should I play this when I can play the computer game, I hear you ask? I think there's a few reasons. For one, the game mechanics are a bit different and the whole atmosphere of sitting around a table with friends playing a tabletop game is much different than huddling around a monitor to play hotseat. Also, collecting is fun and building up sweet decks is an integral and fun part of any collectible card game, such as this. If you are interested in the format at all then this game is not at all redundant simply becuase you have it on computer.
Overall, this is not really a game for a casual player, even a casual player who is familiar with the Heroes IV computer game. However, if you have the inclination to become familiar with the game and can find someone else who will do the same (the singleplayer AI is even worse than in the computer game!) then it promises deep, strategic gameplay which has the potential to provide many hours of entertainment. Like the computer game, this is multiple games in one package - exploration and RPG, tactical battles and strategic maneuvering - and if you can get over the initial complexity it does a good job of capturing the look and feel of the computer game.
Links
- Official web site
- Official forums
- Fan site (with images of many of the cards)
- Vision's review (on the Round Table)
| Comments (6) |
- by 55
Yesterday, Russian IT site F-Centre took an interview about Heroes V from three Nival employees, two of whom Celestial Heavens visitors may have already heard of: Ilya Karpinsky, Alexander Mishulin, and Larisa Nuretdinova. The interview is in Russian. Among other facts, the following were mentioned:Haven players will be able to upgrade low-level troops (e.g. Peasants) to high-level troops (e.g. Knights). However, it costs a fortune.
Sylvan players will be able to select a few most hated enemy units, and their troops will fight better against them.
There will be difficulty levels, and possibly not five like before.
Artifacts are stronger, but are encountered less frequently than in previous Heroes games. There will be no Heroes III-style artifact flood.
Most of the combat AI has been ready for more than a year, but it is still in development - they still have to teach it using tricks like the Griffin special attack. However, it has shown itself a worthy opponent and is praised by virtually everyone having access to the game. The global AI is still under development.
Cavaliers will retain their Charge ability.
There is a multiplayer mode in which players make their turns simultaneously until the first "conflict of interests" - for example, if a hero is within a movement range of another hero, which includes spells like Dimension Door.
The translation of the interview should be available soon.
| Comments (13) |
- by Angelspit
Armchair Empire has a review of DGA Games' Collectible Card Game based on Heroes of Might and Magic IV. The author, a fan of the computer game series, goes over the gameplay mechanisms of the card game and explains why its origins are both a blessing and a curse.
"On the positive side, the whole building armies, advancing towns, promoting creatures, learning spells, defeating opponents aspects of the game are compelling. I love the RPG aspect of starting with a low-level hero and advancing him or her to become a powerful sorcerer who controls legions of amazing mythological creatures."
However, the reviewer had mixed feelings regarding combat, the length of a standard game and the fact that the game is collectible. Read it all here. On a related note, DGA Games states on its Web site that orders are currently shipping. Finding a player should be easier soon.
- by Psychobabble
A number of people have been contacting us by email and on the forums recently about map links not working through Fileplanet. This has been an on and off problem with the Fileplanet hosted maps for a while but it seems to be getting worse. If you click on the download link for a map and it doesn't work (and you are logged in to Fileplanet properly) then simply click the download button again. In my experience and that of other forum members this fixes the problem 100% of the time. It is something of an inconvenience, but it does seem to fix the problem. If this doesn't work for you then please contact us or leave a comment on this thread.
On a more upbeat note I have just put up a review of a great 3 map campaign I just played - Champions. First time map-maker (I think) Crusard has done a fantastic job on this one, although I was a little disappointed that one particular feature wasn't more fully implemented. Still, it's an RPG campaign that is certainly worth checking out.
| Comments (8) |
- by Angelspit
The Qurqirish Dragon sent reviews for the Heroes of Might and Magic III maps he played recently. All of them can be completed relatively quickly.
- World of Darkness is a fun map with lots of customization. It uses the Necropolis covers of darkness as a mean to slow you down.
- 1+1=War, a good map for quick play, is a duel between archery and magic. The lack of encounters for a part of the map might make things less interesting for some players.
- Finally, Visitation is interesting at first, but ends up being a very bland adventure. You might be able to finish it by week 4.
Click on the Read our Review buttons to read the articles.
- by Angelspit
There is a one page article about Heroes V in the latest issue of Computer Gaming World (a printed publication). According to Charles Watkins, who told me about the article, it's mainly a reaction to the E3 demo. They took the opportunity to bash Heroes IV once again (CGW was one of the few publications that gave the game a very negative review back in 2002). An excerpt of the preview can be found here.
| Comments (12) |
- by Robenhagen
Jonathan Bjork, Director of Games Development at DGA Games
has informed of us the following:
"A sneak preview of the Heroes of Might & Magic CCG & Tile Game will be held at the Orion Games Convention in Columbus Ohio on June 30-July 3rd. There will be practice games hosted by the creator and his crew almost around the clock and a new player tournament with all materials provided will be held. If you are going to be at Origins look for Heroes of Might & Magic CCG & Tile Game in the TCG hall.
The rules are their final form, but will are the last item left to be printed at the plant, and so your input at this convention might actually impact on the final game play!"
You can see more at the Official Site.
- by Angelspit
The first part of our E3 wrap-up report is actually a surprise. Former New World Computing director David Mullich sent us a four-page long article with the following note: "I thought you and the other fans at Celestial Heavens might be interested in my impressions of Heroes V, which Fabrice Cambounet of Ubisoft demonstrated for me at E3 on Thursday." David's first impressions are generally positive, but includes a few concerns. Read it all here.
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