‘Warcraft III’: Blizzard Does it Again
By Jennie Sue
AsianWeek
The long-awaited, real-time strategy (RTS) game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (WC3) was finally released on July 3. This is no SimZoo 1922 — this is a series classic. If you haven’t played it yet, here are three reasons why you should.
Intense graphics. WC3 comes packed with brilliant colors, 3D landscapes, 360-degree rotation around your base/battlefield, and 2D views from above or a 3D first-person view with a scroll of the mouse. In the single-player mission, the trailers alone are well worth the purchase, with the same beautifully detailed renderings as the Final Fantasy movie.
Gameplay/Storyline. Without giving it away, as far as RTS storylines go, this one has a creative twist. OK, usually in video-game land, the hero who kills the evil villain is deemed the savior of the kingdom, gets the girl and wins it all. Well, every hero ... except for Arthas, the son of King Terenas and prince regent to the throne. WC3’s story unfolds with Prince Arthas fighting the Undead Scourge that converts innocent villagers into Undead minions. Because there is no cure for this onslaught, Arthas terminates these villagers without a shred of guilt for the innocent lives he has killed, and therefore must pay an unexpected penalty. Blizzard drops it hard with a rich and twisted plot.New additions. Two new races are introduced in this sequel: the Undead Scourge and the Night Elves. What else makes this game stand out from the rest of the Starcraft/Warcraft games? There’s the addition of essential heroes that creates a co-dependent relationship between your team and the heroes. Each race is allowed to build three heroes. Their unique powers give added bonuses to your squad — restoring health and mana, and increasing armor strength when your troops are near your hero. However, heroes cannot be your team alone; they require help from your standard troops. That’s where strategy and gameplay come in — you must do what you can to keep the heroes alive, while effectively using your heroes to do what they must to gain victory over your opponent(s).
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Though WC3 exceeds the standards in interactive gaming, it loses points for technicalities. As with many beautifully rendered games with custom 3D engines, actual gameplay can be a feat in itself when you don’t have the proper hardware to support the software. WC3 is one of those games. Though the minimum requirements may be sufficient to run the game at the lowest resolution with the least amount of visual options, to get the rendition of the game as the developers intended, we suggest doubling those specs (see side bar).
In addition, unfortunately for us spoiled Starcraft gamers, your max number of units in WC3 is 90, compared to 200 in Starcraft. If you jump straight into multiplayer mode without playing the storyline, you end up disappointed with so few units. However, you sooner or later realize that the game is based around your heroes. So concentrate, focus on your heroes. The heroes are important. The heroes are God. You are nothing without your heroes.
93%
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Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Release Date: 7/3/02
Price: $59.95
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Mining gold and lumber is somewhat slow, even when set to the fastest gameplay speed. Though you do start off with a fair chunk of gold, it is quickly depleted by the overpriced buildings and troops. (Can I get a warranty on these troops?) As a result, fewer units, slow mining and high costs means more micro-managing. Sounds like a startup, doesn’t it? (All those years my parents told me to save money …)
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