Heroes of Annihilated Empires Review Summary

Last updated: 2026-02-10
  • Highly praised game quality and successful RPG/RTS blend.
  • Unique factions and engaging story with varied gameplay.
  • Dynamic hero-centric gameplay and large-scale battles.
  • Numerous bugs and technical issues reported.
  • Lack of updates and support from developers.
  • Poor level design and multiplayer pathfinding issues.
Heroes of Annihilated Empires header

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Review evidence

Why players say this

What players like

Highly praised game quality: The game is frequently described as having great potential, impressive animations, and a good mix of genres. Players appreciate its engaging gameplay, beautiful graphics, and deep storyline.

Successful RPG and RTS blend: The game is noted for its excellent combination of real-time strategy and role-playing game elements. Players enjoy commanding large armies, hero progression, and the deep RPG system.

Positive technical aspects: The game is praised for its straightforward gameplay, simple controls, and pleasant music. Additionally, it includes features like cheat codes and a map editor, and it works well on Linux.

Unique factions and races: The game features four unique playable factions, each with distinct armies, resources, and mythologies. This variety adds depth and replayability to the game.

Engaging story and campaign: The game is praised for its cool and engaging story, pleasant presentation, and long campaign. The AI is also noted for being clever, adding to the overall experience.

Common complaints

Numerous bugs and technical issues: The game suffers from a plethora of bugs including crashes, progress loss, and compatibility issues with modern systems. Players report frequent game crashes, memory allocation errors, and problems with video playback on newer operating systems.

Lack of updates and support: The game lacks ongoing support and updates, leading to unresolved bugs and missing features. There is no widescreen support, limited audio tracks, and no additional downloadable maps, which affects the game's longevity and player satisfaction.

Poor level and game design: The game design is criticized for being confusing and poorly executed. Issues include ineffective towers, strange camera controls, and a lack of unit subtypes, which make the gameplay feel incomplete and unsatisfying.

Multiplayer and pathfinding issues: Multiplayer mode has several issues, including pathfinding problems where units get stuck or freeze. The game also lacks features like a button to mark idle units, which affects the overall multiplayer experience.

Outdated graphics and visuals: The graphics are considered outdated and not visually appealing on modern systems. The game lacks widescreen support and has poor quality animations, which detracts from the overall visual experience.

Gameplay and performance

RTS and RPG hybrid gameplay: The game combines real-time strategy (RTS) elements with role-playing game (RPG) mechanics. Players can enjoy both RTS and RPG modes, with a focus on strategy, tactics, and hero progression.

Four unique playable factions: The game features four distinct playable races, each with unique units, strategies, and resources. This adds variety and replayability to both single-player and multiplayer modes.

Multiplayer and skirmish modes: The game offers multiplayer functionality with different factions and heroes, as well as a skirmish mode with creeps. This provides a variety of gameplay options beyond the single-player campaign.

Resource management and base building: Players must gather resources, manage their base, and train units. Buildings have different functions based on the faction, and base building mechanics affect gameplay strategies.

Campaign and mission design: The campaign is described as short and sweet, with a focus on one hero. Missions involve delivering resources, fighting through enemies, and clearing maps. The campaign is challenging but may feel lackluster to some players.

Compatibility issues with Windows 10: The game experiences significant compatibility problems on Windows 10, including videos and comics not playing, and the game not starting at all. It functions better on Windows 8.1 but still has issues with modern systems and 64-bit architectures.

Game crashes and resolution issues: The game crashes frequently, including crashes to desktop, and has resolution issues where it displays in 1024x768 resolution. Additional options do not help resolve these issues.

Performance issues with high RAM and AI units: The game crashes on systems with more than 2GB RAM and when there are too many AI units on screen. It also experiences lag with many troops and memory allocation errors.

Specific OS and hardware requirements: The game requires specific OS and hardware to run properly. It works well on Linux but has issues with newer video cards and cannot use engine.exe to fix problems.

Sound glitches and looping: There is a sound glitch that causes a loop of every sound, leading to a poor audio experience during gameplay.

Recommendations

Good value for RTS fans: The game is often praised for its value, especially for fans of real-time strategy games. It is recommended for those who enjoy large-scale battles and base building, though some suggest waiting for a discount if unsure.

Recommended for specific audiences: The game is particularly recommended for nostalgic players, fans of Lord of the Rings, and those who enjoy hack-and-slash RPGs. It is also suggested for players looking for something different within the RTS genre.

Considerations for purchase: Some reviews suggest that the game may not be as good as other titles like StarCraft or Armies of Exigo, but it still holds its own. It is recommended to buy the game if you plan to play multiplayer with others.

Support the project: Some reviews recommend supporting the game project, indicating a positive sentiment towards the developers and their efforts.

Buy for specific features: The game is recommended for its skirmish and fantasy elements, which are highlighted as key features that make it worth purchasing.

Platform notes

Steam Deck: The game experiences significant compatibility issues, particularly with black screens during gameplay and loading screens. However, there are workarounds such as adjusting compatibility settings or waiting. Notably, the game reportedly runs better on Linux than on Windows, providing a positive experience for some users.