HOAE wants to be a game which mixes both RTS and RPG, a combination that tends to be very popular. Spellforce II was probably the best game to implement this solution. Also, the producers announced that this first episode will be the first of three episodes so we can expect a long series. But let's see what this episode has to offer.

As in Spellforce, we have heroes and we have troops. All this in an intriguing story. The main hero present in this demo is named Elhant, an elven Ranger who tries to rally the forces of good to battle against the undead.

In the beginning you will have to play almost alone and to grow up in level to ensure your hero a chance of survival. As you kill monsters and complete quests, you will receive experience which will lead to level up. Since HOAE is not a pure RPG, when you level up, you will be given a chance to choose from several options like attack power, attack range, magic resistance, piercing resistance, mana regeneration, health regeneration and much more which will allow you to create a character as you want. Don't consider that your hero will rely only on brute power. There are three classes you can choose (warrior, ranger and mage), this means that if the first class is a weapon master, the mage uses magic to overcome its enemies. During the game you will find scrolls, you will be able to buy some and even receive magic scrolls when you complete quests. The spells look sweet and the animations are superb. I found myself just staring how good looking are some. Superb.

The developers said that will be over 100 magics in the final version. Since you can have up to 9 magic scrolls at your disposal at a certain time, you will be able to switch the scrolls you own to have the most appropriate magics in your interface. If you will battle the undead for example, you will probably need spells like fire ball, thunderstorm and holy light.

The graphical engine that GSC is using is a modified version of the one used in Cossacks II. This time the engine is more powerful and allows the game to have many units on the screen. This being said you can check up the screenshots and convince yourself of the large number that the undead army has. I was playing with my main character to keep him leveling but the game doesn't slows down if you have many units on the screen. One of the reasons is that some of the creatures are sprites (like the skeletons, fairyes and elf archers) but the more important a unit is, the more detailed it is. For example, the ogres were 3d models and not sprites. Also the hydras, wyverns, the unicorns and so on.

The engine creates a beautiful world which adds to the immersion of the game. The terrain is created in such a way to allow you to arrange large number of troops or to create ambushes. I couldn't see if the archers benefit from a high ground position but you can arrange your troops so that the melee units are on the front and the archers or mages stay in the back allowing them to have a chance in the fights that you are battling all over the game.

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As the title says, the game orbits around the heroes. They are the center of the game and the armies are there only to help. As I said earlier, the hero can use magic to help him and the army. Besides magic, you can use potions to heal, restore mana or even receive different bonuses which can turn the tide of the battle. But what is a hero without equipment? You can equip a weapon, a robe/armor, belt, shoes, you know, the already known standard equipment. As for jewelry, you can have a necklace, four rings and two amulets. All with their bonuses and drawbacks. The items can be bought, received from quests or taken from your slain enemies, just like the magic scrolls. And did I mentioned that there will be a variety of items in the final version of the game? Just enough to leave you without knowing what to choose.


Regarding the management of the base, GSC managed to simplify the process very much and leave it at a level where you can still be part of the management and at the same time it can take care of itself. There are four types of resources that can be harvested or collected (different for each race - for example the undead needs gold while the elves have no need for it, they need wood). The buildings can be constructed very easily but you will need some upgrades to be able to construct the powerful ones. As for the armies, the recruitment model is simple. You can set the number of units to be recruited or you can set it to infinite using the CTL key.


The sound is there to give you the feeling that you are part of that world. The background music is creating a very medieval experience (perhaps in the full version there will be some changes about this) but overall I appreciated it. As for the effects, they somehow lack the dynamism that the situation asks sometimes. I'm not saying that the effects are bad but I would prefer some hype when you battle against a horde of enemies.

Going to the other type of game, the skirmish, you will be able to play with the undead or the elves on one map. You can choose your hero's type and of you go. As soon as you start, you have to choose if you want to develop your hero or if you want to build a base. If you decide for the base, your hero will become unusable for 30 minutes. A bad move from GSC because I bet that everyone would like to play also with the hero hot only building the army.

Another surprise that will be available on the final version will be the old&modern mix. As you may noticed in a screenshot, on a hill there is a supersonic jet ruin just lying there and rusting. This means that we will not be stuck with the Tolkien universe and we will be able to play with some more modern equipment.

Overall, the game will be in stores later this year and it promises a good gameplay. Also, because it will be a trilogy expect for some long hours of playing. But until now, I can't complain that if everything goes ok I will be disappointed to play it. Or you.