Retro Roadtest: Heroes of Might & Magic II

[News Portal]

If you've ever felt the urge to be heroic in a world of might and magic, then you've probably played Heroes of Might and Magic. The second installment in the series is often praised by fans as the best and now, sixteen years later, we take it for another spin.

Read full article by Jason Weston

[Zombywolf]

woo yeah! glad that someone went back and had a crack at this one.
sunk MANY an hour into heroes III

[Senator Lee]

Thanks for that article. Never got to play those games and had been wondering lately what they are like.

[Jez]

Nostalgia'd so hard. Only HOMM game where I liked the campaign much, HOMM3 was definitely the sweet spot for scenarios and such.

[Bane Williams]

This was among many games my mother and I played competitively against each other in. Hotseat mode was amazing, and while she would regularly kick my arse (my mother is a strategy gamer, and doesn't hold back), the sense of achievement those times I won was incredible.

Many hours, many losses, a handful of glorious victories... this game was (and still kinda is) pretty epic.

[skitzor]

I remember spending a lot of time on this when I was younger. recentlyish reinstalled and had another go, and was still good fun.

I actually just started playing Might and Magic Heroes VI yesterday. it's good to see the core mechanics are the same after so many iterations. it's lost a bit of complexity in some areas (less races (I think?), less resources), but gained a bit in others (hero skills). I also found I had the same problem in the skirmishes, even on "normal" the computer would roll me. I think I need to take more castles quicker.

[Krankite]

Man, I loved playing this game hotseat against a mate down the street, so much fun. Biggest problem with gaming these days is the emphasise on network over local mutliplayer.

[DarthLondar]

Was just telling my friend today (who recently brought HOMM 5 and 6) that number 2 was the best of the series. It's one of the few strategy games I've played where I repeated the main campaign several times. Used to play 2 and 3 with a mate, we had many a 12+ hour match in multiplayer, good times

[Pulviriza]

Used to play the first one as a kid, always on the easiest map where a griffin blocked you from the other players because me and my brother sucked. Recently got this one on GoG, only game I've bought there so far.

[Cexitime]

Heroes 2 (including FA/18 Carrier Strike fighter and KKND2) introduced me to PC gaming all those years ago:D

Great games.

[Jason Weston]

Heroes II just has superb Balance. HIII is also good, but a bit ropey at times animation and balance wise. I lost this game when my partner at the time moved out and NICKED it! LOL

well happy to have back, with extra missions in the Collection Pack!

[Jason Weston]

Man, I loved playing this game hotseat against a mate down the street, so much fun. Biggest problem with gaming these days is the emphasise on network over local mutliplayer.

Hotseat was surprisingly good, as you could alternate between something on FF on PS1 while playing this too!

[MunchY]

I never played Heroes 2. Started on HOMM4. But I think of it much the same as it appears the writer here does with Heroes 2. Sunk many, many hours into it playing hotseat mode with a mate. Until our parents would wake up and wonder what we're still doing up at 3 AM on the computer. We'd be not even halfway through a game.. Hahaha.

Played HOMM5 but eh.. wasn't great. Anyway I just got HOMM6 through the Secret Steamy Santa and it's insane. The campaign is actually quite difficult though and is taking me a stupidly long time just to do 1 faction. If you can master town portals and the placement of advanced ones it gets a lot easier as enemies seem to choose the worst timing to attack!
I'm really impressed with the way you can level up faction weapons and your character's skill trees are much more indepth and customizable. Gotta get my old mate round for a hotseat game soon.. Teaching a newbie takes too long!

tl;dr HOMM6 is orsum

[ub3r]

HOMM2 is the most elegant of the series. I used to spend Sundays with my brother over at a friends house, and me, my bro, my friend and his brother used to play hotseat till it got late and we had to go home. Sometimes if we really were up to it another friend would come round and we would entice my mates youngest brother for 6 player hotseat.

glorious times in my childhood

[Marius]

Yeah, Heroes 2 is still the best for gameplay, though Heroes 3 had a big graphical upgrade. Heroes 3 still looks OK today, though Heroes 2 really shows its age.