Heroes of Might and Magic III: Armageddon's Blade (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars Excellent
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 8.0 (4.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Andrew Park
• Reviewed on: 10/25/1999
• Updated on: 05/01/2000
• Released on: 09/30/1999
• Originally published on GameSpot: Heroes of Might and Magic III: Armageddon's Blade (PC) Review

Though the Armageddon's Blade expansion for Heroes of Might and Magic III sports a number of new features and a sizeable cache of new maps in the form of six complete campaigns and a whopping 38 standalone scenarios, it's essentially more of the same - much more. With the exception of the new elemental conflux town type, which is interesting enough in its own right and decidedly different from the existing towns, the expansion's new gameplay options make additions that are subtle rather than revolutionary. And its longer, more complex campaigns and enhanced map editing features seem better suited to zealous Heroes fanatics than to casual fans.

The story behind Armageddon's Blade's main campaign follows both Heroes of Might and Magic III and Might and Magic VII. Catherine and Roland are forced to violate the peace of Erathia and declare war against the demon King Lucifer Kreegan, who has deployed his minion Xeron to gather three of the most powerful artifacts in existence in order to assemble the titular Armageddon's Blade. The expansion also includes four other campaigns, each championed by a different hero, and an exceptionally difficult sixth "prequel" campaign, which chronicles the adventures of a young Sir Christian long before the Restoration of Erathia.

Each prepackaged map is packed with treasure, enemies, and quest objects. Devoted Heroes players will likely dive into each carefully designed level with gusto, spending hour after gleeful hour pointing and clicking away at every tiny, colorful object they can find. Players so captivated will probably be able to overlook the fact that Armageddon's Blade looks and sounds almost identical to Heroes III. With the exception of the conflux town's single new musical theme, (which sounds suspiciously similar to the Wizard's town theme from Heroes II); some new cutscenes; and a handful of new unit, artifact, and hero-portrait graphics, there is absolutely nothing new to see or hear. Then again, the artwork generally looks as good as it did when Heroes III was first released. It's as colorful, detailed, and stylized as ever - and as an added bonus, every single creature from the previous Heroes games (except the horrendously overpowering ghost) has returned, either as a conflux unit or a neutral creature.

One of the few truly new things about the expansion is the elemental conflux town, whose denizens include the long-lost sprites and phoenixes, and the formerly neutral elementals of Heroes III (along with an entirely new addition - the psychic/magic elemental). The strongest creature in the conflux, the phoenix, is as fabulously powerful as ever, and it reclaims its rightful place as the fastest creature in the entire game. As such, scrambling up the tech tree to reach the phoenix seems worthwhile, but it is terribly costly in terms of turns and resources. Consequently, the meat of the conflux's forces is the five different elementals, which collectively represent what the game's manual describes as an "emphasis on creatures of mid-range power." Each elemental is characterized by certain specific weaknesses and corresponding strengths in the form of magical immunities. These immunities provide some intriguing strategic possibilities, especially when complemented by the proper spells and artifacts. Thus the conflux town may appeal to more patient players, since carefully managed war parties, consisting of a mid- to late-game buildup of elementals and led by a hero whose spells are specifically tuned to play off the specific magical immunities of his army, are formidable indeed. Unfortunately, through the first half of a game, elementals are little more than a colorful pack of melee grunts, whose limited movement points and middling attack power are anything but interesting.

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