M&M: Heroes VI - Preview @ RPS

Might & Magic: Heroes VI has been previewed at Rock, Paper, Shotgun:

I have, I must confess, relatively limited experience with prior HoMMs, but it’s pretty obvious that this one’s a serious rethink after the lukewarm reception to game V. It’s intended to harken back to HoMM 2 and 3, oft-believed the series’ glory years, but with a thoroughly 21st century paintjob and interface. The essential structure – roam a map, acquiring units for your army and boshing assorted fantasy monsters in the face in tile-based battles – is along very familiar lines, but… oh, I’m just dancing around a few key words, trying to buy time, trying to prevent anyone getting the wrong end of the stick…

So: it is a bit simpler, ok? There, I said it. But only a bit. Unlike KB – and again, that’s my primary frame of reference here, so you’re going to have to put up with a few more comparisons, I’m sure – there’s a strong emphasis on gathering resources, building up settlements, touring your holdings to check in on what’s become ready for collection and construction, and even having ancillary heroes and their armies roaming the map or defending your strongholds from enemies. Actually fighting stuff only takes up a portion of your time. Managing, upgrading and protecting your kingdom covers the rest of it. It’s big on numbers and short on explanation – you’ll work it out if you’re new to HoMMery, but the existing fans seem to be the group VI is mainly making eyes at.