Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars (2025)

• Information

• Gamerip

Year: 1996

Type: Gamerip

See Also

TOP-30 — die besten Cheats für Batman: Arkham City aller Zeiten

Composer(s): Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca

Number of tracks: 41

Rating

★★★★★

This is the music review of
The Price of Loyalty (1997).

Come on guys, what can I say? Quarter past 2 on a Friday night. The alcohol has been flowing and my mental capacity is at about the same level as it was when I first played Heroes of Might and Magic II . The excitement of inserting the CD-Rom, the fascination of starting the game and the euphoria of all the bright colors and fantasy scenarios - little Mattis was happy, even if he didn't get through all the finesses of this turn-based strategy gem. Somehow he liked all the races except for the barbarians, and damage spells were always better than debuffs because it made the number of enemies smaller - duh!

Anyone who has question marks in front of their eyes after this paragraph will probably also not be able to comprehend the impact that the first Heroes of Might and­ Magic-spin-off I played had on my early pubescent development. The much-praised 'one-more-turn' principle was already in effect back then, which is why I spent hours and hours racing around the map with my single hero before encountering the opposing AI, which either lapsed into vegetative inaction after my victory over its hero or mercilessly wiped the floor with me. In both cases, the game quickly ran out of steam, which of course didn't stop me from starting the next match straight away due to a lack of alternatives. Sometimes I wish I had my old enthusiasm back.

There is no other reason for my love of the soundtrack, whose nostalgia-tinged tracks still haunt my ears today and stand out between both its predecessors and successors. But perhaps it's not just due to nostalgia. Because the development of series composer Paul Romero can already be observed here. Here, the basis of the acceptable soundtrack for the first Heroes of Might and Magic was built upon. Romero dares to set new accents in the new installment and now uses vocals instead of simple MIDI compositions for the background music of the city screens. But not just any fantasy-elven junk à la Dragon Age, but ... opera. That's right. Hyperactive little Mattis was exposed to the acoustic equivalent of an average shower soprano at pre-school age. 'Deine Wilden Hunde wollen in die Freiheit!' (German for 'Your wild dogs long for freedom!'). Well, no wonder nothing became of me.

All jokes aside, and observed with suspicion for the rest of this review, the arias sung in German are an interesting departure from the soundtrack of the Heroes of Might and Magic–-series. The only thing that spoiled its premiere for my brother and me at the time was that our CD had a glitch, which is why the sound files were damaged and all the melodies were transposed 1.5 tones lower. Sounds funny, but it was actually a bitter reality and made the enjoyable visit to the city at home an acoustic test of patience.

When you took a break from the crookedly sung chorales, you could listen to some great compositions such as the iconic Grass Theme , which can be found in many of the other spin-offs. But the battle tracks such as Battle 2 and Battle 3 were also always highlights to look forward to while exploring the map. The rest of the gamerip, on the other hand, is disappointing, as it only consists of stingers that are played when certain events are triggered, such as leveling up or visiting a nomad tent. However, the compositions are definitely worth listening to in their own right.

Thus, the average rating of a basically improved score of the predecessor is dampened, but in all likelihood it is only because of my memories that it has a comparatively high rating to begin with. If you compare it with its successors, above all part 5, it is basically old-fashioned musical fare, yet it leaves one looking forward to the greatness that Romero will deliver in his later compositions.

• Gamerip

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Rating
01	Heroes of Might and Magic II	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
02	Town (Knight)	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
03	Town (Barbarian)	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
04	Town (Sorceress)	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
05	Town (Warlock)	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
06	Town (Wizard)	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
07	Town (Necromancer)	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
08	Battle 1	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
09	Battle 2	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
10	Battle 3	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
11	Victory	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
12	Defeat	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
13	Death	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
14	Grass Theme	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
15	Dirt Theme	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
16	Ocean Theme	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
17	Swamp Theme	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
18	Wasteland Theme	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
19	Desert Theme	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
20	Lava Theme	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
21	Snow Theme	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
22	Lurking Enemy	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
23	New Week	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
24	New Month	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
25	Black Heart	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
26	Shadows Over the Kingdom (Archibald's Campaign)	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
27	Pure Heart (Roland's Campaign)	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
28	Peace at Last (Scenario Victory)	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
29	Puzzle Map	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
30	Experience Gained	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
31	Knowledge Spellpower	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
32	News	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
33	Watch Tower	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
34	Tree House / Magic Garden	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
35	Caravans	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
36	Nomads' Tents	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
37	Magic Well	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
38	Gin's Lamp	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
39	Demon's Cave	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
40	Last Offer	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
41	Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars [MIDI Version]	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca

• Information

• Gamerip

Year: 1997

Type: Gamerip

Composer(s): Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca

Number of tracks: 40

Rating

★★★★★

With The Price of Loyalty we are talking about an addon, which expands Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars with a few new campaigns and maps. I have not played, let alone owned the addon and therefore I can't contribute anything content-wise. Consequently, I feel the same way about the Gamerip, which basically contains the same tracks as the main game. In fact, only six songs differ from the track list, but they are the crucial ones: the city tracks.

City of the Sorceress, City of the Warlock, City of the Necromancer, City of the Knight, City of the Barbarian and City of the Wizard. Here, too, we once again hear tracks enriched with classical opera, but I place them on a lower tier than the main game due to the lack of rose-colored glasses. Of course, that doesn't make them any worse, just different - you know how it is.

• Gamerip

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Rating
01	Heroes of Might and Magic II	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
02	Battle 1	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
03	Battle 2	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
04	Battle 3	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
05	City of the Sorceress	Kareen Meshagan
06	City of the Warlock	Reid Bruton
07	City of the Necromancer	Paul Romero
08	City of the Knight	Paul Romero
09	City of the Barbarian	Kareen Meshagan; Reid Bruton
10	City of the Wizard	Paul Romero
11	Lava Theme	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
12	Wasteland Theme	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
13	Desert Theme	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
14	Snow Theme	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
15	Swamp Theme	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
16	Ocean Theme	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
17	Dirt Theme	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
18	Grass Theme	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
19	Black Heart	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
20	New Week	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
21	New Month	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
22	Shadows Over the Kingdom (Archibald's Campaign)	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
23	Puzzle Map	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
24	Pure Heart (Roland's Campaign)	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
25	Caravans	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
26	Lurking Enemy	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
27	Victory	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
28	Death	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
29	Defeat	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
30	Magic Well	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
31	Gin's Lamp	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
32	Nomads' Tents	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
33	Tree House / Magic Garden	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
34	Demon's Cave	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
35	Experience Gained	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
36	Knowledge Spellpower	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
37	Watch Tower	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
38	Last Offer	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
39	News	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca
40	Peace at Last (Scenario Victory)	Paul Romero; Rob King; Steve Baca