Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos

I wonder if Blizzard ever gets bored with being so good all the time. Probably not.

Warcraft III somehow manages to be a lot like Blizzard's previous efforts and yet very different. And better. Anyone who's played and loved Warcraft II and Starcraft will see enough of those games in it, and get hooked. But there are a lot of changes, and each one makes Warcraft III more compelling. End result: Blizzard has made a gaming masterpiece. This is a recording.

The most important change in the game is that this time you are much less able to rely on sheer numbers to crush your opponents. The game has a unit cap of 90, and you'll be surprised at how quickly you'll reach the limit. So within that 90 you need to create a balanced army that can handle the opposition you face.

To help you with that are the hero units. They are the biggest factor in the game, adding an almost Heroes of Might & Magic element, except in real time. Whereas in previous Blizzard strategy games you'd park the hero unit somewhere behind your farms so the little wuss wouldn't get killed and end the mission, in Warcraft III that hero will always be close to the action. They're not only much tougher; they gain experience, which can be spent on special abilities when they level up. Some abilities are like spells, and are cast on your command. Others are always active once bought. Some give benefits to friendly units within range of the hero. Heroes make such a difference that having one or not in your attack force can easily be the deciding factor between a victory and a loss. Judicious use of the hero's special abilities and inventory items is also vital for success.

Yes, inventory items. Your heroes can carry up to six items each, giving them bonuses to their abilities, special spells, or healing and mana potions. Items can be found on slain foes, or even bought at merchants found on the maps (you can also rent mercenaries in some places). Once embroiled in battle, you'll need to pay attention and use those items ands spells in a timely fashion to win. The game makes it much easier to keep track of heroes, so you're not searching for them in a mass of wriggling bodies. The function keys can take you instantly to them, and their portraits are a different size when placed in a squad. You've still got to keep your head and not panic when a wave is coming in, but I find it's much easier to select the unit you want in the clutch.

Heroes give the game extra strategy considerations, but also make the story-driven single player campaign very interesting. The heroes are given personalities and stories, and they grow on you after awhile. Some of things they get involved in are highly dramatic, and you just know that some of the poor buggers will come to a bad end. You get to control the noble and selfless, and a real SOB. There's a moment midway through the Scourge campaign where somebody couldn't be more evil if they went around beating puppies. Others might get a shot at redemption. I'd say the first two campaigns have some of the best story-telling Blizzard's ever done, and that's saying something.

The four playable races are built somewhat in the vein of Starcraft--even each side's basic resource gathering units are fundamentally different. The Orcs and Humans are pretty much the same as before, but there are enough differences to make them distinct. The Undead Scourge behave a little like a cross between the Zerg and the Protoss of Starcraft--they summon buildings, and even have to build on their version of a creep carpet, here called "The Blight." The Night Elves are heavily linked with nature. Many of their structures are giant living trees, which can uproot themselves and move to new locations, and even fight.

Originally the game was planned to have six races, but it was trimmed down to four. I don't think we're losing anything in those two races, although Blizzard could easily take some of the non-playable creatures and turn them into a race in an expansion.

Missions are much more diverse and interesting. For one thing, there are more mission types, such as escorting friendly forces, killing things before a time limit, preventing an enemy from reaching a certain place... There's even a mission that combines the party-based missions and the typical Build Town, Destroy Enemy missions. Many levels have sidequests, like an RPG. You may be wandering about the map, looking for the enemy encampment when you'll bump into someone who asks you for a favor, or you'll be given bonus military objectives. Completing these quests gives your hero more experience, and may also get them a new item to boot. The maps have a day and night cycle, which can reduce or increase some races' effectiveness. When you make your attack can now have a big effect on a battle.

I have but one complaint about the single player campaign, and that is that there were too many party-based missions for my liking. You know, the missions where you are given a handful of units, but no ability to build up an army of your own. You have to explore the map cautiously, stopping to heal, looking for re-enforcements...Blizzard's been doing them since Warcraft 1 and I've never really cared for them. Ok, two complaints: there are no naval battles a la Warcraft II, and I was hoping they'd return. But that's it for the negatives, I swear.

The game's graphics are now 3D, and with that comes the usual rotate/zoom stuff. It's utterly unnecessary to do any of that to play the game (in fact, I didn't notice it until after I'd finished the game), but you can get some interesting views if you toy with it. The new graphics I didn't find overwhelming, but they are pleasing enough, with some nice effects--I like the treads left by catapults, the crashing of trees when peons cut them down... There are many more creature types than any previous Blizzard RTS, most of which are hostile but can be killed for extra experience or items. It gives this game world more dimensions, and will probably make a nice lead in to World of Warcraft.

Sounds are excellent too, with more noise on the battlefield than ever before. After each campaign, you'll be rewarded with Blizzard's fantastic cut scenes. Are they as good as the ones in Diablo II? That's a matter for debate, but you've at least got to say that they're in the same neighborhood of coolness.

More goodness is to be had when you go online. Through Battle.net you can create or join a game from a list of sessions, or you can use a matchmaking service to search for a game for you. All you do is pick your race, preferred game type (one to four players vs. one to four players, small free for all, large free for all), and you can even select the maps you prefer to play on. The game will then drop you into the next available session.

Playing on Battle.net has always been good to me, and this was no different. I found that provided a game that matched your criteria existed, Battle.net was very fast at finding it for me. Once in the game, I had no lag problems. Everything was smooth, unless you count the fact that in my first game my opponent really made me look like a tool, arriving in force while I was still goofing around with lumber.

They went the extra distance with the multiplayer stuff, with lots of chat rooms, including ones specific to race. There are also extra teaming options, such as the ability to grant full shared control of units to allies (I don't know if I trust anybody enough to do this, but there it is). If you're feeling shy and don't want to play online, you can use the custom game mode to play against the AI. And the game comes with editing tools so you can create your own game.

Something else for long time Warcraft fans: the game is heavily entrenched in Warcraft history, and takes into account everything, including the Beyond the Dark Portal expansion. It even incorporates the story of Lord of the Clans, the cancelled adventure game based on Warcraft.

So what we have here is a game that is a lot like Warcraft II and Starcraft, two games I've lost more years to than your average smoker has to cigarettes. And it's improved and evolved, with a deeper single player campaign, multiplayer that's friendlier and easier to use (not that previous versions of Battle.net have been hostile or anything), and yes, it's prettier too. And as always, be sure to click on your units until they get annoyed.

Warcraft III is one of those games that is so good, even the credits rock. Be sure to watch them after you're done the single player campaign. I haven't tested it, but I suspect even the envelope my copy arrived in rocks too. It probably absorbed some rockability through osmosis while going through the postal system. Between Warcraft III and Neverwinter Nights, I'll be busy for the rest of the year.

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