Heroes of Might and Magic 3 is officially returning in remastered form, in the hands of strategy game specialists Ubisoft.
ScreenHub recently got hands-on with the upcoming title, in a preview session charting its tutorial campaign as well as a 90-minute stretch of one of its main quests. It was clear in these segments that Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Remake retains the structure and guidance of the original game, but with rebuilt lands, creatures, and combat, it does feel streamlined like a modern title would.
Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Remake preview – quick links
Hands-on strategy battles pair well with exploratory gameplay
Entering the world of Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Remake, you embody a hero trampling their way through a set scenario. The one in the preview session specifically concerned a need to conquer lands nearby, as part of an overarching ambition to rule the world with an iron fist.
Competing against three AI players, all with their own heroic factions, players must defeat each rival in turn, to claim their home bases and assert themselves as the rightful ruler of the land.
What’s most novel about this game, for those unfamiliar, is that while it has the appearance of a 4X game (Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate) it’s actually moreso a turn-based strategy adventure.
In a set turn with limited stamina, you’ll be granted the option to move forward, interact with elements of the map (buildings, enemies and collectables) and then you must rest for a full cycle, allowing your opponents to make their turns. You can move less than a dozen tiles per turn, so you really need to think about where you’re going and what moves you make.
It’s all chess here, which is what enhances the gameplay. Sure, you might be tempted to spend time visiting a fairy glade for a blessing, or journeying by boat. But you also need to keep an eye on the encroaching fog around you and what enemies may emerge.
If an enemy unit gets too close, they be able to successfully challenge your town and take it by siege, leaving you adrift in the world. The game ends a few turns after you’ve been kicked out of all your towns, so you’ll need to be on your best defensive guard to make a real impact, and stay afloat.
While there is adjustable difficulty, the enemy factions of this particular preview session were tough. They required careful planning prior to entrance on the battlefield, with a focus on wielding the key powers of recruitable heroes and creatures.
Balancing your army in Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Remake
In scenarios of Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Remake, you begin with a main hero and their established army, usually comprised of ranged archers, spearmen, and a magical creature or two. When the going is quieter and you’re not directly threatened (the phase at the start of the quest), you should focus on your town-building.
You can develop and recruit an array of soldiers for your factions, with the level of certain buildings (aka training grounds) determining how powerful they are. Each town also has a specialty in different types of creatures, with the preview town (which was eventually lost in battle) housing powerful angels as well as human soldiers with various weaponry.
Against tough opponents, plenty of turns were spent building up these armies, improving training grounds, and occasionally venturing out to fight lower-level monsters guarding resources like money and gems.
In this game, you get a warning about enemy level indicating the toughness of avoidable incoming battles. Anything ‘Trivial’ is likely to be a slice of cake but anything ‘Deadly’ will mean you’re facing impossible odds. It means you can make informed choices about your steps into the world, and figure out how best to build your power without completely depleting your forces.
Once you’ve levelled up your chosen hero and their spells, and ensured you’ve got a robust lineup of various soldiers with all sorts of specialities (you’ll definitely want ranged fighters on your team), you can head forth into battles to push back against the tide.
Battles in this game are hex-based and turn-based. You’ll corral a crew of your soldiers across a battlefield, noting enemy distance and capability, and work with available statistics to pair the strongest fighters against their nearest analogues.
Angels proved to be the hardiest of heroes in this particular run with the game, smighting enemies with ease. They can put down even very tough opponents, including towering giants and annoying mages with ranged blasts.
Figuring out your tactics in these battles is very satisfying, particularly as you can exploit your position on the battlefield to ensure impactful attacks. And with simple mouse-based controls, you can solely focus on directing your army like an orchestra conductor.
When you finally see that victory screen, knowing it’s a result of strategic plotting and clever thinking, it’s easy to feel smug and self-assured.
Seeing failure, on the other hand, is completely devastating because Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Remake can be horrible when your heroes are defeated for the first time.
What happens when there’s no heroes left?
As mentioned, planning is key to success in the game. You’ll need patience and confidence to be able to build up your armies and know when it’s right to head into battle. When you fall, you have to start again from scratch – yet enemies seem to largely retain their power and aggression.
You can absolutely recover from defeat. It’s a matter of keeping to yourself for turns, retraining and recruiting new soldiers, and hiring a new lead hero to define your next steps. But if you fall well into a campaign, this notion of recovery begins to feel quite distant.
After putting away one faction early on in the preview of Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Remake, a misstep in choosing enemies to battle meant my entire army was wiped. In the process, one of my key towns was also claimed, and I had to retreat to a secondary home of giants and nagas (snake women) who weren’t nearly as powerful as the angels of prior skirmishes.
With only short thrift to rebuild the army entirely, I ended up having to face off with a much higher-level Deadly ranked invading team, who quickly destroyed me. With only a small chance left, I put together a smaller army with the money I had left but while I was trying to make inroads with reclaiming my original town, my only remaining base was claimed by another party.
And of course, the next turn – while I was resting – I was attacked by another Deadly faction and completely destroyed, for good.
It was certainly a learning lesson but one that revealed much about the priorities needed in Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Remake, and how much strategy plays a part. I could immediately see my missteps and plan for a more educated skirmish. I shouldn’t have left my original town so soon, and I should have focussed on destroying roving armies before plowing straight to their towns to take them over.
I had some idea that claiming every town would give me an instant victory – in a similar vein to Age of Empires – but enemies could simply defeat my forces and reclaim the town while I wasn’t paying attention.
The experience left me ready for another go, and more prepared for the demands of being the benevolent and dictatorial leader of this fantasy world. Next time, I’ll know where to focus my attacks. I’ll know more about faction warfare and upgrades. I’ll know that building an army around a single angel probably isn’t the best strategy, but that luck and patience may elevate my forays anyway.
As announced, the full release of this game is still some time away. But that only leaves room for my conviction to grow that next time, I’ll be facing down its enemy armies with far more aplomb.
