Might & Magic Heroes VI Playable Demo Released

If you haven't had a chance to check out the beta version of Might & Magic Heroes VI yet (by way of pre-ordering), you'll be happy to learn that Ubisoft has released a playable demo of the turn-based strategy/RPG crossbreed. The demo isn't quite as fully featured as the second beta client, but I suppose that's to be expected when it's freely available. Anyway, you can grab it from FilePlanet or AtomicGamer while you read through the details and system requirements below:
In the demo you can play 3 campaign maps!:

'¢ Tutorial campaign: Griffin Bane

Years have passed since the death of Duke Pavel (Reveal Trailer), killed by Demons summoned by the dying wish of the Orc Shaman Toghrul whose tribe had been slaughtered by the Griffin armies. Now a young man, Pavel's only son Slave accompanies his aunt, Sveltana (Reveal Trailer), in the mountains of the Griffin Duchy to investigate signs of a new Demon threat

In this map, the player will discover and control the first Haven and Orc units as well as learn all the basics of the Heroes game mechanics

'¢ Prologue campaign: The Emperor's Will

Years have passed - Slava has known war against Elves, found and lost love, eventually marrying a daughter of the Stag Duchy and fathering five promising children. Friendship between Slava and Kraal's Orc remains strong. When the Emperor issues a decree authorizing Slava's old enemy, Duke Gerhart of the Wolf, to deport the Orcs and claim their lands, Slava doesn't hesitate to defy the Emperor's will to defend his friends.

Here, the player will be able to carry on his adventure with the already level-up Duke Slava character and learn all the new features available in Heroes VI including the Area of Control, the Dynasty Weapons & Traits, the Town Conversion, the Unique Buildings, etc.

'¢ MULTIPLAYER (HOTSEAT) MODE: Broken Alliance

In Broken Alliance, up to 3 Human players are fighting for dominance of the lands, but they have also to face 3 AI players in control of richer territories. It is not only a matter of strategy, but also of speed. You can play different factions: Haven / Sanctuary / Necropolis / Inferno / Stronghold

Share your feedback on the official forum


Minimum & Recommended Specifications for Heroes VI:

OPERATING SYSTEM:
Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 (all 32/64 bit)

PROCESSOR: minimal (recommended)
Intel Pentium Core 2 Duo E4400 @ 2.0 Ghz, AMD Athlon X2 5000+ @ 2.6 Ghz (Intel Pentium Core 2 @ Duo E6400 @ 2.00 Ghz, AMD Athlon II X2 240 @ 2.8 Ghz)

RAM: minimal (recommended)
1 GB for Windows XP and 1.5GB for Vista / Windows 7 (2 GB)

VIDEO CARD: minimal memory/directX version
(optimal memory/directX version)
512 MB, DirectX 9.0c (1 GB, DirectX 9.0c)

DIRECT X®:
DirectX® version DirectX 9.0c 2008 November (included on disc)

DVD-ROM DRIVE:
DVD 8x (DVD 24x), needed only for installation

SOUND CARD:
DirectX 9.0c compatible (recommended)

HARD DISK: [for full version]
8 GB

PERIPHERALS:
Mouse, keyboard

MULTIPLAY:
128 kBit/s upstream

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"SUPPORTED VIDEO CARDS AT THE TIME OF RELEASE"

First list to be completed :
- Minimal: NVidia GeForce 8600GTS, ATI Radeon HD 2600XT, both with 512MB of VRAM
- Recommended: NVidia GeForce 8800GTX, ATI Radeon HD 3870 both with 1 GB of VRAM

The video card has to have/support:
- Minimum 512 MB of Video RAM
- Vertex Shader 3.0
- Pixel Shader 3.0
- Vertex Texture support with R32F or R16F format
- Render Target support with R32F and G16R16F format