Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes

The world of Ashan has a big demon problem. Every time the moon stands right, those bastards come from their prison world Sheogh and terrorize the neighborhood. This time they are searching for the Blade of Binding. Forged during the last demon war, it allows its wearer to control the demons. Something the demons of course can't allow anyone to have. So they do everything to create mistrust between the humans and the elves, unleashing a war in the Forests of Irollan. At the same time others are blinded by the gift of power the demons offer and more or less secretly join their ranks. So since the adults are bashing their heads in, it is up to their offspring to save Ashan and stop the demons.

Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes is a mix of puzzle- and turn-based-strategy set in the Might & Magic universe and the story takes place 40 years before the events in Heroes of Might & Magic V. During the campaign the player takes on the role of younger versions of known heroes like the human Godric or the elf Anwen. The campaign is split into five acts, in each of which the player starts with a level 1 hero in one of the four areas of the world of Ashan and even Sheogh. Similar to the original game, the player moves his hero through the world step by step, talking to people, collecting resources like gold and stone, getting quests and fighting the various enemies around. All of this is happening in real time.

The hero has access to three types of troops: normal, elite and master, with a maximum of three normal troops, one elite and one master in his army at the same time. All of the units are taken from the Heroes of Might & Magic universe and share the same abilities as their big brothers. While the normal troops are of no concern after they have been unlocked, as they don't need to be replaced, elite and master units need to be bought at specific buildings on the map as they can be killed during combat. Combat itself is turn-based, but not on a traditional hex field like the original game. Instead, the combat is not only the main part of the game but is also designed like a puzzle game.

Once combat has started, the player has to arrange his troops by color with normally three moves available. How the troops come into the battle is solely dependent on chance. The player can only decide which troops are available to him. The two screens of the DS show the player's troops at the bottom and the enemies on the top arranged in eight rows with up to six units. If three normal units of the same color are stacked upon each other, they make a formation and get ready for combat. Elite units on the other hand need two normal units to be activated, master units four. Each unit type has a timer and a certain amount of strength associated with it. The timer tells the player in which round the unit will make their attack move. Until then the unit's strength will increase at the beginning of the player's turn until it reaches its maximum. If an enemy attack hits the same row during this charge time, the damage done by the enemy is subtracted from the strength of the unit until either the enemy's units or the unit's strength reaches zero. Inactive units also weaken the enemies attack force but much less than an attack formation. If units are formed into an attack and they have the same duration left until attack and the same color as another unit on the board, they'll link up and get even stronger. If two attack forces of the same color are formed in the same row, they will combine, more than doubling their strength.

The goal of most of the combats is to get the enemy hero down to 0 HP. This is done by successfully getting an attack formation through the enemy forces with at least one strength left. The heroes themselves are not represented on the battlefield but if their units damage the enemy hero or the hero gets hit himself, his mana will increase. Once it is full they can cast a spell like a lightning storm which is unique to that hero. Each hero and their units belong to one of the five factions including Inferno and Necropolis. The gameworld they move around in is also part of that factions home.

To spice things up, the game features boss fights which are very different to normal fights, as well as other story-relevant battles that differ from the standard "Kill the Hero" format. Godric for example has to free some prisoners by hitting two switches at the same time with his attack groups. Also available are combat puzzles where the goal is to wipe out the enemy troops in just one turn with pre-defined units.