I think that Heroes 4 is a very good game and there's no need to criticize it. Since Heroes 1, 2, and 3 were very similar, the developers decided to make Heroes 4 a bit different. The fact that the hero participates in battles is a good innovation that drastically changes the gameplay (I especially like to level up 2 Barbarians and go around defeating everyone without troops :). But some people like it, and some don't. In my opinion, it refreshed Heroes 4.