WarCraft 3: Reign of Chaos
Developer: Blizzard
Entertainment
Reviewed by _fo0k
on 10/31/02
Article
Discussion Forum
First
Impressions:
Those
pesky orcs and humans are back. I have a pretty good idea of what
to expect, so I skip the manual entirely and just jump into the
game. Things look polished, as I've come to expect from any Blizzard
title. UNLEASH THE DOGS OF WAR!!
So, I am playing through the first section of the single player
game, as Arthas, leader of the humans, and it's pretty tough going,
much tougher than my co-worker John said it was. He taunts me incessantly
as I complain of trying to filter my army through a particular map
I was stuck on all weekend. I have to pass south through a long
channel lined with enemy towers on both sides that I have no way
of reaching. The only option is to dash through as fast as possible,
while subjected to repeated blastings of enemy fire. My key units
that must pass through are the dwarven artillary, the only ones
capable of destroying the enemy ships that are docked on the other
side of this passage, and my heals just aren't cutting it! My hero
has hit level 7 and has plenty of hit points to survive the run,
but can't keep his buddies alive. FINALLY, after several agonizing
attempts I manage to get ONE dwarf unit through the pass and complete
the human campaign.
As I relive this painful mission with John on monday, he says "Oh,
didn't you spend any of your skill points to raise your healing
skill?"
Skill points.... I mutter a curse. DAMN John for making me look
like a fool! I'm a game designer for God's sake. They even TOLD
me in the tutorial missions that I had skill points to spend each
time I leveled up. I felt like such a noob. But the rules are SO
deeply set in there. This is Real Time Strategy(tm)!!! You don't
GET skill points!!! Well, you do now...
Graphics:
I'm
happy with them. The art has a little more style than the previous
Warcraft games. Everything looks clean, and the units have more
personality. There is a beautiful simplicity to everything, and
a good variety of environments to play in. Heroes are the "primary"
units in the game, and have distinctive looks. They are somewhat
cartoonish, but it all fits together well.
Sound/Music:
Very
good. The comical voices are all there as in the previous games,
and it's always a treat to repeatedly click the same unit to "piss
him off" and find all of the funny liners. Good sound is
a lot like good user interface. If it's done right you don't notice
it at all, it's only if you do it poorly that you notice.
Gameplay:
So,
you've gathered by now that there are skill points to be spent.
In fact, there are several "rpg" elements that weren't
in the previous games, and this is the big new feature to Warcraft
3.
Your typical game is much like Warcraft always is. The single
player campaign is a series of "episodic conflicts"
with cut scenes tieing one episode to the next, as you advance
the story to the epic, earth shattering conclusion. You'll begin
as the humans, then play the undead, the orcs, and finally the
Night Elves. After all, what's role playing without Elves?!!!
Leading your troops into battle is a hero, the star of your mission.
Build up your forces and then mobilize. As you roam the map in
search of <insert objective here>, you'll gain experience
for killing enemies and sometimes find special items. The hero
can hold up to 6 items in his inventory (magic rings, weapons,
potions, and so forth), some are "one shot" items like
healing potions or scrolls. Magic weapons can increase the fighting
or defensive abilities of your hero for as long as you hold them.
As the hero gains enough experience, (s)he "levels up",
getting more hit points and some skill points to spend on a special
power. The special powers are different for each race.
Much of the rest of the game is as you would expect from a Warcraft
title. Build up towns, chop down trees and mine gold to create
and upgrade your army. One other significant difference is the
size of armies has been reduced. You are limited in the number
of troops you can produce, which makes warfare more managable
to the non-expert (see "_fo0k"). The user interface
has everything you need to make your life easy (such as assigning
groups and quickly jumping between them at different points on
the map, assigning a group to patrol a certain area, and so forth).
The four different races each have their own unique strengths
and weaknesses. Warcraft also provides an editor allowing users
to create their own maps, a nice touch.
Enjoyment:
The
addiction just isn't there, for me. I don't see any glaring flaws.
In fact, Blizzard has done more than just churn out a sequel for
a quick buck. A lot of effort was put into this game, and it really
shows. The missions have variety to them, and an honest effort
was made with the inclusion of the Hero units and what they add
to the mix. Still, ultimately the game is still what it always
was. Build your city up, build your army up, and go get the bad
guys.
Multiplayer:
Playing
a Blizzard game online is the definitive "right way"
to do it, with their Battle.Net service. It's simple, fully featured,
and best of all free. Battle.Net offers anonymous matchmaking,
arranged teams, a friends list, observer mode and different ladder
games (Individual ladder, random team ladder, 2v2 team, 3v3 team,
and 4v4 team). I salute them for going the extra step, as they
always do. If this is your kind of game, you will have all the
replay value you could ever want on Battle.Net.
Warcraft also offers LAN play for those who prefer to keep their
battles more personal. :)
Overall
Impression:
This
game is a must buy to anyone who enjoyed the previous Warcraft
or Starcraft games. If you are new to the RTS genre, I would recommend
this as a great way to introduce yourself to it. But I don't think
Blizzard will be grabbing new fans from the "I am not into
RTS games" crowd. If you are an RPG fan who doesn't like
RTS, don't buy this game.
Marketing
Efforts Towards Women:
Blizzard
is more concerned with making and selling quality games than with
catering to one audience or another. There are men and women characters
in Warcraft 3. I saw nothing insulting to either gender. I believe
RTS is predominantly male in fanbase, but there isn't anything
in the game that would necessarily push women away from the title.
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