Game review: Might and Magic Heroes VII

Might and Magic Heroes VII may be an instant classic, but it isn’t making any new fans, just tending to old ones

Might and Magic Heroes is an old (1995) franchise that gets revived periodically with some major changes to graphics and minor changes to gameplay. But it isn’t a game your average gamer would play, there are no blazing guns, no Hollywood blockbuster-style cutscenes and certainly no instant gratification. The game, instead, is long drawn, slow and even at its graphical best, it always looks like it was made at least one generation ago.

M&M Heroes VII is no exception, the graphics are great when you compare them with previous versions, but compare it to any game out now and you will find it lacking.

Despite the dated graphics the game really holds up, the factions are well balanced, the newly added elements make for interesting gameplay, and the creatures really look good. As with previous versions, you can play this game against friends on LAN, online and even hotseat.

The inclusion of a map maker and the fact that the community support for this game is tremendous, means there will be always great maps to play on and a decent audience for multiplayer sessions.

The story mode, however, is the weakest link. The story unfolds with pointless static cutscenes made in the Unreal Engine with motion created by moving the camera around. In this day and age it seems pointless. They could have easily used the hand drawn cutscenes used in each chapter, which were superior. Despite this, the story mode is fun to play. The restrictions and missions assigned to every map are challenging even in the lowest difficulty setting.

It seems Ubisoft has missed an opportunity by not porting this game to a tablet. The way the game works would fit in very nicely with the tablet environment where you can play long drawn videogames at leisure.

The game serves its purpose of making the fan happy by ticking all the right boxes including pricing, replayability and nostalgia. However, gamers trying to get into the franchise may find it difficult to see the charm.

Developer: Limbic
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platform: PC
Rating: 3.5/5
Price: Rs 999

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!