Preview: Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes

4:00 PM on 07.07.2009   |   Hamza CTZ Aziz

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Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes is an upcoming turned based strategy game for the DS. It’s also has a little puzzle going on in it. It sounds weird, but it makes sense when you actually see the combat in action.

So how does this puzzle and turned based strategy exactly work together? Find out after the jump.

Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes (DS)
Developer: Capybara Games
Publisher: Ubisoft
To be released: Fall 2009

The story in Clash of Heroes sees five factions (humans, dwarves, wizards, etc) teaming up to take on an evil demon force causing havoc to their world. You and an army of soldiers will travel the land taking on demons in to restore the natural order of the world.

Clash of Heroes is going to be a very linear experience. You can only move one space at a time, from one node to another. As you move around, you’ll encounter enemies and get transported to the traditional battle screen like most RPGs do. The enemy army is located on the top screen and your army is on the bottom screen. In order to attack, you’ll have to line up soldiers of the same color. So if you want to attack, you’ll need to line up three of the same colored units vertically. The same is done for defensive moves, only you’ll line up units horizontally.

After you’ve set up your attack formation, the enemy will do the same and then it’ll be the players turn again. That’s when the player can actually attack and cause some damage to the other side. Once your soldiers have been sent out, you’ll never get them back. Instead, you’ll just call in reinforcements and a new batch of soldiers will come sliding in. Each move you make takes a point off your turn meter and you only have so many turn points to use in each phase.

The battle system is very unique and looks very immersive. Immersive to the point that it might scare some people off. In the beginning, you only have about 12 units on your battlefield. As you advance in the game, the bottom screen will get filled with a ton of soldiers. There will be multiplayer and due to all of the possibilities, players could be playing matches for up to an hour. Yes, an hour.

I didn’t spend too much time with Clash of Heroes but it did look interesting. I like the manga art style but I’m not a fan of how the player is forced to move around on the node pathway. It feels very limiting and RPGs are supposed to be about the player getting the chance to explore his environment.

Look for Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes to come out this Fall on the DS.