Might & Magic Heroes VI Reviews

We have rounded up a new, mostly favorable, batch of reviews for Ubisoft and Black Hole Entertainment’s Might & Magic Heroes VI, the oddly-titled sixth chapter in the respected fantasy strategy/RPG franchise.

GamesRadar, 8/10.

If you’re a Heroes veteran, the host of changes and the streamlining of almost every major system will probably delight you while retaining that core addictive premise. If you’re lucky enough to be a fresh-faced Heroes virgin, there has never been a better time to jump in and pop that turn-based cherry. Though the new entry has enough new wrinkles to draw in returning players, it’s also approachable and intuitive enough to snare newcomers. While Heroes VI isn’t a new book, it’s an immensely satisfying sixth chapter.

The A.V. Club, B+.

The game’s ridiculous online components give a poor first impression. The introduction to the storyline is a second strike, as it’s a rush of names and relationships, acting like a sequel to a story that doesn’t exist. Yet it’s worth making the effort to work past those problems. This is still a Heroes game, one of the great strategy series in videogaming history. The graphics and effects are appropriately impressive for 2011, as well. And the game offers a huge amount of single-player content, with dense campaigns for each of its five factions, as well as the usual multiplayer options. Its bells and whistles can be off-putting, but otherwise, Might & Magic: Heroes VI demonstrates why it’s one of the longest-running series in strategy gaming.

ShopToNews, 3/6.

Might & Magic Heroes VI initially surprised me with its well-made and inviting battle system and beautiful graphics and if sticking to the campaign mode it’s a great experience, sadly this is let down by some bad choices with regards to the online play and an erratic anti-piracy system.

Snackbar Games, 4/5.

Progression isn’t limited to one campaign anymore, either. There’s a Dynasty system, letting you earn global experience, complete achievements and gather credits to spend on various in-game unlocks. You can also make a persistent set of characters to use, and give them small game-start bonuses (that you also pick up from the shop). These elements can start to get distracting, but luckily you can choose to turn off a lot of this in multiplayer skirmishes.

Despite this extra layer of crazy on a game with enough to manage, Heroes VI is the best we’ve seen from the series in a decade and worth checking out. At least, eventually. Even with multiple delays, the game’s quite prone to glitches, freezes and hiccups. Hopefully a few patches will iron out the wrinkles, but as it is, we’re thankful for the game’s multiple-turn autosaves. We’d much rather have a game have stability issues than design issues, and the underlying structure is what Heroes fans have been wanting.

Unigamesity, scoreless.

But all in all, Might & Magic Heroes VI is a really pleasant surprise and finally a game that can be compared with the amazing HoMM III. It’s still a bit off, but clearly the best game in the series since Heroes 3!