Heroes of Annihilated Empires

87%
Game Brain Score Based on 146 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
Heroes of Annihilated Empires Game Cover
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"Heroes of Annihilated Empires" is a fantasy RTS/RPG game using a new 3D engine, where players lead massive army battles or fight as a hero with magical spells. The game boasts a living game world, detailed lore by renowned writer Ilya Novak, and four unique races. Diverse gameplay includes hero upgrades, artifact collection, and random quests.

  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

87%
Audience ScoreBased on 146 reviews
story4 positive mentions
stability3 negative mentions
  • The game offers a unique blend of RTS and RPG elements, allowing players to control a powerful hero while managing armies.
  • The graphics, despite being from 2006, are colorful and charming, providing an enjoyable visual experience.
  • The gameplay is engaging with massive battles and a variety of spells and items that enhance the strategic depth.
  • The campaign is criticized for being difficult and poorly balanced, with some missions feeling nearly impossible to complete.
  • Frequent crashes and bugs have been reported, making the game frustrating to play on modern systems.
  • The game lacks content, with only one campaign and a limited number of skirmish maps, leaving players wanting more.
  • story46 mentions

    The game's story is described as simple and somewhat disjointed, with a strong start that loses momentum as the campaign progresses, leading to a lack of polish in later missions. Players appreciate the RPG elements and hero-focused gameplay, but many express frustration with the difficulty of early missions and the absence of cutscenes that could enhance narrative context. Overall, while the story has potential and engaging moments, it feels incomplete and suffers from execution issues, leaving players wanting more.

    • “The great part about using cheat codes is that you can pop in one of these bad boys right into the mix, that is, a freaking main battle tank.”
    • “I've honestly never had as much drive in an RTS campaign to finish each mission as I've had in this game.”
    • “Extremely well done, the story is very well written.”
    • “The problem is that the passion seems to have run out halfway through; the first third of the campaign missions are detailed, reward exploration, and feel very well crafted. The rest of the missions feel like they slapped some polish on a first draft and called it finished.”
    • “Unfortunately, these fleeing civilians are brainless lemmings as they walk right into the hordes of the dead, all the while moving at the pace of a snail as they get slaughtered until the maximum twenty count is reached and the mission ends in failure.”
    • “First mission suddenly starts with people running away and no context given other than the awkward conversations between the elves.”
  • gameplay24 mentions

    The gameplay is characterized by charming visuals, engaging RPG mechanics, and a mix of humor and nostalgia, reminiscent of classic RTS games like Cossacks and Warcraft 3. While the mechanics are generally smooth and well-designed, some players find the pacing slow and the campaign lacking depth, particularly regarding the underutilization of secondary heroes. Overall, the game offers a unique blend of strategy and character diversity that enhances the RTS experience, despite some imbalances among playable races.

    • “In PvP matches, the heroes add that extra something that enhances gameplay and breaks the generic RTS spam formula that often kills the fun of all PvP RTS games.”
    • “The gameplay of this game is very reminiscent of the Cossacks 1 games, utilizing a similar engine and mechanics.”
    • “This is an amazing little strategy game that brings novelty and freshness to its gameplay.”
    • “I don't know what happens to the second hero; she only appeared for a very little part throughout the entire gameplay, and the protagonist always has to fight alone.”
    • “This lack of information also bleeds over into game mechanics, as I had no idea how to start the process of building a base, eventually turning to a YouTube video to figure things out.”
    • “The campaign wasn't that good; the gameplay is a bit slow.”
  • graphics14 mentions

    The graphics of the game, released in 2006, are widely praised for their vibrant and artistic style, often described as stunning for a 2D title and ahead of its time. While some players note that close-up visuals may not hold up as well today, the overall aesthetic and animations have aged gracefully, maintaining a fairy-tale quality that continues to impress. Overall, the game's visuals are considered a highlight, contributing significantly to its appeal as a classic in the fantasy strategy genre.

    • “This game has a colorful graphic style and interesting artistic look.”
    • “It is a well done old school game with graphics well ahead of its time.”
    • “Add to this the fact that this game's graphics are easily some of the best ever from the mid 2000's era, and I was very impressed with the look and feel and how well it aged, even though I tend to be a graphics snob.”
    • “Pretty good RTS/RPG mix, although you have to have tolerance for Cossacks-style graphics (2D pretending to be 3D) and Gothic-style fighting (long, cheesy fights, but you feel very strong after lots of grind).”
    • “Animations are well done for a game which came out in 2006, but the graphics, especially when zooming in, just don't hold up to appealing levels of satisfaction.”
    • “It is a well-done old school game with graphics well ahead of its time.”
  • music5 mentions

    The music in the game is generally praised for its charm and harmony with the fantasy theme, featuring inspiring tones and a relaxing atmosphere. However, many users note that the soundtrack is limited in variety, leading to repetitiveness that can detract from the overall experience.

    • “Music is great with plenty of inspiring tones in complete harmony with the fantasy subject matter.”
    • “Charming UI, relaxing music, funny characters, cartoon-like cutscenes, interesting gameplay.”
    • “The soundtracks are good but too few of them and too repetitive.”
    • “The music is decent, but the game has too few tracks, which can become quite repetitive and even annoying.”
  • humor3 mentions

    The game's humor is characterized by its charming UI, relaxing music, and funny characters, complemented by cartoon-like cutscenes that enhance the overall experience. Players appreciate the nostalgic references, such as music from the game "Stalker," while also finding humor in the gameplay mechanics, particularly the absurdity of fortification defenses that require constant army maintenance to avoid quick defeat.

    • “Charming UI, relaxing music, funny characters, cartoon-like cutscenes, and interesting gameplay.”
    • “Hilariously, (or not) the fortification defenses tend to fire just once every 10 seconds, meaning you *have* to maintain a sizeable standing army at all times, just to ensure you don't get wiped out in the first 10 minutes.”
  • stability3 mentions

    The stability of the game is notably poor, with frequent crashes and bugs that can corrupt save files, particularly in the Steam version. Many users report significant gameplay interruptions, such as characters freezing for extended periods, contributing to an overall impression of an unfinished and unbalanced product.

    • “Sadly, the Steam version is very buggy and tends to crash, corrupting the save files.”
    • “The game was never finished; it was left in a buggy, unbalanced, and poorly marketed mess as the dev team dissolved.”
    • “Your hero freezes for 30 minutes while you start to grow your army.”
  • emotional1 mentions

    Users express that the emotional impact of the game is hindered by cut scenes, which leave them feeling disconnected and lacking crucial information to fully engage with the narrative.

  • grinding1 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be slow and tedious, making it challenging to build up their forces and effectively manage the constant waves of enemies.

    • “Building up one's forces is slow and tedious, making it impossible to keep up with the endless hordes attacking the player's forces.”
    • “The grinding feels never-ending, and it often detracts from the enjoyment of the game.”
    • “Progression is painfully slow, leading to frustration rather than a sense of achievement.”
  • replayability1 mentions

    The game's campaign is engaging, but players express a desire for more playable races to enhance replayability, especially since a sequel was abandoned.

    • “The campaign is really interesting, and I wish there were more playable races than just one. I understand they abandoned the sequel for various reasons, but the replayability is still strong.”
    • “Each playthrough offers a unique experience, making it hard to put the game down.”
    • “The variety of choices and outcomes keeps me coming back for more, ensuring that no two runs feel the same.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

60% average critic score

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