Eight years ago, Blizzard Entertainment released a real-time strategy game called Warcraft: Orcs and Humans. Its strong storyline and fast-paced action saw it get widespread acclaim and has seen it sell over six million copies. Blizzard knew it had a good thing going and released Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness the following year with an expansion pack out soon thereafter.
Barring a subsequent Warcraft II Battle.Net Edition, fans had to console themselves to the fact that the era of Warcraft was on the wane. Other Blizzard titles like Diablo and Starcraft were becoming extremely popular with Starcraft being the strategy game of choice at LAN parties and multiplayer competitions worldwide.
However, in September 1999 Blizzard announced that it had begun the development of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. The company changed the focus of the original series by planning to introduce a role-playing element into the existing strategy environment. Gamers had mixed feelings about this, but a promised 3D engine went a long way towards easing these rumblings.
Unfortunately, the release date kept on being shifted to such an extent that the initial enthusiasm for the game started to die down. Blizzard started to run the risk of releasing an over-hyped product into a very picky (and competitive) market.
Enter 2002 and Blizzard finally confirmed that the game would be released worldwide on July 3. Suddenly enthusiasm for the title was resurrected with the game becoming a best seller on pre-orders alone. On July 25, nearly a month after its release, Warcraft III surpassed one million sales worldwide.
This is a game?
Not knowing what to expect, I decided to read the manual before installing the game. At 150-odd pages the manual may seem like a hefty read for a computer game. However, it reads well with the focus on the history of the four races of the gaming world and how they relate to each other.
Filled with fresh enthusiasm for the game (as if I ever needed any), I embarked on my mission to play Warcraft III. I was stunned by the opening video. The quality of the cinematic was so good that I could not believe this was a computer game. This, in addition to having read the manual, succeeded in drawing me deeper into the gaming world and towards the campaign option.
You are given two options here, Orc and human. Essentially, the Orc missions are there to familiarise yourself with some of the basic gaming concepts but does set up the story well. Even hardened strategy gamers should start here if just to benefit from the storyline.
Two things struck me when first playing the game: the graphics and the atmosphere. Simply put, the game is beautiful. I admit to having my doubts when Blizzard announced they were going 3D but they have done incredibly well. Even on a low-end machine, the environmental effects came out well. Users also have a plethora of options to customise the detail settings. This helps to ease performance when you have many units on screen and need to give commands to all of them quickly.
Add some nice sound effects and aesthetically you have a very atmospheric game. Again, gamers will be able to set the game to play environmental audio or not for slightly improved performance.
The first couple of missions in the human campaign are easy, but you soon realise that you are faced with almost impossible odds designed to keep the narrative flowing. Fans of Warcraft will immediately notice the introduction of heroes. These heroes gain levels and increase their skills as the game progresses. While commanding large squadrons of generic units are fun, this addition to the game benefits the storyline and draws the gamer in. Players of Diablo may find the look and feel of these heroes familiar.
As the story changes, so too does your race with the gamer eventually taking on the role of the Orcs and the two new races of the game, the Undead and the Night Elves. While most of the missions finish quickly, there are sufficient surprises to keep some seasoned gamers on their toes. The scope of the campaign is huge (more than 50 missions) and will take some time to finish.
Warcraft, like its predecessors, allows for custom games. These games are single missions that give you some leeway in setting the game details, such as whether you want to have allies or want to play against several opponents at once. The game contains many of these missions that will keep you busy for many an hour.
The excellent World Editor also allows you to create your own missions. Players are able to customise almost anything from tile sets, character art and unit types to special abilities and spells.
Not only is Warcraft III an excellent single player game, but it will also knock Starcraft off its perch in the multiplayer environment. It allows for up to 12 players per game but (due to our bandwidth constraints) this is only advisable to attempt on a LAN. Its Battle.net features have been updated to include anonymous matchmaking and ladders that cover Random Team, 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3, and 4 vs 4 games.
Warcraft`s excellent graphics and playability along with a detailed campaign storyline make it a must-have for any serious strategy gamer. This will certainly be a contender (if not winner) of strategy game of the year in many gaming publications.
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