New Name and new stuff for this HOMM-Like Strategy RPG
I recently pointed out that the indie scene is bursting with projects inspired by the legendary Heroes of Might and Magic, and one of the most distinctive and promising has been Silence of the Siren.
Starting today, though, you’ll have to call it Heroes of Science and Fiction, thanks to an unexpected name change by developer Oxymoron Games. Like it or not, the real news is that the rebrand comes with a batch of fresh updates, and I’m about to break them all down.
You can now dive into the most substantial expansion Heroes of Science and Fiction has seen since its Early Access launch, thanks to the update that went live few hours ago.
First, you will notice the game’s new title: Heroes of Science and Fiction, a name the developers chose after months of deliberation to signal more clearly to fans of classic Heroes-style strategy that this project belongs in that lineage.
Silence of the Siren survives as the title of the campaign storyline, so the narrative you know remains intact even as the product name changes.
Once you launch the new build, you immediately gain access to the internal Map Editor the studio itself uses. You can construct entire battlefields, script complex events through a visual logic editor, and publish your creations to Steam Workshop without leaving the tool, so sharing scenarios with other commanders is as simple as clicking upload.
If crafting every hex by hand feels daunting, the team has also slipped a beta Random Map Generator into the Custom Scenarios menu, letting you press a button and receive a fresh battlefield for up to four players.
The patch ushers in a brand-new planet with a six-phase day-night cycle that subtly alters visibility and tactics.
Seven fresh skirmish maps debut on this world, and legacy scenarios from earlier demos have been reorganised there as well; you will spot a new badge next to each addition.
Roaming the landscapes are four neutral unit types you have not met before: Luminovores, explosive F1-Crackers, Slugtors, and Malarions, expanding the roster of potential recruits or threats.
Quality-of-life upgrades greet you at almost every turn. You can roll the dice on random commander selection, study post-match graphs that chart army strength swings, consult exploration statistics from eyeball towers, and enjoy a cleaner commander list.
In battle, limited-range run-and-gun units gain a dedicated icon, consumables bubble to the top of action menus, and an extra dismiss button streamlines troop management.
Balance has shifted. United Nations Space Service troopers now deal less area damage, chain lightning weakens with each jump, and shields cost more energy. Bloodlust becomes a once-per-round ability, Engineer regenerates more EP, and Scout scales movement points with skill level instead of granting a flat bonus.
Behind the scenes the team hunted a long list of bugs, from camera stutters during AI turns to miscounted neutral armies and localization hiccups.
You should feel smoother transitions when cancelling abilities, see accurate difficulty settings propagate between campaign levels, and avoid soft locks caused by gamepad inputs or accidental drag-and-drop in army-join dialogs.
The developers have published an updated public roadmap that still targets a full release roughly one year after the original Early Access date of 30 September 2024.
They encourage you to test the editor, upload imaginative scenarios, and keep feedback flowing through Steam discussions and Discord so the remaining factions, campaign chapters, and polish passes land in their best shape.
Personally, I think Heroes of Science and Fiction is a game you should have on your radar, even in its current Early Access state on PC via Steam. Below is the latest trailer available.
