Heroes of Might and Magic IV

"Heroes have taken over my life once again"

Yesterday I just played this game till almost 1 in the morning without knowing it, so trust me when I say that this is a very additive game.

Graphics - 7/10
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This is this game’s weak point. Although the graphics have definitely improved over Heroes III it’s still not very stunning, and it doesn’t have to be because this is a strategy game. Anyhow, graphics gets the job done but it won’t drop any jaws. Quite colorful too.

Sound - 9/10
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I just love the music in this game! After the first time I played it I was humming a song from the game all day long. Some songs are very catchy, and they sound great. The sound effects are good too. They get the job done.

Gameplay - 10/10
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I’m sorry; any game that gets me playing till 1 am gets 10/10. At its base, this is still Heroes. If you played any of the previous Heroes games then you’d have no problem playing this game, since the basics are still the same. Build town, get troops, fight bad guys, level up hero. However, there are many new features and elements added in as well, such as now your hero acts like another unit in battle (heroes can now move and fight, etc.). Another thing that’s cool in Heroes 4 is that neutral enemies can now walk around attack you. Also, now when you build up your town, you must choose from different creatures to build rather then before when you could build everything. Now you must choose from, for example, genies or medusas. You can’t recruit both from the same town.

There are many new features but listing all would take forever. All you need to know about the gameplay is that it’s a really addictive turn based strategy role-playing game. This is one of those “must have another turn” games. Highly repayable because of the included map editor, and tons of user made maps have already appeared. This game however does not ship with multi-player support, though 3DO promises to release a patch soon to add a multi-player mode into this game. In the meantime the single player campaigns and the scenarios will last you a long time.

Final Score: 9/10

If you loved the previous Heroes games, get this, no question. If you’re a fan of turn-based games, get this, no question. And if you just want a good game to play late into the night, I’d highly recommend Heroes IV.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/09/02, Updated 06/09/02