WarCraft 3: Reign of Chaos
Developer: Blizzard
Entertainment
Strategy Site: Official Warcraft
III Strategy Guide
Reviewed by Irony
on 10/31/02
Article
Discussion Forum
First
Impressions:
Let
me preface this review by saying one thing: I'm considering buying
this game again. I own the game already, and I'm considering giving
it to my sister to play and buying the collector's edition. We talk
all the time on the discussion boards about supporting quality games
with our wallets, and in my humble opinion, this one is well worth
supporting - not just for its quality, but for its refreshing inclusion
of female characters and models.
With that said, I waited three years for this game, and I'm supposed
to give first impressions? Three years of expectation, anticipation,
and salivation led up to the release of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos,
inheritor of the mantle of WCII and Starcraft. When I was in college
(in the before times), WCII was one of the marathon, all-night games
we played in a huge computer lab, wiping bleary eyes and drinking
quarts of Mountain Dew, trying to focus and stay sharp as hordes
of bloodlust-filled orcs poured over the 3D landscape to torment
our poor, innocent humans. We only wanted to live in peace!
Then came Starcraft, and the torch was passed to arguably the best
real-time strategy title ever released. More than just "Warcraft
in space," Starcraft had something for everyone: all the RTS
action we'd come to expect, unique races with different powers and
weaknesses, all wedded to a single-player campaign with cut scenes
better than a Hollywood movie and well-developed characters you
actually cared about (check out our Digital Women review of Sarah
Kerrigan). Blizzard developed a reputation for stability and talent
unsurpassed by any other gaming studio; their standards for excellence
are on par with the standards of their customers. We expect great
games from Blizzard, and they have never disappointed us.
Three years is a long time to wait, though. Too long? Well, that's
hard to say now that we've got our hands wrapped around the game,
but I certainly don't think it was too long a wait. The end result,
as with all Blizzard games, is spectacular and worth every penny.
I suppose it's possible there are people reading this review that
have never played a Blizzard RTS game and might need some background
on what the games are like. In a nutshell, the Warcraft games are
set in a medieval world populated by orcs, humans, elves, and all
the rest of the usual suspects. You control groups of orcs or humans
and elves and you build things and make armies and fight. Yeah,
there's resource gathering and other concerns - like chess, RTS
games take no time at all to learn, but a lifetime to master (although
if you're a 15 year-old on BattleNet it seems to take you very little
time to master the game enough to kick my butt).
If you haven't seen the box art (impossible if you've ventured inside
an electronics store since its release), there are four versions
of the game box; one for each featured race. Humans and orcs both
return, although the orcs have recovered more of their shamanistic
heritage and injected some honor into their grubby existence (I
am sadly prejudiced against orcs). Along for the ride this time
are the Undead Scourge, with units ranging from flesh-eating ghouls
(seriously, have them eat corpses to regain health) to chanting
Necromancers to Banshees (no offense to our own Banshee!) who can
possess enemy units and put them to work on your side. Also new
to the world are the Night Elves, a magic-shunning group of nature
lovers where the majority of the units are female and have the ability
to be invisible when motionless at night (yes, the game now features
a day/night cycle). In depth descriptions of each race and its units
would take more time than we have here.
What's inside the box? In the regular version, a respectable 150-page
manual and fold-out tech tree chart (a big help for beginners) give
you valuable background information on the races. The collector's
edition adds an art book and soundtrack CD, plus 4 limited edition
prints. It's extremely obvious that the robust histories in the
game manuals are helping to sow the seeds of profits for Blizzard's
upcoming World of Warcraft MMORPG (which, like everything we've
seen so far from Blizzard, promises to be amazing). One of the additions
to WCIII is the hero, a specialized unit (three different "flavors"
per race) which can gain levels through experience, has a six-item
inventory, and serves as the glorious leader of you armies. Your
heroes have names and personalities and provide a nice link between
RTS and pseudo-roleplaying. When World of Warcraft is released,
that link will become a strong bond, so keep your eyes open for
WoW's 2003 beta test (all dates are subject to change, of course;
Blizzard is renowned for not releasing a game until it's ready,
and owning up to their mistakes when they make them). Now, without
further ado, let's talk about the game.
Graphics:
The
graphics are unsurpassed in the RTS genre. The character models
are detailed and beautifully colored. You can rotate the camera
and even zoom in (great for screenshots; not so great for actual
combat). Character animations are nicely done and well suited
to the immersive feel of the game. Magic effects are gorgeous,
and smoke, fire, and spattering blood abound. Keep in mind that
the game is rated T for Teen. Some of the Undead units include
the giant Abominations, sewn-together Frankenstein creations which
ooze blood and guts and carry bloody cleavers in their multiple
fists. The game is violent, although arguably not more so than
any game centered around combat between warring armies, and the
graphics do not shrink away from the blood and mayhem (although
it's possible you can turn on a content filter).
Sound/Music:
This
game is masterful in both sound and music. Each unit has its own
unique list of sayings; multiple clicks on an Orc Peon, for example,
will elicit a questioning "Sir?" or, after repeated
poking, a gruff "I'm not that kind of Orc." Night Elf
Archers state "I'm ready" as soon as they spawn, and
Dryads yawn, stretch, and proclaim "Ah, the great outdoors!"
As for the score, it is amazing, and I do not praise a game score
lightly. To get an idea of the quality of the music in WCIII,
click here
to download an MP3 of the opening movie music. As mentioned above,
the collector's edition of the game comes with a soundtrack CD,
and I'm starting to regret not paying the extra money for that
version. The music for this game rivals that of any game released
to date.
Gameplay:
Let's
get ready to rumble! The game's interface is well-designed, with
easy to find keys, and handy keyboard shortcuts. Units are groupable,
and groups can be assigned to follow each other. Buildings have
rally points, and those points can be assigned to units as well
as areas of the map (one strategy involves setting the rally point
from a unit-producing building on one of your heroes, so newly
produced units will automatically move to the location of that
hero and follow him or her). The A.I. for the units is much improved,
and they get stuck much less often than in previous RTS games
(although I have an annoying habit of "building in"
my units, so they can't get out of places). WCIII is focused on
small unit combat, and use of hero abilities and magic. The races
are well balanced, with each possessing unique strengths and weaknesses.
This game actually lives up to the "strategy" in its
genre title in a way previous RTSs haven't. The single player
campaign serves as a good tutorial for getting your game on with
friends over a LAN connection, or on BattleNet with random strangers.
Get ready to perfect your twitch reflex, as quick decisions and
judicious use of unit special abilities is key.
Also nice is the ability to "tab" between varieties
of units in a group. Let me 'splain: say you group (max 12 units)
a hero, a few Druids of the Claw, and some archers. You want to
cast "roar" with your Druids of the Claw to give your
units a nice morale boost, and then you want the Druids to switch
to bear form (see how cool it is?) and kick some undead booty.
Instead of clicking on the Druids and losing control of the rest
of your group, you can select the group itself (you can hotkey
each group to a number 1 through 9), then tab from hero to Druids,
instruct the Druids, and never leave off control of the group.
Another nice feature is the "queue" of actions. Any
action that can be performed by right-clicking (including attacking
enemy units) can be "queued" by holding down the shift
key. Coordinated attacks on individual enemy units are the key
to winning skirmishes, and this ability allows you to do just
that with a minimum of effort. Select your group, hold down the
shift key, and right click on first the big dragon, then each
little teeny dragon (yes, dragons!). Your entire group will focus
on each unit in the order you determined, making it simple to
concentrate your firepower. This kind of "queuing" effect
can also be used for other abilities. Take the Undead's Banshee
unit, for example, which can possess enemy units, effectively
turning them to your side. Select a group of Banshees, and "queue"
in possessions. The Banshees will possess the selected units in
order until they run out of mana individually. These are just
a few examples of using the "queue".
Enjoyment:
Needless
to say, the game is enjoyable and highly addictive. Adding heroes
to the game gives it a quasi-RPG element which is especially nice
in the single-player campaign. Kicking the butt of your roommate
or friend over a LAN or BattleNet game can also be the high point
of your day. At the end of the day, though, you will like this
game if you like RTS games. If you're not an RTS buff, this might
not be the game for you (wait for World of Warcraft). Blizzard
always injects humor into their games; the first time you play,
spend a few minutes clicking on the individual units multiple
times to hear all their phrases (one Night Elf hero, who rides
a white tiger, will confide in you that she bought the tiger from
Sigfried and Roy).
Multiplayer:
What
to say about BattleNet! Multiplayer is the main reason for RTS
games, and WCIII does not disappoint in that regard. Blizzard's
BattleNet (which is free of charge to game purchasers) is wonderful:
easy to use (firewall compatibility can be difficult in playing
over BattleNet, though, so keep an eye on your settings) and well
thought out. BattleNet lets you play in arranged teams, in private
games with friends, or simply hit a button and give your preferences
and the service will search for a game for you to play against
a similarly skilled opponent. After each game, you have the option
to save a "replay", which you can watch at your leisure
(able to speed up and pause) to see the game from the other side
and learn where you and your opponent made mistakes. What about
cheating? Well, Blizzard has shown recently that it is serious
about punishing cheaters, banning thousands of BattleNet users
for taking advantage of a cheat that removed the "Fog of
War" from multiplayer battles. There are other new multiplayer
options; check the Blizzard WCIII site for complete details. Suffice
to say, the good has just gotten better.
Overall
Impression:
After
pondering for all of twelve nanoseconds, I'd have to say my overall
impression is favorable. Seriously, fans of Blizzard's other RTS
games (I'm not including Diablo, which I've never been too keen
on, although not because of its quality or lack thereof) will
be delighted with the upgraded graphics, units, the addition of
heroes…there's nothing here not to like for fans of the genre
and of Blizzard in particular. The game was, by far, worth the
wait.
Marketing
Efforts Towards Women:
I'm
glad you asked! It's no secret that one of the four races (the
Night Elves) is made up of predominantly female units, and that
only the night elf females have the "hide" ability (when
motionless at night they disappear from view). Take a look at
some of the screenshots to see the Archers in action, as well
as panther-riding Huntresses, the white-tiger-riding hero, and
the centaur-like Dryads. Other races include females as well,
like the Human Sorceress and Undead Banshee (okay fine, those
are the only two). What's refreshing about the marketing of WCIII,
however, is that they don't seem to be highlighting the inclusion
of female units as anything all that unusual, and when you think
about it, that's what many of us have been asking for: simple,
no-muss no-fuss inclusion. Oh, and I have yet to see any "Girls
of WCIII" pin-up photos. If anyone spots some, please let
us know on the forums.
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