The word among Homm veterans (including me
) is that HOMM4 is a pretty bad sequel. The strategic AI (the movements on the main map) is horrendous. The game was never quite finished, and the developers were fired soon after anyway. The problem seems to be with the new concept of roving guardians (the monsters that used to guard treasures and mines), since the AI seems to be incapable of avoiding getting slaughtered by them in the first few rounds. So many maps degenerate in you playing the game while the AI sits in his dinky little castle, having lost his hero in turn one. Even if you switch the guardians to static so the AI can at least leave his starting town, the AI never amounts to the level of HOMM3. So my advise is to buy HOMM3, or if you already have it, check out the free mod Wake Of The Gods or the similar game Age Of Wonders II (which is quite good)