While it didn't seem quite as good as Warcraft II, its follow-up has grown to be a gem in the collection throughout its many years. WC3 turned those graphics on top of their heads and brought about a beautiful shade of technology and massive, bloody combat between two main factions. Many have seen the wars of the Alliance and the Horde, but the strategy games are in their purest form. The first three games grow faster and faster pace, and became bigger and bigger in scope. The third entry is a game you can beat over and over again as you get better and better at your strategy. What's better, the expansion didn't destroy it! Well, so long as you keep it offline... Yeah, this is a long story.
Warcraft 3 became a sensation with the fanbase because it became more and more easily customized, and it helped that the story mode was actually quite a good story to follow. Though, as you got better at the game in the multiplayer back in the day, the story became something of a staple of the franchise. Just wait until I cover the first and only entry of its failed franchise. Here, though, inside the game, was when the story really florished, especially when you feel like you are leading the battle yourself.
Building a town and sending massive ogres and evil death knights toward the Alliance forces is just part of the experience, but you'll be quick to note that the gameplay becomes massively different between all factions and races in the gameplay. Now, you need to choose between orcs and the undead in order to get them, unlike Warcraft II, where the horde is much more lumped together. Now, though, they also have Night Elves to add to the mix, so it feels like there is much more of a neutral party that ends up joining forces with the humans, but don't have the most stable relationship.
The method of getting gold is still the same for human and orcs with the gold mines, but now the elves send their wisps to stick to the gold mine, and have a bit of a smaller unit intake. Many prefer the Acolytes of the undead for gold mining the fastest, especially when you get multiple ones sufficiently in place while saving for a few builders.
When it comes to units of different strategies, there is more or less finding the best timed unit that you can give the most damage the biggest variety. Orcs have the strategy of going shamen and choose a melee unit like wolf riders to buff. Not only does Bloodlust amplify their damage, but shamen also have a strong air defense. Choosing a diverse but dense number of units that serve multiple purposes is key, while also choosing the best hero.
That's right, you now have a champion unit in the form of a different array of heroes. Arthas has a hard amount of damage when he becomes the Death Knight, which also acts as a healer to undead units. Arthas as a Paladin had a holy light ability that healed allied units while doing crushing damage to the undead. If that wasn't interesting enough, the orcs have an awesome samurai hero that does ridiculous amounts of damage through critical hits with his sword, but then there's Thrall. Thrall is mostly looked after for his earthquake ability, that does ridiclous amounts of damage to multiple units and buildings.
The great thing about the game is how many ways you can win, and a lot of people have had a great time testing their abilities against each other. Keep the games local, find someone in a LAN server, because if you go fully online, you have the possibility of getting the unwanted version of the game. Sadly, through Blizzard's utter stupidity, they created a Reforged edition of the game, and I have been able to dodge this update myself. It looks like a terrible version, and I never wanted the update and I don't intend on downloading it.
The graphics of Warcraft 3 may not be the deepest and most complex, but it was peaked when it got the Frozen Throne expansion. This added new hero classes, new units and an all new story following a more RPG type genre. This is where you play as one to four heroes in a new grinder and mission style roleplaying game, much in the vain of World of Warcraft. Thankfully, though, it also has a strategy element to it, as you also have some support from other factions along the way. It was a bold move and pulled off rather well, as I ended up loving the panda hero and his drunken abilities, which are awesome!
Warcraft makes a great fantasy MMORPG, but my heart will always truly lie with the strategy games, and Warcraft III is among the games I play to this day. I still remember playing the first Warcraft over at a neighbor's house. Once we got a newer computer, Warcraft was among the first games we got for it. It was back in the CD-ROM days, as it was also one of the best when it came to game evolution. Warcraft II will get a PC review as well, but this was a title that really stood out when you wanted a massive number of awesome fighters piling and stabbing each other! For the defense of Virtua!!!
