Heroica: The Adventures

[Jubal]

Heroica: The Adventures

Game Type: Free Online Play
Genre: Where it fits: Puzzle

Link: http://www.agame.com/game/heroica-the-adventures

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So, I really like Heroica: it's a great game, it's LEGO plus fantasy, there is even actually some promising world-building there in places. So I figured a game based on it might be quite fun. Indeed one game based on it (Fortaan) I already knew was fun. So "Heroica: The Adventures" sounded like a great title where I expected to be able to explore Ennon a bit, have a range of characters to play with, etc...

I was wrong. I was so, so wrong. Heroica: The Adventures is basically a somewhat modified form of Angry Birds, and there's not much else to say about it. The characters use a limited number of ranged attacks to try and kill all the goblins on each level, with a power meter for range and aiming via mouseclick. There are four characters (Barbarian, Wizard, Druid, Knight); the two fighters have shots that can roll/bounce, the spellcasters' shots don't bounce but each have a type of barrier they can destroy. There are also inexplicable hanging boulders and spinny platforms and things to make the levels a little more interesting. Nonetheless, it's a decidedly unexciting game.

What gets me most is why it's called "the adventures". It doesn't feel adventurous, and - worse - the differences between the four areas (Nathuz, Fortaan, Draida, Waldurk) are minimal. The theming isn't kept up from the other sets at all: all the areas feel more or less like variant cave systems, even Draida which is supposed to be a port. The only enemies are goblins, who are so hopeless that they occasionally appear as blocks hanging from a rope for no reason whatsoever. None of the golems of Nathuz or the various enemies in Waldurk forest ever appear, and nor do any other characters. The ranger doesn't even appear, and this is in a game where all the attacks are ranged.

As a variant of Angry Birds it could certainly be worse, but the theming falls down totally, the gameplay is not that innovative, and with the loss of any more specific theming even the graphics start feeling repetitive (some non-goblin enemies would have made no gameplay difference but would certainly have made the whole thing feel more varied and less of a blur. Probably one to avoid unless this gameplay style is really your thing.