The third game will always be my favorite it seems, but if any in the series came close to defeat it it's this one. 5 not only managed to undo anything that 4 did, and drove as back to the older, much beloved system of 3, but at the same time, even improved upon that. The way the heroes take part in the battle here is a great idea, it makes you feel more active, yet you won't get killed every two second by a mob of zombies and vampires like in four. The story is forgettable as always. Standard issue fantasy war against demons and undead or whatever, the meat of the game is multiplayer anyway, which is quite strong here again. The online part is really useful, but the best way to experience heroes is to play in hot seat. Believe me, it's worth it :)

Heroes of Might and Magic V is one of the best fantasy turn-based strategy games I've ever played. The HOM&M franchise has a rich mythology, interesting characters and the fifth title in the series is much better than the others. The graphics are polished, the performance is good, the gameplay is balanced and there are town screens! It's so easy to manage your town that way, plus the town cutscene looks so epic. I liked the soundtrack of HOM&M 4 better, but the music in this game is also well composed (especially the human/elven themes). The world is created really good - it looks like taken from a fairy tale. The towns look amazing and represent so well the race they belong to. What I like most about the game, though, is the hot seat mode, which lets you play with your friends at home. I've never had so much fun with other strategy games. It's a feature I really miss in today's titles. Overall, this game is one of the best in the series and you should totally play it if you're a fan of fantasy/strategy games.

Heroes of Might and Magic V is the first 3D version of the series, and it's a big step up, with fantastic looking castles and environments, sadly this comes at the cost of performance, with general slow down and very long turn times (these are massively improved via patches/expansions). This game without the expansions is still good, some of the units rendered in beautiful 3D are recognisable from previous Heroes games, others are new. Me and my brother have spent a fair few hours playing local hot seat on this game but I would highly recommend getting the expansions as well, since not only do they add new factions and missions, they improve performance massively as well.

Heroes of Might And magic is a long standing and one of the best turned based strategy games. For all the fans of the heroes franchise, this might be a great leap forward or a huge disappointment. This is by far the most beautiful Heroes game that I ever played. The models and designs are stunning and the animation and effects are amazing. Every unit in the game is filled with details and carefully "crafted". With that said, there is also a bad side to this game. If you play it with more than 2 opponents, it is nearly unplayable. The time between your turns is very long and it is totally ruining the experience. If you have nerves of steel or just play against 1 or 2 players, than it is pretty much okay. The campaign is fine and there are no long turns during most of it. Overall a great game, if you can overlook the crazy long time between turns on some sessions.