Heroes of Might & Magic III - On this day

In the late 1990s, imaginative and quality games like Age of Empires, Baldur’s Gate, and Heroes of Might and Magic series were played on the PC platform. The latter got its most popular part on this very day exactly 23 years ago.

Full title Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia, this classic brought us seven separate campaigns in which we worked to liberate the kingdom of Erathia from the dark forces of Eopholus and Nighon. Gameplay followed the well-established formula of the previous two games, meaning it was divided into exploring the map and fighting for moves.

That principle of gameplay was extremely appealing and addictive 23 years ago, without any microtransactions and paid prize boxes. By the end of 1999, the game had sold more than 1.5 million copies as a PC exclusive. Within a year, it received two expansions, Armageddon’s Blade and The Shadow of Death. It has been sold as Heroes III Complete since 2000, and it is the only version with which you can get complete HOMM3 content today.

There is also an HD remaster edition that has been available on PC and mobile platforms since 2015, but there is no expansion content in that edition because the source code for them has been lost. The biggest fans of the game today will probably tell you to ignore the HD Edition and add a few custom modifications to the Heroes III Complete, including the High-Resolution Project.