Heroes of Might and Magic V Previews

A handful of new previews for Heroes of Might and Magic V have reached the web, all of which are based on the game’s recently launched beta test. The first is at GameSpot:

…the tactical combat seems very similar to that of Heroes III, which, as most Heroes fans will tell you, is absolutely, positively not a bad thing. Battles take place on a large field divided into tiles on which the ranks of each army sit, and individual units can advance on enemy units and do battle with them, exchanging hits and dealing damage until one side takes enough damage to be wiped out. Since this is a Heroes game, armies can and will consist of knights in shining armor, as well as fantastical creatures like demons, dragons, and undead thralls. You’ll be able to quickly tell at a glance exactly how much health each unit on the battlefield has, how much damage each can deal, how quickly each can move, and which special abilities they possess. You can expect to see several classic creature abilities make their return in Heroes V. For instance, sprite units, while still incredibly weak, are still extremely fast and, when they’re on the offensive, they can’t be counterattacked.

The second is at IGN PC:

Once players have found some enemy units, the game zooms down into tactical mode where players will really get their taste of the style of art Nival is particularly talented in creating. Units are detailed, colorful, and blessed with some decent animation sets to make battles come alive. They’ve got a slight over-proportioned look to them as well giving off a slightly cartoonish look. When particle effects for spells and other skills are added in, these close up shots of creatures are pretty damn nice. Nice camera angles and action shots help present the tactical gameplay in a more interesting aspect as well.

The third is at GameSpy:

The game’s new 3D engine has also been put to good use in the city screen. Rather than a flat representation, player cities are now 3D rendered landscapes that have new buildings added to them as they get upgraded. I was only able to see one faction’s cities — the Empire. That quick glimpse, though, was enough to convince me that Nival is moving in the right direction with the graphic look of the game. The Empire city, even in its undeveloped state, is a beautiful human town dominated by a spectacular fortress situated atop a high butte. As the player enters the city, they’re treated to a spectacular tour in which the camera circles the high fortress, takes in the fortifications, the military mustering fields, and a spectacular sunset in the distance. As buildings get added to the town, the 3D models of buildings get upgraded and attached to older buildings. Even better, each of the buildings is fully interactive, meaning that, as in previous iterations, a player need only to click on a building in order to purchase troops, war machines, or utilize their special functions. The only down side is that because the screen is in 3D, rotating it to get access to a particular building can be a bit confusing.

And the fourth is at Voodoo Extreme:

Starting off, each player has a hero character, a small army of henchmen and a home city. HoM&M is a turn based strategy game, so depending on how you set the game up, each player as around a minute each before others can move. Combat does take much longer than a minute, but it doesn’t count against your time. There’s also a real-time option, but it didn’t seem to be working yet.