Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era isn't just a prequel – it's everything I've been waiting for since I was about 6. There's something special about the games of our youth, but for me, none quite compare to Heroes 3.
Days spent playing co-op campaigns with my brother and sister are surprisingly fresh in my mind, especially given how it's been almost 20 years since I last clapped eyes on a fearsome Behemoth. Or as I fondly called them, my "babies". Now, with Olden Era being published by Hooded Horse and Ubisoft and set to enter early access later in 2025, it feels like the start of something exciting for the iconic strategy RPG franchise – and let me tell you, my nostalgic yearning is real.
Divide and conquer
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If there's one thing Hooded Horse does best, it's delivering some of the best city builders and strategy games of recent years. You need only look at my Manor Lords review-in-progress to see how fast the game blew up, bringing in genre fans and those new to the scene in equal droves. Under the publisher's expert jurisdiction, I have every confidence that Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era will do the same.
Billed on Steam as a "prequel hailing back to the origins" of Heroes, a cursory flick through all the promotional stills shows how proudly Olden Era wears its origins. I cast my mind back and compared them to my memories of Heroes. It looks like Olden Era is retaining pretty much the same isometric point-and-click turn-based adventuring and sidelong combat encounters I recall so fondly – now in much higher resolution.
Stunning fidelity aside, I'm most intrigued by how the new game seems to have preserved so much of what made the first games so iconic. Heroes of Might & Magic 3 is not an overly complicated experience.
Being able to sit down to a campaign (either alone or with friends) and intuitively immerse yourself in it is one of the greatest joys of playing Heroes.
You can move a certain number of squares across the overworld per turn, navigating and de-fogging a huge world map to discover new cities to conquer, random encounters, and riveting side quests. New bases are won in battle, but before you go barging in to stick your hero's flag above the parapet, you need to grow your own army.
How, you ask? Why, with the incredibly deep yet straightforward base-building systems. Heroes is at its best when you feel empowered and strategic, using resources found throughout the overworld to build new structures at a given town (known in H3 as a Faction).
Some of these more complex buildings have synergies with one another, while generic ones are more straightforward – building an archery range lets you recruit archers, for example, and having a tavern lets you recruit more heroes to send out into the overworld.
The nature of the beast(s)
Few gaming experiences have been as immersive or exciting to me as Heroes of Might & Magic.
My favorite structures were those that would let me enlist my most beloved of all creatures in Heroes 3: Behemoths of the Stronghold Faction, and Unicorns of the Ramparts Faction.
Of course, this meant my siblings had to simply accept that I called dibs on both of these Factions and would not tolerate a siege once I'd claimed either one of them. But what's the fun in that, when gnarly turn-based combat is such an intrinsic part of a Heroes game?
I don't know too much about Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era just yet, but everything I've seen has me feeling overwhelmingly positive and very, very nostalgic. It's been a brilliant two years for strategy game fans, and the niche community seems to be growing each day.
I wonder how many people will come to Olden Era as complete newbies to the series, especially now that Hooded Horse is co-publishing it. Having one of the most well-recognized names in strategy gaming right now is a huge plus, but the style and shape of the game itself is what I think will keep players seated.
But whether I see throngs of fellow veteran fans showing up for early access or groups of complete newbies, I do hope another trio of siblings out there manages to pick it up, too. Few gaming experiences have been as immersive or exciting to me as Heroes of Might & Magic, and I can't wait for that unbridled sense of adventure to make a dazzling comeback this year.
Check out the best strategy games out there to play while you wait!
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