If any one fantasy title has captured the title of "king of the strategy RPG", it's got to be Heroes of Might and Magic. In the not-so-distant past we all heard that a fifth title would be released, but would not have the same developers as the original titles. This was exciting, but extremely frightening. Nival Interactive has made one title that was strategic fantasy (Etherlords), and they made Silent Storm, which was a great tactical war RPG, but still... it's always scary when new hands get a hold of old franchises. So it was with eager trepidation I approached the preview version of Heroes of Might and Magic V.

HoMM, as it is known, is a series that has many staples. It's about the wars between several powerful factions, who each have heroes that lead their armies. These armies are made up of hundreds, and possibly thousands, of units that are stacked by type. Thus, the Haven army griffons are stacked to appear as one griffon with the number of individual griffons in the army hovering just below. The heroes gain experience and level, they gain new abilities to help their armies, and they find glimmering equipment that can affect them in many magical ways. The series is known for its sprawling overhead maps which players move about on gathering resources and discovering new locations and units on their respective turns. And, lastly, it's known for its crazily detailed and beautiful 2D sprites that make up the rich fantasy world.

Nival Interactive has retained just about all of that, making this a worthy sequel from what I can tell. It saddens me to say the 2D graphics are gone, but the new visuals are stunningly beautiful and retain most of the charm that the original had. The units are scaled and feathered and armored in all their glory, moving realistically and looking visceral enough to make you want to reach in and touch some of them (or snatch your hand away in the hideousness of others). The world bustles with activity like trees and other natural features reacting to wind and other effects nearby. Buildings go about their activities, windmills and ore pits each work away the day each and every day, making things seem closer to the original titles. It's still a little disorienting to see the windmills and mines and other buildings cast realistic shadows and be 3D objects that take up space. As beautiful as they are, I find myself missing the cardboard cut-out sprites of yesteryear.

The vast majority of the game functions are nearly identical to the series' previous titles. Your heroes and accompanying armies march about the world map and discover its troves of treasures, recruit new units, acquire new resource deposits, and charge into battle against the opposing forces. Cities are essentially the same as they were, but now they look fantastic. Each factions' characteristics are perfectly reflected in their city, making it a hell pit, a living tree, a tower to the heavens, or other various forms that effectively capture the essence of that army. The cities play similarly to the previous titles, allowing you to build one expansion or new building each day (turn) and hire any units that city has produced for that week. The cities are also the location to hire new heroes and teach all your heroes spells.

Combat has been modified in little ways, but nothing that hurts it, and nothing big enough to anger most fans. Taking a page from the Tactics skill in Heroes III, players can position their units on the grid in a small area before the enemy units appear onscreen. Once combat begins, a bar across the bottom portion of the screen shows whose turn it is, and what order each unit will move. This is extremely useful for planning movements and attacks to counter your enemies. The basic idea is the same - move units on a grid-based battlefield and use special attacks and spells from your hero to enhance your army from the sidelines. Tactically things are pretty similar, with war machines and the hero providing support from the rear while you position and attack with units of all types against fiends or even do-gooders that would stand in your way.

The single-player campaign plot is interesting, but mostly it's just good filler for a reason to wage war with these enemies. Feeling similar to that couple minutes at the beginning of an adult movie where they pretend there's a deep and complex story brewing, you simply know its there just to make you feel better about what comes next. Does this detract from the experience? Hell no! This is fun, down to the core. Anyone who's a fan of the series won't be displeased by anything enough to not love the game. I haven't gotten a chance to tackle the multiplayer, which could still be the deciding factor, but thus far Heroes V's looking like it's got the position to steal the tactical crown back to its helm, returning the world of strategy RPGs to its natural order.