Without doubt the biggest name in fantasy turn-based genre is back for a fourth instalment and we're pleased to report it's addictive as it ever was. Recent competition to Heroes 4 came in the form of Etherlords, which was a wonderful game and raised the bar as far as graphics in the genre are concerned. Whilst, Heroes 4 is not as aesthetically pleasing as Etherlords it probably has more depth and the swarm of campaigns and scenarios on offer mean that it just about edges above Etherlords.
First impressions weren't good however. The first time you play it you'll be hard pressed to find any new features introduced other than the higher quality graphics. You walk about, pick things up, kill a few things which increases you're experience and allows you to kill harder enemies and so on. Give it more time though and even though you won't notice it at first the game's subtle features will rise up and begin to show.
The game has a very big RPG feel to it in the way that you're heroes are developed and the development of your character is entirely up to you and the decisions you make. Whenever your character gains a level you can choose what skill to train your hero in and there are a wealth of different options and combinations available to you. For once, your heroes also take an active part in the battles that you fight and the skills that you train them in means that it does play a major part in how effective your hero is in battle. The result of this is that you actually care about your hero and will do your best to look after him (or her). This stops the game from becoming repetitive and leads to you spending more time thinking about your decisions and the battles that you choose to fight.
However, the problem is Etherlords showed that combat in games of this type can be a spectacular affair rather than simply a means to an end and despite the improved graphics in Heroes 4 the combat is still fairly boring. There is an auto-combat mode which allows you to get through these sections quicker but unfortunately your armies seem to do much better when controlled by yourself rather than leaving the computer's AI to control them. To be fair the battles do become more exciting later on in the game when you have access to more skills and spells and the battles involve more strategy than they do at the start but it comes nowhere near to matching the sequences found in Etherlords. Thankfully though, this isn't too much of a problem in Heroes 4 as there is so much more to do in the game. There are so many other important decisions that you have to make throughout the game that a simple combat system doesn't really hamper your enjoyment of the game too much. This means that the game is still scarily addictive and with little else on the horizon for the turn-based strategy games you'd be a fool to miss this one.
As addictive as ever
