Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era

It’s been 24 years since the last great Heroes game, but Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era is proving to be worth the wait, even in early access. Combat is fluid, the maps are beautiful and fair, and everything just works as it should right away. The bones are here, and then some, for a franchise that’s risen from the ashes like a Phoenix. [Early Access Review]

Despite my hesitation, Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era feels like a dream come true. It captures what made the series special while leaving space to grow into something even better. If the developers continue refining and expanding it, this could finally be the game that brings the franchise back to the top of the strategy genre. Combat, exploration, army management, and the story are exactly what I wanted from a new Heroes of Might & Magic game, and if the only issues are minor ones, I am beyond happy. Longtime fans will not want to pass on this one. It may never reach the same heights as Heroes of Might & Magic III, but it is well on its way to making that attempt. [Early Access Score = 90]

The difficulty level is definitely an issue. If you have no experience with the franchise, I therefore do not recommend Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era. However, if the game really appeals to you, I advise starting with the third installment so that you can learn the game's system without too much frustration. If you truly love a challenge, Olden Era is definitely for you, but it will certainly involve a lot of trial and error. Are you a long-time fan of the franchise? Then Olden Era is certainly worth the effort. The atmosphere does indeed resemble that of the old games, and the various modes and factions make the game pleasantly varied, allowing you to spend plenty of hours puzzling and exploring. It seems the developers have listened closely to the fans.

Right now, the main thing I hope to see is a UI and text scaling option. It is the only major issue with the game on Steam Deck right now. It likely will come as the team has commented on Steam Deck support before, but I want to prepare you for that if you plan on jumping in with the game's early access release. Beyond that, proper controller support would be nice, but the trackpad and combination of face/shoulder buttons works well.

It might be Early Access with a long way to go, but the content and mechanics on offer are plentiful, and fans of the genre will appreciate the core gameplay and the narrative in the campaign. Plenty of skirmish maps, multiplayer, and the map editor at launch offer enough on the buffet table, and so far, I really like how Olden Era is shaping up. It needs work with optimization, and I want to see gamepad support for certain. The experience on the Steam Deck is a little rough due to the tiny text size and controller issues, but there is plenty of time for fixes to come in.

In short, Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is practically everything I could have asked for in a new game in the series: an experience familiar enough with the past to connect with my fondest childhood memories of keyboard and mouse, whilst adding new features such as factions and game subsystems to make me think and immerse myself fully in its universe and gameplay. It's a new era for strategy, and I'm delighted to be back on this path.

The core of Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is as solid as the series has ever been, and though there is plenty to be tweaked and rebalanced in the coming months, this Early Access starting point can satisfy both New World Computing-era yearners and newbies curious to see what the fuss is about alike.