Orcs Mustn’t Die

With the Orcs as a new faction in Tribes of the East, are we in for another classic expansion with a soundtrack in the same vein as that of Hammers of Fate? Yes and no! Because even though there is only one new theme for the bloodthirsty half-demons, along with the familiar variations, Tribes of the East was a joy to play. The reason for this was an expansion of the game mechanics, which had a lot to offer in terms of quantity. While all recruitable units were previously available in a basic and an upgrade version, the second addon came with an alternative version of those elite creatures ... for all playable races, mind you! This alone increased the selection of our unit pool by 1/3 plus the aforementioned orcs. I was thrilled and had an incredible amount of fun with the addon. Less so with the music.

The theme (Heroes of Might and Magic V: Tribes of the East) sounds wonderfully fatalistic, almost resigned to fate and makes me think back to the operatic pathos of Heroes II , but it's not enough for five stars - apparently the common fate of the Heroes V-expansions. In fact, only Combat (Stronghold), with its in-your-face drama and cathartic piano ending, and the no less dramatic Combat (Wizard) make it into my top rating range. The Town Theme (Stronghold) on the other hand, does not make the cut despite its beautiful melody.

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)

Also worth mentioning is the AI theme from the main game (AI (Haven)[HoMM V]), whose clumsy nature reminds me a lot of the Trine-series. Apart from that, we hear a lot of the now familiar and the smaller variations are not enough to match the beauty of the original versions. In this respect, you could say that Tribes of the East is already starting to show signs of wear and tear, but you can also see it for what it is in my opinion: an addition to the main game that is convincing from a gameplay point of view and a nice musical extension - nothing more and nothing less.