The long awaited Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven is here- and it does not disappoint. The box comes with a nice cloth map of the Land of Enroth, where the game takes place, which became really handy during the game. The graphics of Might and Magic VI are not state-of-the-art by today's standards, but the game world is quite colorful and many of the sprites found in the dungeons are well done. You can run, jump, look up and down, but you cannot crouch, although flying is possible via with the fly spell.  In the game you advance the four characters in your party by completing quests, which means having to kill monsters- and I mean LOTS of monsters. That is probably the main complaint I have about the game- sometimes it simply becomes a chore having to slaughter waves upon waves of enemies.  To fight the hordes, the game allows for real time and turn-based combat, but unless you have the lightning-quick reactions and don't treasure your sanity, you should always go with turn-based combat in most situations.
    Attention to detail is really emphasized in the game. For instance, the portraits of the characters in the party change according to their conditions. When a party member is drunk- he or she looks drunk. A party member will yell "Healer!" if he is about to get knocked out. The inventory screen is another good example- when you put a cape on a character, you see her wearing the cape..
    The Land of Enroth is quite large, and some of the dungeons are titanic to say the least, so expect to spend at least 150 hours in order to finish the game. The fun comes mainly from moving your characters up the ranks, improving their skills and stats, and finding powerful weapons and artifacts. Overall I had a positive experience playing the game- but hopefully New World Computing and 3DO will reduce the sheer number of opposition in Might and Magic VII.
    Oh yeah, one tip- when you're just starting out and don't have the powerful spells yet, try the hit and run (away) strategy when the going gets tough. Simply have all your characters learn the bow skill and equip everyone with bows. Then you can always shoot the enemies and then run away for some distance, turn around, then shoot the baddies again. Just don't look back as you run or else the monsters will surely catch up to you.