Having long been a fan of the Heroes of Might & Magic (HoMM) Series I was extremely disappointed in HoMM 4 - the last release of a then floundering 3DO and New World Computing. The game was however given a new lease on life when almost three years ago 3DO Declared bankruptcy and put the franchise up for sale. In steps, French publisher Ubisoft, purchased the franchise and turned the game over to Nival Interactive, a Russian developer best know for their WWII games Blitzkrieg and Silent Storm. Fans like me have waited with baited breath since the announcement that a new chapter of the story would be released in 2006 to see if the franchise could be given new life. A few weeks ago it became clear that that wait was nearly over when Ubisoft released the HoMM 5 Open Beta. We eagerly queued up to download the beta, and found that it was only a multiplayer beta!. Undeterred, I dug deeper in to the game, and found a gem, but like a gem it has its flaws.