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I’m not a fan of Heroes of Might & Magic 3, but I can recognise that Ubisoft have done a faithful job of recreating the much-loved turn-based strategy RPG
Developed over time first seen 3 months ago
Ubisoft has confirmed a full remake of Heroes of Might & Magic 3, the 1999 turn-based strategy RPG widely regarded as the series' finest entry, arriving as the franchise enjoys a broader revival alongside Unfrozen's upcoming Olden Era. Rock Paper Shotgun was given several hours of hands-on time and found that, despite a new 3D painterly art style, Ubisoft has stayed remarkably faithful to the original, preserving its systems, tone and community rather than reinventing the game.
The remake includes a new three-mission prelude to introduce newcomers to its systems before dropping players into the full original campaign plus its two expansions, Armageddon's Blade and The Shadow of Death, with all nine factions available. Core mechanics remain untouched, including turn-based hero movement, pre-battle scouting reports, XP-based general upgrades, and strongholds that produce only a limited number of troops every seven turns. Crucially, the remake supports all custom maps and campaigns created by fans over the past 25 years, with a new map creator able to import original map files and rebuild them with modern visuals; quality-of-life additions include a build queue for keeps to prevent structures sitting idle.
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In short
- Ubisoft remaking Heroes of Might & Magic 3, staying faithful to the original
- Includes full original campaign, both expansions, and all nine factions
- Remake imports and supports 25 years of fan-made custom maps
How this story developed
- 3 months ago Ubisoft's remake of Heroes of Might & Magic 3 will support all custom maps and campaigns fans have created over the past 25 years, with a new map creator able to import original map files and rebuild them with modern visuals.
- 3 months ago Ubisoft has revealed a full remake of Heroes of Might & Magic 3, widely regarded as the best-loved entry in the strategy RPG series, alongside the separately developed Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era from Unfrozen.
- 3 months ago Ubisoft has confirmed a full remake of Heroes of Might & Magic 3, the 1999 turn-based strategy RPG widely regarded as the series' finest entry, arriving as the franchise enjoys a broader revival alongside Unfrozen's upcoming Olden Era.
Full account
Ubisoft has confirmed a full remake of Heroes of Might & Magic 3, the 1999 turn-based strategy title widely regarded as the strongest entry in the long-running series, with journalists given early hands-on sessions around Gamescom 2026. The project sits alongside publisher Hooded Horse and developer Unfrozen's upcoming Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era, marking the first genuinely new mainline instalment in over a decade, so the announcement lands amid a wider revival of interest in the franchise. Ubisoft has stressed that, despite the scale of the visual overhaul, the intention is to preserve the tone and mechanics that made the original so enduring, rather than reinvent it.
In terms of content, the remake adds a new three-mission prelude designed to ease newcomers into the story and its systems before delivering the whole of the original 1999 campaign alongside its two expansions, Armageddon's Blade and The Shadow of Death. All nine playable factions from the base game and its add-ons are said to be included. Perhaps the detail most likely to reassure the existing community is that the remake is built to support the vast library of custom maps and campaigns fans have created over the past twenty-five years; Ubisoft demonstrated a tool that can import an original map file and reconstruct it with the new engine's visuals, effectively future-proofing decades of player-made content.
Visually, the game has been rebuilt from the ground up in modern 3D, a more thorough overhaul than the HD remaster Ubisoft released roughly ten years ago, while the underlying turn-based gameplay has reportedly been left largely untouched. The interface has also been redesigned, retaining nods to the original's MS-DOS-era look while making menus and screens easier to read at a glance; the town and base-building screens were highlighted as a particular improvement, no longer requiring players to hunt through a cluttered layout to find the building they want to upgrade. Preview access reportedly included at least one campaign tutorial map used to walk new players through the game's core loop.
At its core, Heroes of Might & Magic 3 remains an unusual hybrid of turn-based strategy and role-playing game: players guide heroes and their armies across an overworld map dotted with mines, monster lairs and other points of interest, mostly stationary threats that let battles happen largely on the player's own terms, before resolving fights on a hexagonal battlefield. Heroes gain experience and level-up bonuses as they go. One preview, written from the perspective of someone who was never especially fond of the original, nonetheless praised the remake for capturing its distinctive high-fantasy atmosphere and faithfulness to the source material. The other, a more conventional hands-on preview built around a demo session, situated the remake within Ubisoft's broader run of recent remake projects and focused on concrete comparisons between the new and classic interfaces and visuals.
Where outlets differ
From the full account, which is AI-written from the sources:
The first source reads as a personal, first-person critical reflection from a writer who states they were never a fan of the original game, and it leans on subjective, impressionistic commentary (including an extended art-history comparison) to argue the remake nonetheless captures the series' tone.
The second source (IGN, by Imran Khan) frames the story as part of Ubisoft's 2026 remake output, explicitly comparing it to the Assassin's Creed: Black Flag remake, and structures its account around a bulleted list of key takeaways plus a described hands-on demo session covering two specific maps, including a named tutorial map, 'The Queen's Departure'.
The first source gives more detail on content scope (three-mission prelude, both expansions, nine factions, custom map import), while the second source focuses more on visual/UI comparisons and the mechanics of the demo session itself.
The first source is undated within the excerpt beyond authorial voice; the second explicitly ties the preview to Gamescom 2026 and is dated 26 August 2026.
Explained simply
Ubisoft's original Heroes of Might & Magic 3, released in 1999, is one of the best-known turn-based strategy games, mixing city-building and army management with role-playing elements. It built a loyal fanbase that has kept it alive for 25 years, partly through community-made maps and campaigns created using the game's map-editing tools.
Ubisoft is now producing a remake, aiming to update the look of the game while keeping its gameplay and community intact. This matters because remakes of beloved older games often risk alienating longtime fans if they change too much, so how faithfully Ubisoft balances modern presentation against the original's mechanics and support for fan-made content is central to how the remake will be judged.