Even if you haven't played a game from the popular Warcraft franchise before,
there's a good chance you may have heard of the online multiplayer RPG "World of Warcraft".
[In-game voice chat] 'Let's do this. LEEROOOOOOOOY JENKINS!'
But Warcraft actually originated as a real-time strategy [RTS] game. The first game "Warcraft: Orcs and Humans"
developed by Blizzard Entertainment and released in 1994 was deservedly a success.
However
if playing its sequel "Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness" is any indication, the 1994 original has not aged well
to the point of it being a cumbersome RTS game – for veterans and possibly newcomers more so.
"Warcraft 2" takes place after the events of the first game, and elaborates on the personality, charm and attention to detail
that the first game had over most
RTS games released prior. The story continues the Humans vs. Orcs conflict following the 'First War' from the first game, with the Humans
fleeing their homeland of Azeroth to Lordaeron with the Orcs in pursuit. Each side gains powerful allies and technologies
[which is fitting for a sequel], which results in the Humans, for example,
referring to themselves as the
Alliance. There are betrayals and most notably, a warlock seeking god-like powers from a sunken tomb which gives the story depth,
but it unfortunately feels simplistic.
The story is presented largely through mission/scenario briefings,
which also give you the mission objective/s you need to accomplish to progress.
But most of these mission briefings mostly seem to be an excuse to tell you which new units and
technologies you get to play with, with not much happening other than
relocations and enemies retreating. Character and plot points are given more detail and backstory in the game's manual
– which is actually interesting to read. The graphics are
The graphics are understandably dated by today's standards, where the cutscenes were certainly impressive back in 1995 or
1996. The graphics look somewhat like a colourful cartoon and they are generally pleasant to look at.
The art direction, as generally seen in the game manual is nice too.
The music is also very stirring.
But easily the most memorable part of the production values are the sound effects and voice acting – which is delightfully over-the-top,
which extends to the mission briefing dialogue.
[Voiceover] 'Impressed with your victories against the Horde and the destruction of the Zul'dare base,
the High Command has decided to dispatch you and your troops to the main battleground.'
The sounds you hear when you click on a certain building or see a unit die in combat will stay with you.
[Human death sound] [Church sound] [Orc death sound]
In fact, if you click on a unit multiple times, it will generally start acting annoyed and do or say funny things.
[Grunt] 'WHAT?!...Look out...Missed me...Hehehehe, that tickles...I would not touch things if I were you...My tummy feels funny...Burrrrrp, excuse me!'
This is a staple from the first Warcraft game that has barely left the RTS games developed by Blizzard Entertainment.
While the gameplay mechanics and controls may sound daunting for someone who may have never played RTS games before, they are actually quite
understandable. You have to collect resources and produce your buildings and units lest you die in combat.
Click on a unit in the map/territory section of the interface, click on an action in the bottom left
[such as move or attack] and click on something – your unit/s will obey without question.
There is a fog of war which clouds all terrain outside of your radius, encouraging exploration –
which is shown in the mini-map in the top left corner.
This is exactly what the first game was
like, except the sequel introduces a right-click
function where right-clicking with your mouse on something will make the unit
automatically do the relevant action. Just right-click on the trees instead and your worker will start chopping trees
– no need for you to press the 'Harvest' icon on the bottom left.
Each action also has a hot-key [such as A for Attack], which, when mastered, can allow for many actions per second.
The strategy is real-time, not turn-based like Chess,
so you have to be quick and not wait around. In any case, the game speed can be adjusted
so you can get used to the game, plus the fog of war can be switched off.
All of this is fine, but the
pathfinding and the possibility of units getting stuck can be annoying. The resources in the game consist of gold,
lumber and oil. Gold and lumber are your 'friends' here, with the oil primarily used for your ships. You can 'create' the workforce
[Peasants for Humans and Peons for Orcs] from your Town Hall and right-click on gold mines and trees. Without gold and lumber,
you'll have no buildings or military or technologies. Another catch is
you must construct Farms to keep up with the number of units you have on the map.
When not constructing Farms or harvesting resources,
you'll be building a Barracks for military, a
Blacksmith to increase their offense and defense, a Shipyard to construct your navy, and more buildings besides.
Both Humans and Orcs have a 'tech-tree', which refers to you having to build specific buildings to get more advanced ones –
which allows for more advanced military and technologies plus spells. The tech-trees are displayed in the manual and are pretty easy to memorize.
In fact, the Humans and Orcs have the same
tech-tree. The Humans and Orcs may obviously look and sound different to each other, but the units are mostly
identical to each other, just with different names and graphics.
For example,
one of the most advanced military units of the Humans is the Knight,
which can be trained at a Barracks when a Stable is built. At that
exact spot in the Orcs' tech tree is the Ogre, which can be trained at a Barracks when an Ogre Mound is built. Both units
essentially have the same stats,
provided the upgrades [displayed by a unit's level] are accounted for. The most noticeable difference between each race comes in the form of spells
which are fairly easy to understand, and can potentially turn the odds for or against you. The Bloodlust spell of the Orcs
[which temporarily increases a unit's attack power] does seem to give them an unfair advantage,
but to be fair that is rectified somewhat with the Humans' Healing spell.
Overall, the Humans and Orcs being almost identical and very well balanced, combined with the
understandable controls is what makes this game a good introduction for newcomers to the RTS game, though some people [especially gamers] may want more
variety. There is some variety, and especially challenge to be found in this game.
Once you understand the controls and tech trees and units and buildings,
you then have to battle against the enemy who can put up quite a fight if you're not careful,
especially in the later missions. The missions generally consist of destroying every enemy on the map,
which is always fun, except this can occasionally lead to the frustrating search for a lone unit or building that has to be destroyed
to take you to the victory screen. Other missions include but are not limited to:
rescuing a hero and escorting them safely or constructing specific buildings. Also,
resources are actually finite.
You will likely get to the point where there are no more gold mines,
trees or oil patches on the map – then it really is a fight to the death.
If you're having trouble, you can type in cheat codes…which will result in getting the rank of 'Cheater' on the victory screen.
It is surprisingly rewarding to try different strategies to successfully complete even the trickiest of scenarios. On the victory [or defeat]
screen, you will get a rank and a score calculated by how well you did with
accumulating units, buildings and resources, as well as the amount of units and buildings you destroyed. The rank and scoring system
ultimately don't mean anything, and don't provide much incentive for replay value.
Speaking of replay value, when you're fed up with the two relatively short Human and Orc campaigns [each has 14 scenarios],
you can make your own scenarios in a map editor [or look at the pre-determined
'custom scenarios'] and play on them against computer opponents or other people. The first Warcraft game, and especially its sequel were well
known for popularizing
multiplayer in RTS games – just make sure you have a good Internet connection. The Battle.Net edition of Warcraft 2,
which is very likely the most compatible version of the game for modern computers, expands on Internet/LAN options.
In fact, the Battle.Net edition also includes the Warcraft 2 expansion "Beyond the Dark Portal" which is identical to the original
Warcraft 2 release but includes two new [and extremely
challenging] campaigns, plus more maps and especially hero units that have more of a role in the story, not to mention
personality – the latter of which is certainly amusing to hear through constant left-clicking.
It may be dated somewhat by today's standards, but Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness is still worth playing.
There is a reason it faced tough competition with other RTS games released in the mid to late 90s,
plus it laid the groundwork for sequels and other forthcoming RTS games. The story is decent, though simplistic, making the game more
gameplay-driven.
The intuitive controls and understandable gameplay mechanics won't take much time to get to grips with. And when that happens, the challenge for
challenge for potentially fast-paced strategic supremacy will see you, the player, pitting Humans and Orcs against each other for
countless hours in this fun and addictive
RTS game.
This review is for you. Dad. I'll never forget the hours and evenings
we spent playing this game together talking about strategies and going through the scenarios. Happy birthday :)
[Peasant] 'Now what?'
'More work?!'
'Leave me alone.'
'I don't wanna do this.' [Sheep goes Baaa]
'I'm not listening.'
[Critter annoyed at being blown up]
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