After years of false starts, spiritual successors, and a fanbase that never stopped replaying Heroes 3, the franchise is back where it belongs. Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era launched into early access today, April 30, and the early verdict from critics and players is landing hard: this is the strongest entry the series has produced since 1999.

Unfrozen Nails the Formula

Developer Unfrozen and publishers Hooded Horse and Ubisoft aren’t trying to reinvent what made HoMM iconic. They’re rebuilding it from the ground up as a prequel set in Enroth’s ancient past, and the mechanical DNA is unmistakable. The hex-grid combat, the adventure map exploration, the town-building loops that defined an entire turn-based strategy subgenre: it’s all here, and it all clicks.

Six factions ship with early access. The Temple fields armored knights and clerics. The Necropolis raises the dead (naturally). The Grove channels nature spirits and fey creatures, while the Dungeon hides dark elves and dragons underground. Then there are the two wilder additions: the Hive, a faction of demonic insectoids, and the Schism, dealing in altered elves and eldritch horrors that would feel right at home in a cosmic nightmare. Each faction brings seven creature types and 18 heroes to the table, which gives the roster serious depth for an early access launch.

New Mechanics That Actually Matter

Combat isn’t just a Heroes 3 carbon copy with a fresh coat of paint. Unfrozen introduced a focus meter and reworked the wait mechanic, and both are pulling more tactical weight than anything the older entries offered in those slots. Spells that reposition units across the battlefield are suddenly central to your strategy rather than afterthoughts buried behind buff stacking. It’s a subtle shift, but it changes the way fights develop in ways that reward creative play.

Beyond combat, the early access build includes the opening act of a narrative campaign, a full map editor, self-contained scenario missions, and multiplayer supporting up to eight players. A new arena multiplayer mode and random map generator round out the package. For an early access launch, this is a substantial amount of content, and Unfrozen has already outlined plans for an underground map layer and community-driven additions down the road.

Critics Are Saying What Fans Hoped to Hear

The reception has been overwhelmingly positive. GamesRadar+ called it the best entry since Heroes 3 and said the franchise has “finally made a comeback to reclaim its throne.” ComicBook.com labeled it a true return to form. On Metacritic, scores are trending high. The consensus is clear: Olden Era understands why the classic formula worked and builds on it without stripping away what mattered.

PC Gamer ran a world-exclusive cover feature on the game ahead of launch, interviewing the development team about staying faithful to the original experience while pushing the series forward. That kind of spotlight treatment says a lot about where expectations sit for this one.

For a series that spent over a decade in the wilderness after Heroes 5 and the divisive entries that followed, Olden Era feels like vindication. The game is available now on Steam at $29.99 during early access. If you’ve been waiting for a reason to care about Heroes of Might and Magic again, this is it. We’ll have a full breakdown in our strategy game reviews section once we’ve logged more hours with every faction. The latest strategy gaming news will track Olden Era’s roadmap as early access evolves, and there’s plenty more worth playing across strategy gaming right now.