We caught ourfirst glimpseofMight and Magic Heroes VIat this year’s gamescom, but further details since then have been fairly sparse. Fortunately, I was able to sit down with producer Erwan LeBreton at Ubisoft’s Digital Day and get a closer look at the game.
Although theMight & Magicfranchise has grown to encompass multiple different genres over the years, theHeroesseries is best known for its unique blend of turn-based strategy and RPG elements. WhileHeroes VIappears to remain faithful to the series, preserving many of the gameplay mainstays, great effort has been made to implement changes and improvements that fans have been clamoring for.
Might & Magic Heroes VI(PC)Developer: Black Hole EntertainmentPublisher: UbisoftTo be released: 2011
Upon sitting down to start the demo, the first and most obvious improvement was the brand-new engine and art direction for this title.Heroes VIis running on Black Hole’s own in-house engine and sports a more realistic visual style, as opposed to the “cartoony” look ofHeroes V. Models and textures were sharp and detailed, the effective use of color and contrast in overworld exploration was gorgeous, and the attention to detail in the combat animation blew me away. You may be wondering what type of rig you are going to need to run something like this, but I’ve been assured that the engine has actually been optimized to run well on laptops!
In terms of gameplay,Heroes VIappears to remain true to the series. The classic gameplay loop of building, exploration, resource collection, combat, and character advancement has been faithfully recreated. Everything appears to have been built from the ground up to be more streamlined and responsive, giving the game a truly “next-gen” feel.
Some of the changes will include:
If you are a fan of any of the previousHeroestitles, or even RPG and strategy games, this is definitely one to look forward to!
