Heroes of Might and Magic III
| Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) |
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| Publisher(s) |
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| Director(s) | David Mullich |
| Designer(s) | |
| Programmer(s) | John Bolton |
| Artist(s) | Phelan Sykes |
| Composer(s) | |
| Series | Heroes of Might and Magic |
| Platform(s) | Windows, Macintosh, Linux (PowerPC/x86), iOS, Android |
| Release | |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia (commonly referred to as Heroes of Might & Magic 3, or Heroes 3, or abbreviated HoMM 3) is a turn-based strategy game developed by Jon Van Caneghem through New World Computing originally released for Microsoft Windows by The 3DO Company in 1999. Its ports to several computer and console systems followed over the next year. The third installment of the Heroes of Might and Magic series, the game was released to universal acclaim and is regarded as a cult classic.
The game received two expansion packs, Armageddon's Blade and The Shadow of Death. The original game and both expansions were repackaged in 2000 as Heroes III Complete. The Heroes 3 engine (with its expansions) was also used as the basis for the Heroes Chronicles spinoff series, which was released in eight episodic installments from September 2000 to June 2001. The Chronicles releases were not expansions themselves, but rather a set of stand-alone releases akin to level packs. A collection of all eight episodes was released on GOG in 2011. In addition to the official expansions, a community developed Horn of the Abyss expansion adds two new factions, new mechanics, multiple campaigns, and new music by returning franchise composer Paul Romero.
An official HD "remastered" version of the game was released in 2015 by Ubisoft for Microsoft Windows, iOS and Android. It featured updated graphics as well as widescreen compatibility, but was poorly received. Among other issues, it omitted both expansion packs and the level editor. Multiple reviewers suggested instead buying the Complete version instead and using the HD mod.