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Milking a dead cow?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 62 / 66
Date: April 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

By itself, the expansion offers fewer features than the previous expansion, but the length of gameplay still makes the purchase worth it. That is, if you are a hardcore fan...

Features:
* 6 new campaigns in a similar format than in the previous expansion - 5 campaigns must be finished in order for the 6th to unlock.
* 3 new creatures. This fixes some balancing issues introduced by the previous expansion, where only three out of the six factions got a new creature.
* All six creatures now have dwellings where you can purchase them.
* Improved editor allows for a more streamlined map creation.
* New maps, both 3Do- and fan-made. Fan-made maps are the result of a contest; one of the rules was that those maps should't be available on the Internet, so they do present original content.
* New music track in the main menu. (Ever since installation, though, I haven't heard the new track introduces by the previous expansion.)

What I liked:
* The campaigns are much tougher with more focus on strategy, as opposed to role-playing in the previous expansion. This will please everybody who considered The Gathering Storm too easy.
* The final campaign has a very original twist - you will need to pick a single hero out of the five you created, and fight against the other four. Those heroes tend to be the most powerful you may find in the whole game.

What I disliked.
* Price. That is my main complaint. At [$], it offers enough gameplay to look [inexpensive]. However, you will need both expansions for a balanced experience (each expansion inproves only half of the factions), and you'll need the original game to play it. At a total of [$], no game is worth it. Wait for the inevitable Heroes 4 Gold instead.
* Graphics. While they didn't change, some map designs are more confusing than before. The fan-created maps are the biggest culprits, but even some campaign maps suffer from this problem.
* Missing features. There are no new spells or at least artifacts. In contrast, the previous expansion featured some very nifty artifacts. In addition, the much-promised random map generator (promised ever since the original game came out) is still missing.

Overall, I can recommend this game only to people who purchased the previous expansion. Others should wait for a compilation.

Worthwhile expansion, fan-made maps outstanding.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 24 / 26
Date: March 31, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I hadn't played Heroes IV in some time, so I picked up this expansion in an effort to rekindle a little interest. It worked well. The changes are subtle, what stands out most are the new campaigns. But this expansion, like the first, adds additional depth and dimension to an already enjoyable title.

Only downside really is the price, but I suppose that stands true across the entire industry these days. For those who can hold out a little longer, you can reasonably expect 3DO to release a 'Complete' version before Summer. Which would likely include both expansion packs and the base game for less than the two upgrades combined. Do a search here on Amazon for 'Heroes III Complete' for an example from the previous version of the title.

All in all, I personally found this to be a worthwhile purchase. I am enjoying the new campaigns and the new additions, the new creatures (like Dark Paladins) are terrific and powerful, and the fan-made single scenario maps are for the most part absolutely fantastic. I hope to see 3DO include these in the future.

I'm giving this 4 stars, with the only ding being on price.

What you get:
- New single-scenario maps created by New World Computing as well as contest-winning single-scenario maps created by fans
- Six new Heroes® campaigns
- Three original fantastic creatures
- New adventure objects, including six creature generators
- Additional Campaign Editor features, including a customizable object painter
- New storylines for the campaigns
- All new music track

Quality is Quality. The Heroes brand has never let me down.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 10, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Simple as that. I am an avid player of the 3DO franchise games.
This series, including this program, is by far the greatest of any adventure series. The players helped create the game!!
THAT should say something. 6 brand new creature generators offer a nice variety.
Even a new Campaign editor feature.
YOU can be in even more control of the game than you ever have before.
I enjoyed this tremendously.
I would tell anyone i know to grab this.
Especially now that 3DO is defunct and this game will ,one day soon, become extinct.
Enjoy. I sure did.

Terible

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 13
Date: September 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The campains are chessy and nothing new is added. This title detracts from the rest of the series and i hope that gathering of storms has what this does not, somthing new!

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