Episode 29: Heroes of Might and Magic III

Retro Spectives

First released in 1999, Heroes of Might and Magic 3 is widely considered to be one of the best turn based strategy games ever made. To this day it has a fanatical online following who strive to understand all the intricacies of the title. There are layers upon layers of complexity on display here, from the economic management to troop compositions and how you manage your various heroes.

But is it still fun to play today? The strategy genre has had 20 years to refine itself into something a lot more sophisticated. There are millions of different takes on 4x strategy games, from Endless Space to Civilization. And that’s to say nothing of the other 4 Heroes titles that have come out since then. Has this third entry in the series, more than 20 years later, actually stood the test of time?

In this episode, we discuss:

• How does the economy of the game actually work? Heroes 3 has a different set of economic chokepoints than typical strategy games. Do they create interesting decision points, or do you just slam your econom production into overdrive?
• Does Heroes 3 have diversity in general gameplay experiences? The game boasts an impressive 8 factions, 16 hero types, a diverse skill tree and hundreds of spells and artifacts, but does translate more significant strategic divergence than a 3 faction approach like in Starcraft?
• Is the lack of balance in the game a problem? Heroes 3 features some absolutely off the wall insane magical spells and abilities that break the game in half. Is this a problem, or does the random chance of going off add to the experience as a whole?

We answer these questions, and many more, on the 29th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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