Heroes of Science and Fiction

I don't usually cover turn-based strategy here, but when something lands with 91% positive Steam reviews and the community keeps comparing it to Heroes 3 unprompted, I pay attention. Heroes of Science and Fiction spent over a year in Early Access being shaped into something genuinely solid, and the 1.0 launch in March 2026 brought the full package: five factions, four campaigns, 30-plus skirmish maps, a random map generator, and online multiplayer that was held back until the studio felt it was ready. That kind of discipline from an indie studio is worth noting. The loop will feel immediately familiar to anyone who grew up on the HoMM series. You move commanders across planetary maps, secure resource nodes like biomass and polymer deposits, upgrade your faction base to unlock stronger units, and eventually crash armies together on a hex grid. What Oxymoron adds on top is smart rather than flashy: fog of war tied to actual line-of-sight, the ability to place traps, outposts, and turret emplacements directly on the overworld map, and 54 active commander abilities spread across 24 skills that push the build variety beyond what the original HoMM3 offered. The five factions are genuinely distinct in feel: the Fossorians play like a numbers-heavy attrition force, the Sovereign Fleet are space pirates leaning on mobility, the Children of the Source are cybernetic insectoid zealots with a Church-Militant hierarchy of unit tiers, the Tumori are parasitic organics with host-possession mechanics, and the UNSS humans bring a conventional army supported by the alien Hesperidians. Each faction's seven upgradeable unit types unlock new abilities on upgrade, not just stat bumps, which keeps the mid-game interesting. The criticisms from the community are real and worth flagging. Balance across factions is uneven in spots, particularly around mid-range AOE units that reviewers flag as overtuned. The artifact and equipment system is underbaked: too many items feel niche to the point of uselessness, and the spell pool lacks the depth of interaction you'd want in a game this otherwise systems-rich. AI turn times drag in late-game scenarios, which is a classic turn-based problem but still annoying when you're watching the CPU shuffle units around a large map. The campaign writing is serviceable rather than compelling; the narrative framing around the Siren system's isolated factions is interesting on paper but the execution sits closer to "fine" than "memorable." For the multiplayer angle, which matters to me: online PvP and co-op are both present at 1.0, local options too. The player base is small, which means finding live opponents requires either coordinating with friends or checking the Discord. That is the honest reality for a niche genre title in 2026. The "just one more turn" pull is strong enough that the game lives primarily as a single-player experience for most people, and it earns that reputation. The random map generator and skirmish library give it replay legs that the fixed campaign alone wouldn't.

Fred · Scout Team

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