I loved the original Puzzle Quest, as it blended two genres together – puzzle and RPG – and did so in a spectacular way. Along comes Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes, which continues the tradition of the genre mash-up, but with a new puzzle system and plenty of strategy to take into consideration. If the idea of an RPG meets strategy game meets puzzle game sounds intriguing to you, this just might be the game to keep you busy.

Clash of Heroes follows the lives of several children, whose parents are killed by an army of demons. Scattered across the world and trying to repair their lives, you'll individually control these characters through a series of chapters, as they work at saving the world and getting vengeance for their parents. The storyline of Clash of Heroes is actually pretty decent, but far from the epic scale of many other RPGs. The beginning is certainly dark, but for the most part it's a simply told story with some highs and lows.

Angel Attacking

Each chapter places you in the role of one of these kids, who each have their individual abilities and units. While breaking the game up in such a way does help you continuously experience something new, it's slightly annoying to master a character and their units, get used to that style, and then a handful of hours later have to adjust again and learn all new strategies. Anwen, for example, can use a special arrow to pierce through enemies and go on the offensive, but Godric uses a shielding wall for defense instead.

Besides spells/abilities, the main thing that separate the various character armies are the ways walls work and the various units you can use in your army. Anwen's walls start small, but over time they grow into larger more formidable walls without needing to sacrifice other units. Fiona's walls can be created like others, but her walls can also be made from the troops on her side that are killed. As for the units themselves, there are core, elite, and champion units, ranging from archers and spearmen to flying griffons, magicians, knights, and more.

The bulk of Clash of Heroes' gameplay revolves around matching units into groupings in order to either setup a defensive wall or activate a unit to attack. Units come in various colors and must be matched so in order to have them do anything. In order to make a wall, for example, at least three units of the same color and type must be lined up horizontally. Once the match is made, the wall is thrust to the top of the screen in order to defend against enemy attacks. As for attacking units, they instead must be lined up vertically. After a unit is activated for attack, the unit must then wait a number of rounds before it can be unleashed; the higher the power the longer it takes to use them. Each army only starts off with a few units, but more are gathered – such as various elites and champions – as you go through each adventure. Elite units are created much like core units, though each elite needs two cores of the same color in order to be activated. Champions, meanwhile, take up a two-by-two square of four and needs four likeminded colored units in another two-by-two formation behind them.

Besides deciding when to go on the defensive and when to attack, there other factors that helps add to the strategy level of the game. For instance, juggling elite and champion units can be troublesome because of the amount of space they take up. Also, if one of those units should die, they're lost for good and new ones must be bought to replace them; only core units never die. So while a champion might bring a lot of power to the table, trying to position them so you can make a match and not take a hit and die can be tricky. You can also perform chains in order to get extra moves (deleting one piece to make a match fall into place), links (two units of the same color with same number of rounds left before moving), and you can combine two units into one powerful unit by creating a match of the same type behind the first match. It can be a bit complicated at first, but gradually it becomes second nature.

Typical Board

Besides straight battles between two parties, I was surprised to see that Clash of Heroes included several other variations (most of which are harder than the regular fights). One criteria fight, for example, had me trying to hit two switches on the same turn (not easy to do). You'll also have puzzle missions (make matches in one turn in order to eliminate all the enemies on the other side) and boss battles. Boss battles are one of the most unique things about the game, as many of the same gameplay mechanics are in play, but instead of fighting an army you're fighting one monstrous enemy that has its own attack pattern and abilities.

Graphically, the game is decent, but not that great. The graphics are bright, but the character artwork is a little too childish and amateurish. The units themselves during battle, however, look nice and certainly serve their purpose well. The music and sound effects are equally pleasant and adequate, but nothing really amazing either. Clash of Heroes is first and foremost a puzzle game, however, so the average graphics and sound work don't really hamper the game too much.

There's a lot to like about Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes, but overall there are some things that diminish the overall quality of the package. I like the various armies, but having to switch to a new one once you get used to the last one is a big problem for me. The game is also sometimes too difficult, relies too much on the fall of your unit pieces (random each battle) in order to win, and in the end every battle pretty much feels the same. Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes isn't a game for everyone, but it does have the ability to become a sleeper hit.

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