Legacy Weapon

Heroes of Might and Magic 2 was a big game for me; the demo was on a PC Gamer disc, and it allowed for a lot of playtime without requiring a purchase. If you typed in 8675309, you got black dragons, which eliminated any of the strategy elements from the battles. It warmed my cheaty little heart. Point, click, kill, win. The game was a bit of RPG (collect artifacts, learn spells) and strategy (create units at your base, then use them to fight your enemies in hex-based combat). It was like a PC RPG interpreted through the lens of a board game. Settlers of Wizardry, maybe, or Pool of Carcassone.

In the present tense, Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes is a retool of the Heroes of Might and Magic series for the DS. It's largest deviation from the formula is the combat. Hexagonal turn-based strategy has been replaced by something far more novel: the puzzle gaming. Match three rows of units, send them flying through your enemy's ranks, deplete their HP, win. It's a bit more complicated than that, but I can't exposit on the ins and outs of the gameplay here without boring you and myself. Instead, I'll say that it's really pretty great.

The single player campaign cycles you through the game's five different factions. Knights, demons, wizards, elves and the undead - the starting lineup of the RPG cliché All-Star team. Every faction has different units and magical attacks. Amazingly, each one plays differently and is fun in its own way. (Except the knights. I hate the knights.) Most battles are of a simple "smack them in the HP till it hurts" persuasion, but there are enough variations to keep Random Battle Exhaustion from setting in. In these unique, puzzley fights you must hit two switches simultaneously or smack a demon who throws exploding cocktails at you from behind a bar, etc.

The game requires you buy your larger units on the world map, each at one specific location which sells one specific type of unit. It feels like an unnecessary holdover from Heroes of Might and Magic, a useless bit thrown in to show a continuity of design between the two games. The champion units were never so overpowered that I ran roughshod over my opponents, and trudging from one end of the map to another to restock my army felt pointless. It didn't severely impact my enjoyment of the game, but why not allow the player to buy units anywhere? Or, better yet, take out unit-buying altogether?

The game also isn't as portable-friendly as a DS game should be. There's no option to save during battles, which made me have to repeat a few battles when my DS died in my pocket. Also, the game will often allow you to start fights you can't win without warning. If you encounter an enemy far over your level, you can retreat, but you'll lose a portion of the resources you use to purchase units. However, if you die during the battle, you'll restart from immediately beforehand with no ill effects. It led me to waste a lot of time trying to die as quickly as possible against an overwhelming force.

None of this matters, though, because this is a game that is both boss and the bee's knees. I would say that it's too short, but I probably only think that because I played it for about twenty hours in the span of three days. Play it. Hell, pay money to play it. Coming from a cheapass like me, there is little higher recommendation.