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WarCraft III
Many years ago, Blizzard Entertainment created a strategy game by the name of WarCraft.
It featured two teams - the Orcs and the Humans - embroiled in a titanic struggle over the
fantasy world of Azeroth. Well, 'titanic' is possibly a bit of an overstatement, because the
game was a tad slow and featured only a few units, with some slightly dull landscapes in the
background. But for its time, the game was revolutionary, and even by today's standards it had
a number of features which were well ahead of its time - for instance, the upgrade system where
players could spend their resources increasing the power of their weapons, and buying magic
spells.
The game was a big success, and a few years later Blizzard made the sequel,
WarCraft II. This game was similar to the first title in that
it had many similar units and a similar battle system; but it was far bigger and more varied,
with many more units, more detailed graphics and greater strategic possibilities. The units
were marked with a great deal of personality and the game had much hidden depth. However, it
was not until the company created the next game - StarCraft - that
Blizzard's distinctive strategy style became as popular as it deserved.
StarCraft is an incredible game. With three totally different teams, a gigantic number of
upgrades and technologies to research, and supremely deep strategic gameplay, it realized what
the WarCraft titles had hinted at. Once you played StarCraft, there was no turning back.
StarCraft featured high-tech spacecraft and alien races, with characters who you instantly
warmed to and a great, involving storyline. However, while the sci-fi feel of the game was
popular amongst many, and justifiably so, many others gamers preferred the fantasy-world feel
of the WarCraft titles, with their abundance of mythical beasts and magic spells, and wished that
the WarCraft series could have been developed to as high a level as StarCraft.
And now, finally, it is being done.
WarCraft III, to be released towards the end of 2001, has been in the works for a long time now,
and, even with many months yet to go, it is looking absolutely mind-blowing. The game goes one
better than StarCraft by featuring four playable races - Humans, Orcs, Night Elves and Undead -
all with totally different units and strategies. At one point, there were plans to feature a
total of six races, including a Demon race and one other race which was never disclosed, but
the final total is four - although the Demons do appear in the form of non-controllable
enemies.
The basic premise of the game is still to create a mighty army and destroy the opposition, while
harvesting resources and warding off attacks yourself. However, Blizzard claim to have
modified the genre slightly by adding a touch of role-playing to the mix. While the elements
of role-playing have been toned down from the original ambitious plans, and the focus now more
strategy-based, this aspect is still a very interesting prospect. So in addition to merely
carving up the enemy, players can also enter neutral towns and take them over, or rescue them
from hostiles, gaining access to the town's facilities in return; they can encounter neutral
characters and recruit them to the army; they can strike deals with wandering merchants; and
they can train up their soldiers to different levels to increase their strength.
Another significant change is the 'hero' system. There are two broad 'classes' of units -
regular units, and heroes. Hero units are special units which cost considerably more than your
average unit, but are far more powerful, and can be powered up with items and training.
Heroes are important units, but in order to encourage players to use them in battle rather than
hoarding them safely in their bases, Blizzard have introduced a feature where dead heroes can
be reincarnated at a special building - upon payment of a certain price. The higher the hero's
level, the more it costs to reincarnate them - but of course this is cheaper and quicker than
buying and training up a whole new hero.
The landscape of WarCraft III is 3D, with terrain differences having a big impact on gameplay.
The graphics look great, and the detail is phenomenal. It's not yet certain whether the game
will require a 3D card to play, but frankly it's likely to be worth getting a card for the
sole purpose of playing this game.
The races themselves are vastly different. The Human race is actually a composite of humans,
dwarves and elves, and contains a wide variety of units from within these races. There are
archers, knights, wizards and several aerial units, and there are plenty of magic spells
available.
The Orc race is perhaps the most 'straightforward' race to use, but that doesn't mean the
most simple. With the standard grunt units, there are also warlocks, shamans, goblins,
dragons and many other creatures ready to fight for the Horde. The Orcs have many of their
own spells to use, and have several very powerful units at their disposal in addition to the
standard soldiers.
The Night Elves are an interesting race. Unlike the Humans and Orcs, and more like the Zerg in
StarCraft, they have units - Ents - which morph into the various structures they require. The
Night Elves have a number of units which have the unusual quality of being able to cloak at
night-time (day turns to night regularly during gameplay - although some units have spells to
change the time of day instantly) - making for some interesting timed attacks. The Night Elves
also have some units which can transform into various wild beast forms for heightened attacks.
The Undead are also a very different race. Instead of gathering gold and lumber like the other
races, the undead have only one 'currency' - dead bodies. The undead's key unit is the
Necromancer, a single supremely powerful unit who has the power to summon all the undead's
buildings by using his energy. Buildings can only be built on the 'blight' - a mist of
decay, not unlike the Creep from StarCraft. Once the appropriate buildings are erected, the
Necromancer can turn dead bodies into the various units required. If there are no dead bodies
lying around, critters can be slaughtered to form the carcasses required; there are a few units
which can be purchased without bodies, too.
Each race has a separate campaign with plenty of missions to accomplish, and a thorough and
in-depth storyline. In addition, there is a multiplayer mode which is being planned to
accommodate more than eight players. Apparently, when different races ally, there will be
a number of special benefits for both players, and there will be campaign-style missions
for multiplayer games as well as simple destroy-the-opposition games.
Another feature is the campaign editor mode which featured in WarCraft II and in StarCraft.
But, just as the StarCraft mission editor was more complicated and rewarding than the WarCraft
II one, the WarCraft III editor promises to be filled with even more potential and
customisation; for instance, the ability to script in-game cutscenes, and to change unit
voices.
Well, there's still quite a while to wait until WarCraft III is released, but, believe me, it
looks like it will be well worth the wait. Prepare to be utterly amazed and, once more, to be
drawn into a convincing and intricate world while having your strategies put to the
ultimate test. In short, get ready for WarCraft III!
Written by: Maverik
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