Howard_U's Full Review: Heroes Chronicles: Clash of the Dragons for Window...
[Note: The introduction to this will look a lot like the introduction to Warlords of the Wastelands. Blame 3DO for taking what is really one game, splitting it into four pieces, and selling the pieces separately. When I get to the individual scenarios I’ll talk about the scenarios specifically in Clash of the Dragons.]
Until this series, Heroes of Might and Magic was, hands down, the finest game of its kind ever created. Fanatics played endlessly, not just on the scenarios that came with the various versions of the game, but on maps created by fans and actively exchanged on several fan web sites. It looked like 3DO had created a masterpiece with Heroes of Might and Magic III. But, with the Heroes Chronicles series, 3DO has finally milked the franchise to death.
Basics of the Game
Heroes of Might and Magic is a turn-based, fantasy role-playing strategy game. Players control 1 to 8 Heroes and their armies. The armies are raised in cities and at special locations scattered around the map. Each character type (there are 9 in all) has its own unique city type and each city type has its own special set of buildings. To build these buildings, players must collect resources and gold from mines and special buildings in each city.
Each character type has a set of unique heroes, each of which has unique strengths and weaknesses. These strengths can be enhanced by special items found or purchased and by gaining experience by winning battles against characters controlled by the computer (or other players, though this is a cumbersome multi-player game). The action takes place on detailed maps, called scenarios, which may be joined together to form campaigns. Building on the success of Might and Magic and Might and Magic II, the much anticipated Might and Magic III offered new character types, new heroes, new special items, new buildings, new cities, larger maps and all new campaigns and stand-alone scenarios.
After Might and Magic III had been out a few months, 3DO offered an expansion pack with new scenarios. Then, when one would have expected Might and Magic IV to debut, 3DO offered only an update to III, called Shadow of Death. This added a few new characters and items and was marginally worth the cost to the die-hard fan. The loss of interest is reflected in epinion reviews. As I write this, epinion contains 65 reviews of Might and Magic III and a grand total of one review of Shadow of Death.
Apparently, 3DO decided last year that they hadn’t sufficiently milked the franchise, because they offered 4 more extensions of the game, called Heroes Chronicles, each priced at $19.95 and each containing one campaign of eight scenarios. Put together in one box at $30-40, they might have been worth the money. Offered individually for a total of nearly $80, they were a rip-off worth the money only to the most die-hard fans. By comparison, the original Heroes of Might and Magic III offered dozens of stand-alone and campaign scenarios for about $40.00.
Heroes Chronicles
The worst feature of Heroes Chronicles is that they offered absolutely nothing new, except for their very limited new campaigns. No new character types, no new cities, no new buildings, no new items, practically no new heroes, no new map sizes, nothing except a substantial story line that spanned all four games and really belonged in one box, not four. Even this story line, detailed and colorful as it was, insulted the intelligence of the gamer, in that it followed the exploits of a hero who was nearly impossible to root for.
That hero, Tarnum by name, begins as a barbarian set on restoring a barbarian empire whose glory is long gone. I’ve reviewed Warlords of the Wasteland, the first in the series, separately. Clash of the Dragons is the last, and best, in the series, but that’s fairly faint praise. Tarnum begins Clash of the Dragon as a barbarian living in peace among the elves. This peace is threatened by a villain named Mutare, who swallowed a potion and became an evil dragon. Through eight scenarios, Tarnum and his allies battle ever more powerful dragons and Tarnum even gets to pursue a love interest. The story line is mildly deep, but has little to do with the actual gameplay. It emerges as a text story unfolding between turns of this turn based game, but emerges the same no matter how or what you are doing in the game.
The 8 scenarios
1. The Dragontalker
On this small map (maps come in small, medium, large and extra large) Tarnum must find the Dragontalker, who will tell him what he must do. The map is way too easy and can be knocked off in minutes. Tarnum may advance to level 6 and his level carries over to the next scenario.
2. Dragon's Blood
Another short game on another small map. The scene is set with a nice little animation of Mutare becoming a dragon. Tarnum must find the vial of dragon's blood to move on. The story introduces Valita, a captain in Tarnum's forces and soon to be his love interest. Tarnum and two other heroes may advance to level 12 and move on to the next scenario.
3. The Dragon Mothers
This medium-sized map takes a little longer. Tarnum must find and free the Dragon mothers (a group of gold dragons. The story begins to unfold. Valita is suspected of being a spy. Tarnum and two heroes can advance to level 18.
4. Dragons of Rust
Back to small and quick. Rust dragons are fairly hard to defeat, but don't have the strong resistance to magic of most dragons. Your mission is to find and defeat a specific enemy castle. Tarnum and two heroes can advance to level 24. By the way, it's helpful to develop three heroes fairly fully each scenario, but only Tarnum needs to be fully developed. If you're trying to set a record for the fewest days to completion, go ahead and take the shortest path. Otherwise, take your time and visit all the sites that advance your skills. It does make the game much easier in the later scenarios.
5. Distrust
Another medium-sized map. Tarnum must defeat all of the other castles on the map (3 total). The "distrust" refers to the story line about distrusting Valita, which is coming to a head. Tarnum and two other heroes can reach level 28 before moving on.
6. Dragons of Gossamer Wings
This small scenario requires Tarnum to find the faerie dragons, who are his allies. These are reasonably powerful dragons, but you must be careful in using them. They cast random spells, which may make you painfully aware of the concept of "friendly fire." This is another easy level, but Tarnum and two heroes can advance to level 32 before moving on. Not to spoil the story, but you won't be surprised to learn that Valita is not guilty, though she, like Tarnum, does have a deep, dark secret to share.
7. Dragons of Deepest Blue
Another medium map, which introduces azure dragons, the second most powerful characters in all of Heroes. Tarnum must find and defeat all enemy towns to move on and he and two others can gain level 34 before moving on. You'll actually start the next scenario with 4 heroes, though I didn't notice if all 4 carried their experience over.
8. Clash of the Dragons
Finally, a large map. Tarnum must defeat all enemies to win. Fortunately, he starts with 5 castles and can develop at his leisure before going in search of the enemy. This scenario includes every kind of dragon available in Heroes (including the most powerful crystal dragons) and provides a satisfying climax to the story.
Impressions
Clash of the Dragons is easily the best of the four Chronicles titles. True, as with the others, it won't take more than 10-15 hours to play all eight of the scenarios that make up the campaign. But at least you get to play with far and away the most powerful creatures in the Heroes III system and the story line is mildly interesting.
As with the other Chronicles, most of the maps are small and easy, but the final map is large and reasonably well balanced. If I had one complaint, it would be that in most of the scenarios you spend long periods of time building your troops, while seeing little of the opposition. Your allies, the fairy dragons, are powerful, but useless at times because of their "friendly fire."
As noted, the story line doesn't always match what's going on in the game. It's disconcerting to read that a hero has been kidnapped when you are playing with that hero at the head of a substantial troop, but if you can just ignore that they don't match up, both the game and the story are interesting.
If you are going to buy just one of the Chronicles for Christmas, this is definitely the choice. If you’ve never played Heroes of Might and Magic, you could pick this game up cheaply and get a feel for the basics of the game. You won’t be disappointed. If you are a dedicated fan of Might and Magic you will be disappointed, but you will at least have some minor new maps to play on. If you can wait, though, 3DO has announced that Might and Magic IV is on the way, though no release date has been set as of this writing. They promise it will be a whole new game. Let's hope it's worth the wait.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.