The dialogue and voice acting can be uneven, but this is still the best RTS story out there-sorry, StarCraft fans. The juxtaposition just makes the maps look more dated.Īll the Warcraft 3 campaigns and expansions are available, but after nearly 20 years I'd really like to see what Blizzard can still do with its fantasy RTS. Despite the higher quality textures, it feels like playing WoW Classic with modern character models. Aesthetically, though, they are pretty unappealing.
Veteran players will notice some tweaks, like camps, mines and other things being moved around, but meaningful changes are few and far between. Their design largely remains excellent, whether they have been built with story and pace in mind, or just a big free-for-all online fight. Some locations, like Dalaran and Strathholme have seen a more dramatic update, but for the most part they stick very close to the originals. They've actually aged really well, but they're not nearly at the standard that Blizzard has since become known for.īlizzard's also played it a bit safe with the maps. The cinematic cutscenes that bookend the campaigns, meanwhile, are the exact same ones from the original game. There are a few exceptions, but most cutscenes lack the emotion or cinematic flair of what we saw just over a year ago.
In 2018, Blizzard showed off an in-game cutscene from the Culling of Stratholme mission, featuring lots of close ups and characters having a very animated argument, but little of that is present now. In cutscenes, they're a lot less animated than previously advertised, too. Yes, you can enjoy Warcraft 3 at 200fps, but if you're looking at your army, it looks more like stop-motion. Unit animations, on the other hand, haven't been given the same attention, but what really makes the units look a bit odd is their low frame rate. They're RPG characters, essentially, around which you build a small army. These super-charged units are fancy specialists with powerful abilities that can be upgraded as they level up and then be augmented with items purchased in shops or dropped by enemies. While it features most of the traditional elements of the genre, like base building, resource gathering and maps shrouded in a fog of war, it's really driven by its heroes. It helps that real-time strategy hasn't made many leaps since 2002. Impressively, two decades hasn't dulled it at all. It's still the Warcraft 3 you remember, but it looks a bit nicer.
With the exception of the graphics improvements, Blizzard has walked most of these changes back.įor the purists, this might be good news. There were going to be new cutscenes, a new UI and more. Not only was Blizzard going to add heaps of new art and modern graphics wizardry, it was going to go over the campaigns again, improving them, tinkering with the pace and even bringing the lore and story in line with World of Warcraft. Initially, it sat somewhere between remaster and full-on remake.
In addition, players who pre-purchase either version will get access to the ongoing beta test for Warcraft III: Reforged.Blizzard hasn't done a great job of communicating what Warcraft 3: Reforged actually is. You can pre-purchase the standard edition of Warcraft III: Reforged digitally now from the Blizzard Shop for $29.99-or for $39.99, you can pick up the Spoils of War Edition, which includes a host of extras as well as in-game bonuses for other Blizzard games that will unlock immediately upon pre-purchase. Soon you’ll be able to relive the definitive real-time strategy classic, with revitalized visuals, an epic single-player campaign spanning over 60 missions, rebalanced online play, a suite of contemporary social and matchmaking features, a vast universe of player-created games, and more. Warcraft III: Reforged takes you back to a tumultuous time in Azeroth’s history, when a dark shadow eclipsed a peaceful land, the world trembled before the coming of the Burning Legion, and heroes risked it all to prevent the death of their world. As always, our goal is to honor the high standards you hold us to. Though we’ve been working hard to get Reforged in your hands before the end of the year, as we started approaching the finish line, we felt we’d need a little extra development time for finishing touches.