What were your expectations for Heroes 4?

With the release of the fourth installment, my opinion of the Heroes series declined... :( I was expecting something completely different... something new, something better... but I got... bland gameplay, an army that runs around (I'm referring to the caravans; the fact that the army runs around is fine), Shadow of the World (tolerable, but still), a terrible transition from 2D to 3D graphics, and even calling it 3D is a stretch((( The troops are confusing, there's a large variety of them, and most importantly... NOTHING significantly new :( And the fact that 3DO barely managed to release it speaks volumes... it's full of unfinished elements, lack of foresight... a hastily put-together game, and the same goes for the expansions(( P.S. IMHO!