Winds of War combines the original game with new single and multi-player
maps, new creatures, and a number of new adventure map locations and artifacts.
These additions will require you to develop new strategies for achieving
victory. There are also 6 entirely new campaigns, which tell the tale of five
conquerors and their quests to control the shining capital city of Channon. Here
is a brief description of the campaigns and the five new heroes involved.
To Rule the World: Spazz Maticus recently became king when his father
died of "questionable" causes. Though much too young to rule a kingdom, Spazz
has lofty goals, and often clashed with his father who seemed content with their
small kingdom. Now that he is in charge, it’s time the kingdom got a little
bigger. It’s time to rule the world.
Barbarian Hordes: The barbarian, Mongo, being the eldest nephew of the
king, is sent from his northern homeland and across a great sea to conquer the
kingdom of Channon and lay claim to the lands that he will one day rule. His
ultimate goal is the city of Rylos.
The magnificent One: The kingdom of Channon posses the secret of
immortality, but have refused to share it with anyone. Mysterio the Magnificent,
greatest of magicians and leader of the neighboring kingdom of Qassar, has set
out on a quest to obtain these secrets by any means necessary.
Enough is Enough: Erutan Revol has finally had enough of the humans’ lack
of respect for nature. Diplomacy was attempted and failed, and the warden of his
forest kingdom, Erutan is left with one choice; eradicate the human infidels and
give their lands back to nature.
Death March: "So many living, so little time;" such is the lament of the
Baron Von Tarkin. Having become disconnected with his own small kingdom, the
Baron decides to embark on a quest to rid the world of all living things,
converting them instead to a vast army of the undead. His first targets are the
lands of the living, which is to lie to the north, to eliminate the Life
magicians who most threaten his way of death.
The Last Bastion: Having covered and conquered all but the last
bit of ground leading to the capital, each conqueror learns that there are four
others who seek the same prize. This single-map campaign pits the five
conquerors against each other in a pitched battle for ultimate control. Three
new creatures walk the lands of the new expansion. Though not available in every
campaign, they will add more of a strategic balance to the mix.
Catapult: The newest incarnation of the catapult is an engineering
marvel, able to deliver its fiery gifts of warfare even to the most hidden of
foes.
Frenzied Gnasher: Is a massive and powerful beast that is immune to
magic. A few have been captured and trained just enough to be useful in battle,
but turned loose there is no stopping it.
Megadragon: The most costly of the bunch at 8000 gold. Also the carrying
the highest hit points at a cool 1000. Can deal anywhere from 50-100 points of
damage. Quite simply, there is no creature alive or dead that can stand alone
against the raw, awesome power of the Megadragon. Their extreme rarity and
limited susceptibility to magic are their only known weaknesses.
There are 6 new adventure map locations.
Goblin Armory is the location for hiring Goblin knights.
Ward of Sorcery is the place to hire evil sorceresses.
Gargantuan Dell is the location for hiring Gargantuans. (Not a huge PC)
Dark Knight’s Sanctum is where to go to hire Dark Champions.
Siege Workshop hires out Catapults.
Beast Pen is where to hire Frenzied Gnashers.
That’s enough to warrant an expansion I suppose, but nothing has really
changed from the previous expansion or the original. Graphics, Sound, and
Gameplay are all the same. I personally would have liked to see a few new spells
thrown into the fray, but no ah ah, not this time around. In addition to the
above mentioned there are some 25 or so scenario maps. Fans of the series
developed some of the scenarios, which you don’t see too often in an expansion
that you have to pay for. The musical score gets repetitive (no change here) and
we are still playing what is in essence the same original game (resource
management, army development and building buildings.) Multiplayer can still be
played on a LAN or online though Gamespy, which is in my opinion the best way to
enjoy any of the HOMM4 titles.
Fans of the game should have no problem shelling out the 30 bucks or so that
this title will demand, but those who were not huge fans of the series may opt
to by pass this expansion and wait for HOMM5 (if there is one).
HOMM4 (the original) is required to play Winds of War.
| Reviewer’s Scoring Details |
Gameplay: 8.5
Follows the same interface as the original. Devoted fans will see very few
changes, just added goodies. If you are new to the game and you are putting all
3 titles on your system at once, expect about an hour learning curve to be up
and running.
Graphics: 7
The graphics are pretty decent, but there has been some leap and bounds in
graphic development, unfortunately we rarely see them in an expansion pack, and
this is no exception.
Sound: 7
Sound effects were ok. The music wasn’t bad, in fact was quite good, same
sounds from the previous titles, so not too much difference here. My major gripe
is the repetitiveness, but hey that’s just me.
Difficulty Medium-Hard
This title is quite challenging and is very tactical. Multiplayer will
provide even bigger challenges. Expect the final challenge to be the ultimate
battle.
Concept: 7
What’s the deal with user based maps? Most games allow users to post their
hard work for free and allow the community of fans to enjoy these free of
charge, I certainly hope the users are getting their fair share of the pie.
Multiplayer: 9
Pretty simple to set up and provides hours of entertainment. This is a good
way to see how other players meet new challenges and can give you some insight
if you get stuck in a particular campaign.
Overall: 7.5
A must have for fans of the series, others may wait till something else
comes along.
