Description
The Kingdom of Azeroth was relatively peaceful and ruled by King Llane. That was until a powerful mage named Medivh commanded forces that opened up a portal in the Swamp of Sorrow, leading to another world. This ushered in the Age of Chaos, as Orcs were summoned to this world and attempted to establish an empire. As the Orcish hordes swarmed from the portal, they met with the Humans of Azeroth and battles ensured. Peaceful co-existence is not an option. Only one race will attain dominance over the land.
Warcraft: Orcs & Humans is the first real-time fantasy strategy game from
Blizzard Entertainment. By playing either the Humans or the Orcs in this saga, two separate story lines evolve with 12 scenarios per side telling the tale of the battle for Azeroth. Players must mine gold and chop wood in order to construct buildings and create new units. From swords to sorcery, all the elements of classic fantasy are here to explore: rich forests, dark dungeons and bubbling swamps await the stalwart troops amassed to fight for dominance. Command many unique armies and creatures including Knights, Archers, Clerics, Warlocks, Daemons, Elementals, and Necromancers who are able to raise the dead.
The multiplayer aspects of the game allow 2 players to challenge one another on over 20 custom maps and determine who is the supreme warlord. Head to head play is supported over modem, serial link, and IPX networks, and works cross-platform between the IBM-PC and Macintosh versions.
Alternate Titles
- "WC1" -- Common abbreviation
- "WarCraft I" -- Informal title
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Trivia
Hybrid PC/MAC Version
When the game was ported to the Macintosh, it was released on a so-called "Hybrid Disc". A Hybrid Disc can be read by both a PC and a Mac, containing those respective computer's CD-ROM file systems. This disc contains audio tracks with the game's music, and can be played on any device which will play CD Audio. The music will only be heard in-game with the Macintosh version. PC-Only discs lack the CD Audio tracks.
Innovations
Warcraft was a game of many "firsts" in the RTS world. It features the first random map generator, the first RTS game to support multiplayer capability, and the first to have multiple resource types to harvest.
Novels
In addition to a board game and Sword & Sorcery Studios' 2003 pen-and-paper RPG system, the
Warcraft setting has yielded quite a number of novels. Pocket Books have published a handful of distinct titles:
- Day of the Dragon (2001), by Richard A. Knaak, set between Warcraft II and III
- Lord of the Clans (2001), by Christie Golden
- The Last Guardian (2001), by Jeff Grubb
- Of Blood and Honour (2001), an e-book by Warcraft developer Chris Metzen.
Two self-contained Warcraft trilogies have also been published. Richard A. Knaak's
War of the Ancients trilogy features Azeroth's prehistory being subtly altered by visitors from its present:
- The Well of Eternity (2004)
- The Demon Soul (2004)
- The Sundering (2005)
He has also written
the Sunwell Trilogy, graphic works in the Korean "manhwa" tradition, illustrated by Jae-Hwan Kim:
- Dragon Hunt (2005)
- Shadows of Ice (2006)
- Ghostlands (2007)
References
- If you repeatedly click on any Orcish unit he will eventually say "zug zug!" A little known fact is that in the 1981 film Cavemen "zug zug" is caveman-speak for sexual intercourse.
- The red banner visible during orc briefings is the same as banner of Sarlac in the game Blackthorne, also developed by Blizzard.
You can see it in this screenshot.
Warhammer
In the beginning stages of development Blizzard did consider using the
Warhammer license for
Warcraft, and this was even pushed for by
Ayman Adham to give the game brand recognition. However, after their terrible experiences with DC Comics during the development of
Superman and
Justice League games, the rest of the staff decided to instead create an original property.
Information also contributed by
Chentzilla,
Maw,
Pseudo_Intellectual and
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