Heroes of Might and Magic II is a fantasy role-playing game which takes place in the land of Enroth, a place of magic. There are a multitude of creature types, from griffins to rocs, golems to pikemen, unicorns to hydras, and four different dragons. Each castle type has six different creatures, from the weak to the strong. There are six castle types, each corresponding to a hero class: Knight, Sorceress, Wizard (Good side), Barbarian, Necromancer and Warlock (Evil side). There are also six different types of neutral creatures you can recruit in special structures scattered about the maps.

Compared to the first game, this sequel has larger and more interactive combat screens. The spell system is now based on spell points instead of spell memorization.

The maps themselves range from small two player maps, to huge maps that all six player types could fit in easily. There is a map maker included, and you can multiplay via hotseat, modem, or IP.

When you look at the awards Heroes of Might and Magic II won, you might think you were mistakenly looking at the copy for the original Heroes of Might and Magic. Yet, suprisingly enough, both games won awards as Best Strategy Game of the Year, and with good reason. When New World Computing designed the sequel to their best selling strategy game, they produced something we rarely see, a sequel better than the original.

Much of the game remains the same. As in Heroes of Might and Magic, the sequel is a turn-based strategy game set in the fantasy universe of the Might and Magic role playing game series. You begin the game with a castle, and a single hero to lead your very small beginning army. The first item on the agenda is to hire more heroes, grow your armies, and begin exploring the land around you to gather the necessary resources and power to successfully defeat your enemies. Each turn you move your hero to explore new areas, build buildings in your castle which allow you to call new creatures to your cause or expand your library of spells.

However, there are many new features in Heroes II that show strong improvement over the original. The first noticeable improvement is the graphics. While it continues to use 2D line art, it has been sharply improved with strong animation effects that really make the game more enjoyable to play. The musical score, included on the CD, is very grand, and does a marvelous job setting the tone of the game. They expanded multi-player capabilities to include six players instead of four. And lastly they added two new powerful character classes, numerous new buildings to construct and subsequent new armies and spells.

The artificial intelligence in the game is well designed, and guarantees that the game won’t be an easy walk through, or “a piece of cake.” And it’s multi-player play provides for a rich and practically endless variety of playing experience as you are forced to deal with your friends and neighbor’s intellignece, versus that programed in the game. This game easily deserves every award and accolade it received as Best Strategy Game of the Year, and is an enjoyable addition to everyone’s gaming collection.

Graphics: Very nicely done 2D art with rich animation during the combat sequences.

Sound: The sound effects in the game are well done, and the CD music is a delight!

Enjoyment: Overall, an extremely enjoyable gaming experience.

Replay Value: Very good replay value in single player mode, and endless with multi-player.