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Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos

Top-selling and highly-polished. Our verdict.

The original Warcraft was the first game I played multiplayer on a PC, back in 1994. This was before the Internet was widely used in Britain, before I had ever heard of a network. Thus it was a serial cable enabled head to head battle I indulged in, with a friend carting his mega-tower PC round to my house for a solid day of fun, before my mum kicked us out to get some sun and exercise. Can you sense my nostalgia?

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  • Publisher:

    Blizzard

    Developer:

    In-house

    Release Date:

    2002

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Warcraft II has a similar importance for me, teaching me one vital thing about human nature – even close friends will lie and deceive you to achieve victory. It was during a Warcraft II multiplayer session that my friends on the opposing team convinced me that the Orc grunts would attack each other if left to their own devices, allowing them to build up unmolested as I wasted time trying to amuse my “wayward” troops. I swore to myself that, come Warcraft III, I would not be so naïve…

Blizzard took their time, but finally it has arrived. Warcraft III has evolved from its initial conception as a strategic RPG, and reaches us in a much more recognisable form. Essentially it takes the form of a Starcraft-style RTS with a 3D engine and the addition of hero units, all with the high production values and years of polish that only a well-funded and successful studio like Blizzard can provide. Indeed, if there is one defining characteristic of Blizzard games, it is the high-quality feel of every part of the game – not just great game play, but excellent sound, exceptional movies, functional interfaces and an overall attention to detail that is the product of a studio with talent in depth.

Perhaps the most obvious, but least significant change the franchise has undergone is the move to 3D. The new engine looks splendid, with colourful and well-animated models, retaining the slightly cartoon-like feel of the prequels. The spell effects are excellent, and the maps themselves look fantastic, with flowing waterfalls, wandering wildlife and swaying trees. There are some nice graphical touches too, such as appropriate looking foot or hoof prints being left in snow, and larger vehicles leaving disfiguring tracks wherever they go. There is a well implemented day and night cycle, with unit’s visibility varying accordingly. The buildings look excellent, with the Human and Orc buildings evoking fond memories of Warcraft II, and the new Night Elves are graphically striking, with the giant tree Ancients swaying and groaning in the wind. I would say, however, that the Undead are a little dull by comparison, with many of their buildings looking very similar. Others may disagree. The sound also causes reminiscence, with such familiar gems like the Orc “zug-zug”, and the dejected peasant “alright”.

Essentially, Blizzard has played it safe graphically and aurally, and in my opinion it’s no bad thing. The new 3D engine looks great, and most importantly it does not get in the way of the action. Too many games have died after implementing an unworkable camera, and Warcraft III avoids this by requiring no camera manipulation whatsoever. Interestingly, the ability to move the camera is still in the game, implying that they toyed with the idea of something more interactive. They left it wisely alone.

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1. any hard-core army scenes / 1000 unit based screenshots? :)

   gizmoch Saturday, 27 July 2002, 12:28:38

2. Warcraft III ROCKS

   ROCK ROCKS ROCK ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS

   MiniRaver Saturday, 27 July 2002, 15:23:45

3. I wanted a RPS, dernit! One reason I hate RTS games is they're all about micromanagement. I don't exactly mind the micromanagement as long as I have time to make decisions and study things instead of franticly clicking all over the place. I mean, this is why Real World militaries have a hierarchy for leadership. This way the commander doesn't have to tell each individual troop what to do and can focus more on the big picture. Even handling 90 units is replacing the job of about 10 squad leaders, 3 people to manage the squads, and an additional person to tell those three what to do, and the almost omniscient viewpoint doesn't exactly make up for that kind of manpower. Turn based strategies offer someone enough time to fill all of these roles and make it still a strategy game, not a click fest.

   Mylon Saturday, 27 July 2002, 15:58:49

4. warcraft 3 is an exellent follow up in the warcraft series unlike other RTS games this one has a cool story and has nice demo's. It's the first one of which I really watch them follow the text.

   pakje Saturday, 27 July 2002, 16:07:16

5. Warcraft = Ownage

   Minumum Effort Maximum Ownage Monday, 29 July 2002, 06:47:14

6. WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos is an excellent twist to the traditional RTS genre. It provides a simple mix between RPG and RTS, making heros level up and gain spells. This game is definately a must have for all fans of RTS. The story is intriguing and compelling and you'd play it from start to finish. The only concern to me is the 90 food supply limit, which really limits the amount of units occupy your forces.

   Death@FirstSight Monday, 29 July 2002, 14:34:19

7. omg, the graphics!

   i need this version, i already have the first two but this one completely outdoes the others

   shmoo face Monday, 29 July 2002, 22:31:29

8. THis game is the best much better then any other game. i rate it a 99% oddly enough it got a 96% in PCGamer and Warcraft2 got a 98% because of upkeep annoying and pathfinding! My opinion(Night Elves are great orcs are really good Humans are ok and undead are cheap as heck they got a great story but i guess it could use work!

   Z Wednesday, 31 July 2002, 22:57:33

9. Zug! Zug! Best thing about these games, ho-ho

   Sam Thursday, 1 August 2002, 07:12:20

10. Ignore PC Gamer - it's written by idiots that are owned by Westwood.

    Warcraft 3 is great - single player was disappointing compared to Starcraft but it's the multiplayer that makes the game of course...

    Prophet Tenebrae Thursday, 29 August 2002, 15:51:55

11. warcraft sucks

    jock101 Saturday, 14 September 2002, 15:50:33

12. this game is about as fun as games get. many times i have played on battle.net and gotten demolished. I practice so that one day i will be the one kicking ass.

    satanas Sunday, 15 September 2002, 15:04:21

13. [B]TURTLER'S BEWARE!

    I myself was utterly overwhelmed with this game, I just cannot effectively hunt out creeps and make units good enough to be victorious.

    I myself think the RPG elements are incredibly dumb to put into the game, save all the RPG crap for World of Warcraft.

    This game probably has the steepest learning curve of all the Blizzard games ever made, and surely fit's the developer's namesake... Blizzard:Overwhelming and annoying

    I'll gladly stick with StarCraft, thank you very much

    (Stupid Blizzard, this game would've been so much fun if there weren't any heroes, and maybe creeps....)

    Turtler Friday, 20 September 2002, 05:08:19

14. How much is warcraft 3?

    Thanks

    TAm Wednesday, 25 September 2002, 06:05:31

16. warcraft didnt suck,usuck

    pizzaboy Wednesday, 8 January 2003, 19:38:30

17. I wish that i can play more of your warcraft games because i think they are brilliant. I have also experienced other games that are as good. But almost all of them are not as good as warcraft games.

    Robert Stephen Alderson Wednesday, 30 April 2003, 05:24:41

18. Warcraft 3 is the coolest game ever it is my life, my religion, but on the custom games it's not fair I have about 3 grunts and they have an entire army already! I was attacking a night elf base once and one of their wisps went over to build an ancient of war, three seconds later it's finished! After that it trained about 7 huntresses in less that 10 seconds!

    Wormy Sunday, 27 July 2003, 05:52:0

19. this is the best game ever

    Danny Martinez Saturday, 1 November 2003, 14:24:19

20. this is the best game ever

    Danny Martinez Saturday, 1 November 2003, 14:24:23

21. i want to install my warcraft 3.

    teach me how to install it using step by step

    jomz Wednesday, 11 February 2004, 04:44:22

22. warcraft is better online

    jabrjawz Tuesday, 13 April 2004, 21:21:27

23. hope thats helps

    jabrjawz Tuesday, 13 April 2004, 21:42:38

24. hey carlos ur thing dont work

    Nate Saturday, 24 April 2004, 18:49:35

25. and that thing doesnt work ! carlos ..what do you do with 'z's you make them 'A's ? and what do you do with 9's do you make them to '0' or '1'???

    :) Friday, 30 April 2004, 11:41:49

26. and that thing doesnt work ! carlos ..what do you do with 'z's you make them 'A's ? and what do you do with 9's do you make them to '0' or '1'???

    :) Friday, 30 April 2004, 11:41:49

27. huh now i understand but it still doesnt work!!!

    :) Friday, 30 April 2004, 11:46:33

28. does it work for bots? i need a bot for warcraft!!

    cos it wont work

    :) Friday, 30 April 2004, 11:49:50

29. i want life of a peasant sonic version! and by tha way wc3 RULEZZZZ

    link9512 Saturday, 8 May 2004, 20:40:19

30. petty humans

    the sourge wiil rule in time

    jonnym Sunday, 16 May 2004, 10:02:24

32. it might seem unethical, and it is, but it's not like youre gonna get caught or know the unlucky person who gets the one you are using. but you do what you want.

    MAG Monday, 24 May 2004, 21:10:42

33. its great

    better than starcraft

    gary Thursday, 3 June 2004, 09:59:56

34. Bnet is free!!

    its awsome

    gary Thursday, 3 June 2004, 10:03:36

35. Only ROC I dont have frozen!

    mUNKY Wednesday, 9 June 2004, 06:31:30

36. how much does warcraft3 cost?

    gregory Friday, 25 June 2004, 02:20:37

37. for the gunbound avatar post my email is weirdjustbecuz@aol.com

    umm Wednesday, 30 June 2004, 14:41:55

38. warcraft is good mood for you ?

    lie

    july Monday, 19 July 2004, 07:54:39

39. -p

    Can someone tell me how to get a bot on channel clan hfcd on battlenet

    please

    contact me on battlenet. my name is Lazerous

    Lazerous Sunday, 15 August 2004, 14:01:2

40. I need to know how to get a bot for channel amn if someone can tell me this please email me at jcguitarman@att.net THANK YOU:-P

    DarkSage99 <- WARCRAFT Ac Tuesday, 17 May 2005, 10:41:13

41. can somebody plz tell me how to make a clan bot??? plz

    =7 Sunday, 18 September 2005, 13:18:1

42. need clan bot wisp me (mcmidi)

    mcmidi Saturday, 1 October 2005, 15:17:34

43. How Do i make my own clan on WarCratf3

    ShadowGerbal Saturday, 31 December 2005, 07:47:5

44. How do you get bots for Warcraft three Frozen throen

    Peeing_on_peons Saturday, 14 January 2006, 02:29:10

45. How do i make my own clan on War Craft

    D Saturday, 14 January 2006, 02:31:43

46. How do i make my own clan on War Craft

    D Saturday, 14 January 2006, 02:31:49

48. Wow

    WTh Friday, 3 February 2006, 02:21:57

49. im mad becase i cnat find were 2 get bot email me at fedog21@comcast.net if u know were 2 get bot

    THE_GOD_OF_HELL Tuesday, 14 March 2006, 00:08:38

50. Warcraft 3:reign of chaos rules. it is puff. i finished it with and without cheats easily.if anyone wants to add my email address and talk about warcraft my email is :

    battleaxe113@hotmail.com.

    Warcraft 3:reign of chaos is puff.

    PuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffPuffand its also

    RocksRocksRocksRocksRocksRocksRocksRocksRocksRocksRocksRocksRocksRocksRocksRocksRocks

    I AM THE SMARTEST AND GREATEST MAN ALIVE!!!!!!!!!! U WILL ALL BOW DOWN 2 ME AS UR RULER!!!!!!!!!! U R ALL PATHETIC!!!!!!!!!!! Wednesday, 15 March 2006, 10:15:3

51. how to connect to Bnet and how to download Bnet patch?

    iddd Monday, 20 March 2006, 13:22:24

52. no one can beat me in warcraft if you can come on saturday and sunday at eourope connection. ill beat you all up muhahahaha

    shiga33 Wednesday, 22 March 2006, 07:20:6

53. how u get a bot for warcraft (best game eva) i mean j/w

    Demon Tuesday, 18 April 2006, 01:54:18

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