Heroes of Might and Magic
A Strategic Quest
Type of Game
The pioneer of the Heroes of Might and Magic saga, already fascinating, already magnificent, and already number one when it comes to ridiculous faces.
Release date on our machines
September 1995, I had just discovered the modern computer, it would have been too much all at once.
Developer
New World Computing, Inc. The world was still waiting for them with open arms, sob sob.
Publisher
New World Computing, Inc. enjoying its last months of independence before being acquired by 3DO
Heroes of Might and Magic : available on GOG, and that's more than enough to make me happy.
I've spent hours rambling on about all these beloved game sequels that I've never played. It's getting a bit tiresome, isn't it? So, to take this madness even further, and to interest even fewer people, I've decided to go backwards. I'm going to talk about the very first Heroes of Might and Magic, even though I only discovered the franchise with the second instalment. Until now, in this category, I've talked about the litres of drool secreted over magazines, the hours spent waiting to temper my hype as best I could, and the positive frustration of learning about the existence of a successor to this or that killer game. All that without even playing it, on top of that. So I'll come right out and say it: I never gave a damn about Heroes I. I always knew it had been released somewhere on the great cosmic timeline (I did understand the Roman numerals in the title Heroes II, after all), but I always dismissed it, without even looking at a single screenshot on Google Images for decades. At least not until I had this brilliant epiphany, which consisted of wondering what the ancestor of such bombasticness as the Succession Wars (Homm 2, that is) might look like. Two hundred thousand YouTubers and bloggers have already thought of this before me and written or made a video about it. That makes this article even more obsolete. I couldn't have asked for anything better.
No respect for elders
So, rather than listing the new features brought about by the emergence of a new instalment, we're going to focus on what didn't exist yet, what didn't work well, and what was too ugly. Super cool, right? Come on, show a little enthusiasm, it'll be fine. I'm telling myself that, anyway. Because the further I get, the less I think it was a good idea to embark on this kind of exercise. So let's get on with it, before I regret it.
Heroes of bases and old bricks
The intro starts and displays the New World Computing globe pierced by a sword spinning around, fresher than ever, still believing it could conquer the world. Not far off, mate, not far off, but not quite, you know that yourself. Then the main menu animation, with creatures waiting for heroes to emerge from a castle. So cute! The ‘New Game’, “Options” and ‘Exit’ buttons are practically identical to those in HoMM II! Bam! A shot of nostalgia straight to the heart! I wasn't expecting it, I passed out. It's like a beta version of its spiritual child; exhuming this pixel sarcophagus is a hell of a ride. So, are we starting a campaign or what? Campaigns have always bored me in all the Heroes of Might and Magic games (well the III and the IV anyway). I wanted to fully experience the sandbox, without worrying about my heroes' experience level restrictions or buildings in cities. I did play a few, finished two or three, but no more than that. That'll be a semi-surprise, at least.
There are four long-term scenarios, corresponding to the number of playable factions (the necromancer and wizard haven't been added to the roster yet). A dialogue box explains the lore, your role in local geopolitics, and the mission objectives, and I think that's about it. Okay, so it's a bit short, but let's persevere. The adventure screen appears and... wow! Heroes II! Well, almost! Have I already burned the beta version card? Because if you don't look too closely, it's easy to be mistaken. The trees, the mountains, the little places of interest to visit and the resources to collect from the ground... not to mention the cities themselves. Some of the feedback sounds have just slipped from the first game to the second, as have the faces of our valiant heroes who we send running around in there, whose portraits are displayed in the interface on the right of the screen. Seriously, for the vast majority of them, they don't move by a pixel, and only a handful didn't get invited back for a role in the sequel.
I'll quickly throw in a comment or two here: the technique of the big hero who recruits all the troops to blow everything up in his path, accompanied by his second-in-command who picks up the stuff on the ground to save the first one from having to move, check, that's already how it works. OK. Dragons take on the role of the ultra-powerful, almost unbeatable creature that must be recruited as quickly as possible. Dragons of Might and Magic, yeah! That hasn't changed either. On the other hand, the illusion created by the adventure part no longer holds up in the city-building screen. You can clearly see the foundations laid to make something functional in the following instalments, but just the foundations. The background landscape? Much less beautiful, even if it's still charming nonetheless. I can understand why people prefer it. I judge them, but I'm not going to slash their car tyres either.
The interface? Ergh, not great at all. Why do all the building names appear on a purple background? How can you tell which ones you can build, which ones you can't, and which ones are already built? Do you have to memorise them? And what about the messy layout? Recruitment buildings are placed randomly, on three different lines... At least there are some funny animations, like the foot soldier activating a forge bellows, or the griffin fluttering around in its nest. But which creatures can be upgraded? What? None? HOW?? That ! That really upsets me! The magic system offers something different, too, with the number of ‘charges’ of a spell limited by the hero's knowledge stat. The hero must then return to a city with a mages' guild, which itself possesses the spell that he has ‘exhausted’, in order to replenish it. OK, why not, I like the idea, in terms of the tedious and laborious aspect, that is.
But during combat, we really, really go overboard. I already mentioned that I had a lot of fun when I started fights in Heroes II. Now, I'm laughing my head off every second. Nothing makes sense, from the tiny size of the battlefield (even worse during sieges or stacks two squares wide that can barely move), to the hero who hides in a tent and is therefore never seen, to the even more hilarious creatures with their ridiculous faces. The angry swordsman, the eighty-year-old archer who was taken out of the hospice to return to service, the dragon that flies backwards without turning around... literally every unit, when waiting for its turn, looks like it's suffering from severe traveller's diarrhea. Well, I love it, it's magnificent, don't change a thing.
Anyway, it's too late, you already changed it in the second game. And the proportions are completely ludicrous, seriously! Most of the fighters tower over the trees! I think this graphic style has a name, but I can't remember what it is. Something like goofy surreal cartoon, but definitely not that. The sound effects add a nice layer of humour to it all. The screams that some of them let out... even though I know Heroes II by heart, I still can't get over it. Finally, there are the borderline embarrassing things, like the goblins that look like Mayan peasants coloured green, or the Rogues that look like masked exhibitionists. Come on, it was 1995, nobody cared about any of that! The word ‘cringe’ wasn't part of everyday vocabulary yet. The words “racism” and ‘sexual assault’ were, but since they made everyone snicker... hahahehe well...
All things considered, apart from these uncomfortable ‘details’, it exudes a crazy identity. Let's come back to the adventure map for a bit, because it deserves it. Honestly, it’s too cute. Admittedly, it lacks a bit of diversity in terms of mountains and other decorations, but the magic makes our eyes sparkle and our stomachs flutter. All the terrain types from Heroes 2 are already present: grassland, earth, snow, lava, swamp, desert, and water. Oh no, there's one missing: rough terrain. Yeah, it means everything and nothing at the same time, no one was ready for it. Walking past a statue surrounded by flowers, near a pretty lake, catching a glimpse of a mill a few metres away, gathering a few resources, taking control of a crystal mine where the echoes of pickaxes compress my sensitive little heart...
Entering a wolf den to recruit a few to our cause, walking along a pine forest and ending up in a swamp teeming with life, enjoying the change in music, admiring the little wet animations on the ground, locating a super important artefact and feeling gloomy when you see a volcano rumbling in the distance... Wow, we could already do that in the very first Heroes, and I could replay this kind of scenario for hours (as well as write the longest sentence in the world listing all the bucolic activities that bring tears to my eyes). This phase of exploration/discovery/wonder is enough in itself. Timeless, exhilarating, among the most moving things that video games can offer our fragile little souls. Mine, anyway. There, I'm crying a little.
The bosses are already here.
So, did the same legendary duo from the following games compose this soundtrack? Yes, ma'am! Paul Romero and Rob King themselves! I think I would have guessed correctly without looking up the answer, as their style is instantly recognisable. And that delights me to no end. I feel like I'm discovering hidden tracks from Heroes II, which is so cool. The battle compositions still draw us in with their frenzied rhythms, the city anthems still have that little something crazy that made us lose our minds after two hours of play, and of course the atmospheric tracks on the adventure map immediately rank very high on my melodic and melancholic podium. Dirt Theme in particular, which has always had a crazy melancholic vibe to it in all the HoMM games I've played. I'll have to see how it turns out in Heroes V, I can't remember. Although no, who cares, the licence died with Heroes V for me. Paul Romero must get a monumental case of blues as soon as he picks up a bit of humus, I can't think of any other valid theory.
Back to predecessors
OK! I'll rephrase that a little. Heroes I isn't a beta version of the II; Heroes II is more like a huge DLC for the I. So what difference does that make? No idea, but I prefer to put it that way. Honestly, it's great to dive back into a prequel instead of a sequel. I loved it. There's so much I could do now that I've tasted this infernal chalice:
Warcraft 1, Tekken 2, Street Fighter 1, Master of Orion I, all Final Fantasy games before the VII (although, given the differences between each iteration, it wouldn't have the same impact at all), Ghost'n Goblins... And to take it to the extreme, technically I should also cover the Might and Magic games as a whole? We'll see about that in my next life, when I'm reincarnated as a green Mayan peasant. In any case, yes, I would have loved to have discovered this game before its successor. You can already sense the incredible cocktail of atmosphere, graphics and wackiness that only Heroes II would surpass. And no, Heroes III didn't manage to do as well, despite its insane content. Just for that, for the chance to experience true childhood nostalgia for the first Heroes of Might and Magic, I would sell my soul to go back to 1995 and buy this game on day one! With the money from selling my soul, that should be enough, I hope.
Follow Heroes of Might and Magic publications on social media !
