Hammer Sache

New faction, new campaign; that used to be the definition of an addon for a strategy game. Hammers of Fate is in no way lagging behind this tradition, which is why it presents us with the dwarves as a new playable faction and an associated storyline. Their special ability is rune magic, which they can use to give their units small buffs in battle in exchange for resources. Creative and fits wonderfully into the gameplay.

The same can also be said about the music, which lines up at the starting block with a total of 25 tracks. Unfortunately, the composers break with the labeling convention in the addons, which is why we now speak of Town-themes, Battle is called Combat instead, there seems to be a distinction between Necropolis and Necromancer , and Terrain is now called Environment . As a stickler for order, this annoys me, but it doesn't detract from the quality of the songs.

Games from the Might and Magic-series

Heroes of Might and Magic: A Strategic Quest (1995)

Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars (1996)

Heroes of Might and Magic III (1999)

Heroes of Might and Magic IV (2002)

Heroes of Might and Magic V (2006)

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic (2006)

As already mentioned, the expansions each bring a new faction with them. However, as the main game, with its six starting races, has the same number of tracks, it makes you lift your eyebrow in irritation. In fact, Hammers of Fate adds a few tracks that actually already appear in the main game. For example, the Campaign songs, which are played during the welcome screen of the respective campaign and are basically a (reduced) variation of the corresponding City Themes.

Only a handful of tracks are really new. First of all, the theme song Heroes of Might and Magic V: Hammers of Fate. As with the theme from the main game, Latin lyrics are once again used here, warbling phrases such as “Sanctus Sanctus Dominus” in the best Final Fantasy-style. Even though Dies Irae is briefly quoted, the piece reminds me more of the operatic approach of Heroes of Might and Magic II.

In addition to a few new Heroes-tracks, the Fortress-faction naturally also gets its own Battle-, Siege- and TownBattle, Siege and Town themes, all of which are great fun with their pathos and testosterone-soaked male choirs. I particularly like the Town (Fortress) / City Theme, das mit seinen dominanten Trommeln einschüchternd wirkt, hat es mir angetan. Die nichtspielbare und als Antagonisten in der Kampagne auftauchende Renegade-group, which appears as antagonists in the campaign and consists of variations of the Haven-heroes, is less exciting - what a shame!

Finally, there are the restrained AI-themes that we listen to during our opponents' moves and Ghost Mode, which fulfills the same purpose in multiplayer, namely to bridge the waiting time until our teammates are finally finished. Overall, the score for Hammers of Fate is therefore less worth listening to than that of the main game, which can be explained by the greater number of accessories and the lack of new motifs.