Heroes of Might and Magic II

Heroes of Might and Magic II

Company type	Video game
Industry	Video games
Predecessor	Heroes of Might and Magic
Founded	1996 (1996)
Founder	Jon Van Caneghem
Successor	Heroes of Might and Magic III
Headquarters	United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Jon Van Caneghem (developer)
Products	Turn-based strategy video game
Owner	The 3DO Company
Parent	New World Computing

Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars is a turn-based strategy title developed by Jon Van Caneghem at New World Computing and released in 1996 through the 3DO Company. Serving as the second entry in the Heroes of Might and Magic franchise, it is widely regarded as the series' breakthrough installment. In May 1997, PC Gamer ranked it as the sixth greatest PC game ever made.

Following its launch, an expansion named The Price of Loyalty was introduced in 1997. Subsequently, in 1998, 3DO issued Heroes of Might and Magic II Gold, combining the original game with this expansion.

Gameplay

While Heroes of Might and Magic II retained much of its predecessor's gameplay foundation, it featured a significant graphical upgrade alongside refined mechanics. Players engage in kingdom development, resource management, army recruitment, hero progression, and conquest through castle capture. The original four factions—Knight, Barbarian, Sorceress, and Warlock—were expanded by adding two new factions: Necromancer and Wizard. Each faction possesses distinct creatures and themed settlements, with the six factions split evenly between "good" and "evil" alignments.

The hero system was enhanced by introducing secondary skills in addition to primary ones, enabling heroes to acquire up to eight secondary abilities that progress from Basic to Expert tiers. For instance, the Wisdom skill grants access to advanced spells, while Logistics extends movement capabilities. This replaced the fixed special powers system from the first game. The magic mechanics evolved from a spell memorization approach to a magic points system, allowing more flexible spellcasting balanced by varying point costs. Moreover, certain army units can be upgraded to improve their attributes and effectiveness.

Players command heroes to explore maps, confront enemy heroes and castles, oversee town construction, and perform castle upgrades—restricted to one per turn for each castle.

An expanded campaign mode was introduced where players select either the good or evil side, playing through scenarios aligned with their chosen factions. Successes yield persistent bonuses that carry over into later scenarios, with players able to choose starting advantages tailored to their strategies before each mission.

Story

The official conclusion of Heroes I depicts Lord Morglin Ironfist as victorious, uniting Enroth under his rule as king. After his passing, his sons Archibald and Roland vie for control of the throne. Archibald banishes Roland and assumes kingship, while Roland leads a resistance movement. Archibald’s campaign centers on the "evil" factions (Necromancers, Warlocks, Barbarians), whereas Roland’s campaign focuses on the "good" factions (Knights, Sorceresses, Wizards).

Should Archibald prevail, Roland is imprisoned within Castle Ironfist solidifying Archibald’s reign. The canonical ending features Roland triumphing by turning Archibald into stone through the aid of court wizard Tanir. This storyline is referenced in Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven, where Archibald is later freed and appears as a significant NPC in Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor.

Development

Much of the programming foundation for Heroes II was derived from its predecessor Heroes, which contributed to a reduced development timeframe. The musical score was mainly composed by Paul Romero.

Reception

Heroes of Might and Magic II garnered widespread critical praise. It received top marks from publications such as Computer Gaming World (5 out of 5) and GameSpot (8.2 out of 10), with commendations focusing on its engaging gameplay and enhancements over the original title. Critics highlighted its strategic complexity combined with user-friendly design, though some minor gameplay constraints were noted.

The game achieved commercial success with strong retailer reorder rates post-release. By October 1997, cumulative sales across the Heroes series—including this sequel—surpassed 500,000 units; this figure rose to 1.5 million by December 1999.

The Macintosh port earned a three-star evaluation from Next Generation, appreciated for addressing a gap in Mac-based strategy games.

Awards honored Heroes II as 1996's "Best Turn-Based Strategy Game" according to PC Gamer US. It received several nominations but was often outperformed by competitors such as Civilization II and Command & Conquer: Red Alert. Reviewers praised its combination of tactical combat with strategic depth and noted that its campaign offered greater satisfaction than that of its predecessor.

Reviews

• The Duelist #16
• Gamezilla

Legacy

In 1997, PC Gamer UK ranked Heroes of Might and Magic II as the 25th-best computer game ever released. The following year, PC Gamer US placed it seventh on their all-time computer games list, describing it as "the most dangerously addictive turn-based strategy game" aside from Civilization II. In 2003, it was inducted into GameSpot's list of greatest games. The open-source project Fheroes2: Resurrection recreates the original engine with enhancements such as higher resolutions, multilingual support, and improved AI; version 1.0 debuted on December 21, 2022.

Expansion

Released on May 16, 1997, The Price of Loyalty serves as an expansion for Heroes II. It introduced four new campaigns featuring unique storylines along with new artifacts, scenario maps, buildings, and an upgraded map editor. A notable addition includes a shrine for the Necromancer faction that boosts Necromancy Skills, enriching strategic options within gameplay.

External links

• fheroes2: Resurrection hosted on GitHub