Jump to:

The Big Preview for Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era – Exclusive dev access and hands-on with the strategy RPG revival

Features
By published
The Big Preview art of Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era showing a vampire holding a glowing skull
(Image credit: Ubisoft, Hooded Horse)
Jump to:

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is reviving the classic strategy RPG series in style, taking the old school favorites while modernizing mechanics to keep the spirit strong. We've already played loads ahead of its upcoming Early Access launch, going beyond its free demo to get hands-on with a behind-closed-doors build alongside talking with development studio Unfrozen.

Plenty of tweaks and updates are coming to the series with Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era. Our extended, exclusive hands-on with the game is impressing us, and has given us lots of questions to ask the development team, as well as publisher Hooded Horse. Considering our time with Olden Era is already well into the double hour digits, we're expecting the early access release to take over our lives just like a town siege.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era: The Big Preview

The Big Preview art of Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era showing warring armies with a town and a dragon in the background - showing the Cover Story tag

(Image credit: Ubisoft, Hooded Horse)
Cover Story

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is a "great pleasure" and a "great responsibility" for its superfan CEO, and he's governed by one guiding principle: "Heroes is for everyone": How did Unfrozen come to revive the strategy RPG series that's now been under Ubisoft's umbrella for many years? It's no small thing, and the developer knows it.

The interview

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era big preview

(Image credit: Ubisoft, Hooded Horse)
Interview

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era's huge demo feels like Early-Early Access because its strategy champion devs are constantly working off your feedback: "The philosophy here is transparency": Unusually, the demo that dropped during Steam Next Fest is still active and being updated ahead of the Early Access launch. We ask Unfrozen about the approach ahead of their release plans.

The Necropolis faction town in Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, with the GamesRadar+ Big Preview frame

(Image credit: Ubisoft, Hooded Horse)
Dev access

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era fans have already spent over 200 hours in the free Steam demo because there's an "unlimited amount of replayability": So full of content is the demo, that players basically have an endless amount of game to play across different faction combinations and map templates.

A world of might and magic

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era

(Image credit: Ubisoft, Hooded Horse)
Hands-on

I'm usually a Dungeon disciple in Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, but after 2 hours with the latest build, I'm feeling oddly fond of insects: We jump into a new build of the game to try out the campaign, more map templates, and expanded factions across quickplay and Arena, including the Hive and Sylvan factions, meaning we've now gone hands-on with all the towns that'll be available at launch.

A knight on horseback leads the charge against another army in classic Heroes of Might and Magic 3 key art, with the GamesRadar+ Big Preview frame

(Image credit: Ubisoft, 3DO)
Retrospective

Revisiting Heroes 3 after 20 years has made me realize that Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era may have already surpassed it: How much of an upgrade is Unfrozen's upcoming entry compared to the classics? Turns out, a lot! While we still enjoy revisiting the classics, it's only when playing them side-by-side that all of Olden Era's improvements really become clear. We've got a new favorite on our hands.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is coming to PC in 2026, published by Hooded Horse and developed by Unfrozen.

Oscar Taylor-Kent
Oscar Taylor-Kent
Games Editor

Games Editor Oscar Taylor-Kent brings his years of Official PlayStation Magazine and PLAY knowledge to the fore. A noted PS Vita apologist, he's also written for Edge, PC Gamer, SFX, Official Xbox Magazine, Kotaku, Waypoint, and more. When not dishing out deadly combos in Ninja Gaiden 4, he's a fan of platformers, RPGs, mysteries, and narrative games. A lover of retro games as well, he's always up for a quick evening speed through Sonic 3 & Knuckles or yet another Jakathon through Naughty Dog's PS2 masterpieces.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Back To Top