3. Precisely, what did you keep from the old M&M universe?
The more obvious aspect is that we are still in “high fantasy” world, ripe with
valiant human knights in shining armor, mysterious elves lurking in the woods,
savage orc tribes raiding the frontiers, undead armies gathering in the dark of
the night, and all that good stuff.
But of course, in our new implementation, expect to find more than one twist on
the canonical representation of these elements.
Then, we decided to keep the factions that made the Heroes line so popular. By
“faction”, we mean the city/nation/race coalitions known to Heroes fans as
Haven, Inferno, Academy, Dungeon, Stronghold, etc. Many of them will be back,
some with a familiar aspect and “philosophy”, others with a bunch of surprises
up their sleeves.
Soon, we’ll be revealing loads of exciting stuff on the factions, but for now,
here’s a quick rundown on the first two: Haven and Inferno.
Haven: The Humans of the Holy Griffin Empire are inspired and guided by angels.
It’s a feudal society driven by the rigorous edicts of the Dragon of Light – not
any place you’d want to be a heretic. Picture an ironclad alliance of Arthurian
Britain and Victorian England and you get a general idea. Oh, and did we mention
the Spanish Inquisition? Guess not…
Inferno: Imprisoned between worlds by the legendary wizard known as the Seventh
Dragon, the Legions of Chaos want out in the worst way–and we mean that
literally. Destructive, hateful, vicious, sadistic–that’s just a warm up for
these guys. Even worse, they’ve got a plan, and that’s where things get really
interesting.
We preserved the epic quality of the former M&M titles, which drives the player
to experience fantasy on a grand scale and participate in world-shattering
events. The actions the player takes impact the whole world.
We were also determined to maintain the ambiguous oppositions and moral choices
which made the M&M narratives so compelling.
Indeed, rather than a striking opposition between Good (Light) and Evil
(Darkness), there has always been, in the former M&M games, a balance of the
opposites, with most characters painted in shades of grey (ie: fully fleshed out
personalities, covering the whole spectrum between radiant benevolence and
wicked villainy instead of square-jawed caricatures).
Nobody is all good, and nobody is pure evil. Any character (and the heroes above
all) could choose to be a villain or a hero at the moment. It’s a lot like life
as we know it.
4. What are your objectives with this new world? What innovations can we
expect?
First things first: We want to make it deep, consistent, and exciting!
By “deep and consistent”, we mean giving the world a sense of history and of
scope. The universe shouldn’t feel like it’s shiny and new and unwrapped just
for the game.
You might not see all the background that’s being built in Heroes V, but it’s
important that it’s there – that sort of continuity informs everything else, and
lets you know that the world doesn’t end at the edge of your mission map.
As for the “exciting” aspect, well, expect to rediscover all of the familiar
fantasy places and races, with countless subtle touches that will spark your
imagination.
Chief among the races you’ll see will be our Dragons, which are, literally, the
base the entire universe is built on. They are a vital part of every aspect of
our world–from the cosmology to the nature of magic, to religion and the way
people talk day to day.
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