WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos Preview

When it comes to real-time strategy games, there are those that merely defend the integrity of the genre and those that transcend it.

Take, for example, the latest preview version of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, from Blizzard. This was, by no means, a review version, but Blizzard (those of Diablo and Starcraft fame) sent it out to test the multiplayer functions. In regard to the latter, better not be a novice in that realm because there are those testing who will quickly feast upon the unsuspecting without even a how-do-you-do. But there are ways to get around that, and to truly see what this game offers.

And what it offers is magnificent. The 3D graphics are wonderful, the resource attributes easy to manage, and the game plays so very well, even at the beta level.

This is a title that has been in the works for several years. And it would appear that time has been very kind to it.

The storyline is as follows:

The war between the humans and orcs ended 15 years prior to the start of this game’s time frame. The intervening years were shadowed by an uneasy peace. Though the humans had won the war, they grew complacent while the orc clans regrouped slowly.

But before the orcs can muster the strength to attack again, they may be forced to ally themselves with their hated enemy in order to confront a new, powerful force.

So far, that is all pretty standard for most fantasy games. And to be sure, Warcraft III does have a lot of standard features, such as the predisposition toward resource gathering. You will have to generate workers to gather resources, to build your civilization and research the warriors, spells and abilities. There is a central unit that must be defended or else you will fail the challenge.

In addition to orcs and humans, the game also features two new clans to the series – the night elves and undead.

Other features include:

· The Warcraft III 3D engine, which allows for non-player characters, monsters, neutral towns, strongholds and temples, and environmental effects.

· New multiplayer options with up to 12 players per game over Blizzard’s Battle.net. Other multiplayer features include shared unit control between players, and trading of resources.

· Legendary heroes who lead the armies, complete quests, gain experience and acquire special items. Heroes can level up, carry special items in their inventory and, if killed, can be regenerated.

· Neutral buildings sell everything from items your hero may need to mercenaries.

· This game is spell rich, featuring offensive spells, defensive spells, counter spells, autocast spells, auras, and potent ultimate spells.

· Advanced design tools allow players to customize many aspects of the game including tile sets, character art, quests, mission objectives, unit types, AI, attributes, special abilities and spells.

There are times when playing an RTS without a manual nearby is like falling from a trapeze knowing you don’t have a net. But even those with cursory RTS experience will find the intuitive player interface of Warcraft III very user friendly. It may take a while to recognize that those wisps are actually your night elf workers, but each element of this game is well defined.

Just rotate the camera, or zoom in to ground level to see the remarkable textures and characterizations of this game, and you will have to acknowledge that Warcraft III is visually stunning. The sound is somewhat standard with certain characters barking out the same repetitive phrases.

The single player version was not available in this beta test (nor was saving a game in progress), but count on numerous quests for your civilization to undertake.

Warcraft III does have numerous stock features for the genre, but it also has brightened the RTS genre with some of the new features it boasts.

The worst thing about doing a preview of a beta like this game is the way it whets the appetite for the real completed program. It’s taken three years for the game to get this far, but waiting a little while longer yet may be the hardest thing to do.