It was HeroQuest that got me into the hobby twenty-five years ago, and apart from brief dalliances with Advanced HeroQuest and Warhammer Quest, this was the first HeroQuest-like game I've played since (having mostly been playing traditional wargames in the meantime). Of course, (among many other dungeon-crawler games) Descent is fantasy and therefore even more like HeroQuest than Imperial Assault, but I never got around to playing it.
The genre has certainly moved on since HQ. Even simple things like allowing the heroes to choose their own order of activation - and interleaving them with the GM's own activations - make for a much more cooperative game, where the heroes discuss among themselves the best way to fulfil their objectives, rather than (say) the Barbarian player taking his turn and simply hitting the nearest monster because that's what he does. The game is very challenging, so if the heroes don't work together they'll probably lose; and they are forced to keep progressing by the continuous stream of Imperial reinforcements, which keeps the pace up and keeps things interesting.
IA has an almost RPG-like progression system, where heroes can learn new skills, as well as upgrade equipment. This offers another layer of interest and allows the heroes to each be given their own sub-plots (eg. the Jedi character has to obtain their lightsabre by overcoming their guilt over the death of their mentor). Heroes can still purchase equipment, like in HQ, but the money is shared, which again encourages cooperation. The GM player also gets upgrades, in the form of agendas - so it's not just the heroes having levelling-up fun.
The missions are both more focussed and more varied. They form a branching plot (I actually felt more could have been done with this in IA, though the side missions are a wonderfully nice touch) rather than the contextless quests of the HQ base system or the linear story of the expansions (which were a good start in the right direction compared to one-off quests - we all remember the epic quest to kill the Witch King - but it's been bettered since). Failure doesn't simply require re-attempting the same quest - it tells a different story and offers the heroes a different challenge.
Oh - and as if that's not enough, IA also has a head-to-head game mode so you can play it more like a wargame as well.
All in all, I've fallen in love with IA just as I did with HQ all those years ago. HQ did so much right: four-on-one story-based gameplay, missions, and progression. The core concept is still brilliant and captivating. But the genre has progressed so far since, I can't ever imagine going back. HQ was superb, but it was a game of its time. I finally got around to painting all my old HQ models last year, and I'd been hoping to convince our gaming group to play it, to try to recapture the nostalgia for my lost youth; but having now played IA, HQ seems so clunky that I simply can't see that happening.
Much love for HQ, but the world has moved on since. For a more modern gaming experience in the same vein, as a clear spiritual successor, I can't recommend Imperial Assault highly enough.
