Gray Alliance

Full-fledged campaigns are rare these days. I looked at it, and then I played through it. I played as the "hero." I have a lot of impressions, and I couldn't put them into a few words.

I liked the landscape design of each map. It's beautiful, pleasing to the eye, and it's nice to move your hero around. The objects are placed appropriately and serve a purpose. For the visual aspect, you can confidently give it a 5+. There are many dialogue scenes in the campaign. Technically, they are well done, but I didn't really like the number of them. The heroes are too talkative, and the writing isn't the author's strong suit. Of course, this is a matter of taste, but in my opinion, I'd give this section a 4. The heroes offered are quite suitable for me. Not all of them are outstanding, but in the conditions created on the maps, they are good.Now, about the most important thing – the gameplay. This is a set of maps for a strategy game, but there is no strategy in it. The opponents either stand like statues or develop and move incredibly lazily, so as not to bother the player's characters. There is no danger from their existence. The player mainly needs to meet them, and they can be defeated in any case. If such a structure can be considered good for the first map, then for the second, it's already out of place, and for the third, it's disappointingly boring. The fourth is a terrible, muddy swamp from which you want to run away as fast as possible and never see it again. The maps turned out to be more like sightseeing tours – we walk, look, and talk. The overall gameplay is a 3-, and that's being generous. The campaign is not of any interest for a replay.

Some technical flaws encountered on the maps:
First. The guard near the Tree of Silana (41,14) does not prevent you from taking reinforcements. The tree itself is unnecessary; you can gain more experience during the map than the limit.Third. The Cursed Tomb (113,60) is flipped over, and the caravan cannot exit it.The number of gems to be given to the elementals should be specified in the quest menu.Fourth. There is some kind of mess with the creature upgrades for the Orc. In the third map, they only give you the 2nd level, and at the start of the fourth, the army is equipped with the 3rd level. The guard (185.147) does not block the passage. The number of obelisks found, the counter, should be displayed in the menu, and not just in a pop-up. If you don't stare at the map without a break, it's impossible to remember how many more you need to find. The final opponent is very strange – a necromancer with an army that can be defeated in one hit by any hero.Fifth. Saves are needed between battles; replaying two battles when the third one fails is very unpleasant. The mages appear in the battle without mini-portraits; their main strength is lost, and they look very weak. Similarly, the ranger appears without his sworn enemies – all his abilities are gone. It would be good if a mentor appeared there, and money to retrain heroes, so that you don't have to do this on the previous map.

Thank you to the author for the work. It's a lot of work, and it's good, despite the final result.

P.S. The modern trend for maps in which the "meaning of actions" is lost makes me sad.