Heroes 6 preview

The connection between strategy game and role-playing game is not clear even further in Might and Magic Heroes 6, carrying the eternal conflict closer to the Blizzard standard.

Might and Magic is a sequence of role-playing games for computer. Heroes of Might and Magic is some kind of strategy games. What is the kind of Might and Magic Heroes 6?

I saw a shot demonstration of the game at GamesCom yesterday and to my mind this is the classic strategy game that focuses on role-playing that is why the name is changed in some way.

The main change is an end to predetermined skills and power of a hero. Players choose their own paths in Might and Magic Heroes 6. It is your duty to determine the skills and powers you will be using to prevail during the competition. You also have the opportunity to choose the advanced class and define your role in the fight. Such an addition as racial abilities allows the players to choose the preferable character. There is no need to be constrained to a definite path.

The events during the game took place 400 years before the situations shown in the other Heroes titles, concentrated on the life of one family. The king has passed away, leaving five sisters and brothers to fight for control of the throne. Each of them wants to rule over all the rest. One looks for holy power, becoming a sacred knight. Another decides to choose the necromancer path. Another fabricates contracts with demons to achieve the goals. When you start playing you create the character, choose its sex and decide whether it concerns to magic or might.

Each group includes their own unparallel units with unparallel play styles, aiming to what the presenter named "The Blizzard standard". For example, in StarCraft 3 the Terrants play in a different way than the Zerg, whose playing differs from the Protoss. Just the same we can observe in Might and Magic Heroes 6.

I bore the Necromancer in acts. Units and characters of the Necromancer siphon life force and power away from their competitors. The number of their powers depends on the duration of a battle. Visually the process of the game can give you a real enjoyment. There are many details on the overland maps that will make players explore every corner, searching for secrets.

One main change in the overland map is the changing of the way cities appear after upgrading them. There is no necessity to click on the town to see its fortifications; you can see it on the map. The other new peculiarity is if a player catches an opponent's city, he can convert it into one of his own.

There are a lot of differences in the battles. Flows will slowly rise during some battles, choosing another area. The players will be impressed by a variety of goals, killing units, defending objects. We prepared fights for bosses in the game. At the end of the demonstrative example we saw a tremendous blue water snake that attacked via a cut scene. The fans of course will like this version as the previous games Might and Magic Heroes. But now Ubisoft has not enough time for making the next Heroes of Might and Magic RPG.