Heroes of Might and Magic III: Armageddon's Blade
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia. (Discuss) |
 |
This article or section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (May 2008) |
| Heroes of Might and Magic III: Armageddon's Blade | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | New World Computing |
| Publisher(s) | The 3DO Company |
| Designer(s) | Jon Van Caneghem (creator) Mark Caldwell (EP) Jeff Blattner (producer) David Mullich (director) Greg Fulton (designer) |
| Version | 2.2 |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Macintosh ("Heroes III Complete" only) |
| Release date |  September 30, 1999 |
| Genre(s) | Turn-based strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player, single-system multiplayer, or network play |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone |
| Media | 1 CD-ROM |
| System requirements | 133 MHz CPU, 32 MB RAM, 100 MB available hard disk space, DirectX 7.0, Windows 95 or higher, an installed copy of Heroes of Might and Magic III |
| Input methods | Keyboard and mouse |
Heroes of Might and Magic III: Armageddon's Blade is the first of two expansion packs for the turn-based strategy game Heroes of Might and Magic III. It was developed by New World Computing for Microsoft Windows and released by the 3DO Company in 1999.
Contents |
[edit] Story
Armageddon's Blade is a direct sequel to the events of Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor. As the kingdom of Erathia struggles to rebuild following the Restoration Wars, the Kreegans of Eeofol launch a surprise invasion. Already war-weary, the forces of Queen Catherine are no match for the formidable Kreegan army, and defeat seems certain until a mysterious new ally appears in the form of the Conflux towns.
Unlike The Restoration of Erathia and The Shadow of Death (the second expansion pack), only one of the six new campaigns available in Armageddon's Blade directly concerns the new storyline. The other five campaigns are standalone stories which take place at roughly the same time as the main campaign, in the same fictional world.
- In Armageddon's Blade, following the death of King Xenofex, a usurper named Lucifer Kreegan takes control of Eeofol and, driven by a vision, begins to seek a means to fashion an ancient weapon known as Armageddon's Blade, capable of setting the world on fire. As his general, Xeron, locates the components for the Blade, the armies of Erathia and AvLee launch an attack on Eeofol. Queen Catherine Ironfist and her husband, the recently-freed King Roland, are assisted by General Morgan Kendal and the mysterious elven warrior, Gelu, in the ensuing war. Even the very elements themselves begin to manifest as "Conflux" towns to aid Erathia in their struggle. Xeron obtains the Blade, but is defeated by Gelu on his return to Eeofol. Gelu claims the Blade, and, at the behest of Queen Catherine, uses it to slay Lucifer Kreegan. Following this event, the Ironfists return to Enroth (see Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer) and the Blade is passed on to Gelu. The story is continued in Heroes Chronicles: The Sword of Frost.
- Dragon's Blood tells the story of Mutare, a young Overlord, and her acension to the throne of the kingdom of Nighon. Chiefly opposed by a Warlock named Ordwald, she makes a desperate attempt at victory by seeking out the fabled Vial of Dragon's Blood. After obtaining the heavily-guarded potion, she uses it to transform herself into a dragon, quickly destroying Ordwald and becoming Nighon's sole recognised Queen. Mutare's story is concluded in Heroes Chronicles: Clash of the Dragons.
- Dragon Slayer tells the story of Dracon, a Bracadan dragon slayer, as he goes about his daily life of exterminating dragons. Tasked with putting an end to a horde of Crystal Dragons as part of his final test, he then seeks out the legendary Azure Dragons, battling Faerie and Rust Dragons throughout his quest.
- Festival of Life tells of the Barbarian Kilgor's struggle for the position of King of the tribelands of Krewlod. Facing up to the Ancient Behemoth, Razor Claw, he then cleanses Krewlod's wildlands of monsters and goes on to oppose and later kill the renowned Duke Winston Boragus, becoming Krewlod's new leader. Kilgor's story is continued in Heroes Chronicles: The Sword of Frost.
- Playing with Fire tells the story of Adrienne, a Tatalian Fire Witch. Having recently learned Fire Magic from the Kreegans of Eeofol, she returns to her swampy homeland to find it under assault by the forces of the undead Lord Haart. Adrienne first unites the Tatalian people, and then begins cleansing the swamps of the iniquitous Necromancers before putting an end to Lord Haart once and for all.
- Foolhardy Waywardness is a bonus campaign that becomes accessible only after all of the other campaigns have been completed. It tells the story of Christian, a fragance alchemist shipwrecked on an unfamiliar island. The story may be loosely based on a campaign from Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Price of Loyalty that had a similar story. The great irony of this campaign's ending is that it explains the reasons behind the fact that Christian is the first hero you play with in the "Long Live the Queen" campaign in the original Heroes III.
[edit] Campaigns
Armageddon's Blade is notably the first campaign in the Heroes of Might and Magic saga which switches the player's side from a "good" to an "evil" viewpoint numerous times. The first and last scenarios feature the kingdoms of Erathia and AvLee, while the central ones are associated with the Kreegans of Eeofol and their quest to construct the Blade.
[edit] Gameplay changes
The biggest addition to Armageddon's Blade is the introduction of the Conflux alignment. This is a full alignment with an associated town, two classes of heroes - the Planeswalkers (the might hero) and the Elementalists (the magic hero), and 14 monsters. The town is themed around various elements present in the game: fire, water, air and earth. Each of the elements has two corresponding monsters in the alignment (some of them were also present in The Restoration of Erathia). The creatures are Pixie, Air Elemental, Water Elemental, Fire Elemental, Earth Elemental, Psychic Elemental and Firebird. The upgraded creatures are Sprite, Storm Elemental, Ice Elemental, Energy Elemental, Magma Elemental, Magic Elemental and Phoenix.
Also new were several "neutral" (that is, unaligned with any of the eight playable factions) monsters, many of which, such as Peasants, Boars, and Halflings, had first appeared in Heroes of Might and Magic II. It also included a collection of immensely powerful (and expensive) dragons - such as the Azure Dragon; which is the most powerful creature of the game, that were able to be recuited in some maps. Eleven new heroes and two new artifacts – the Armageddon's Blade and the Vial of Dragonblood – are introduced, both of which play a major role in the new campaigns. Several new map objects, including special quest towers that only allow passage if the hero meets certain criteria defined by the author of the map, also appear here for the first time.
A customizable random map generator included with the expansion allows players to automatically create random scenario maps using a variety of templates and settings. The random map generator has proven very popular in multiplayer games. Finally, a standalone campaign editor packaged with the game allows for the composition of new campaigns from individual scenario maps.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- Erica "Harukaba" Marceau. "Heroes of Might and Magic III → Armageddon's Blade." Celestial Heavens. Last accessed on 25 January 2006.
- "Heroes of Might and Magic III: Armageddon's Blade for PC." GameSpot. Last accessed on 25 January 2006.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
