WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos

aka: Muoshou Zhengba: Hunluan zhi Zhi, WC3, WC3:RoC, WarCraft 3
Moby ID: 6860
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos is a fantasy themed real-time strategy game with role playing elements set on the world of Azeroth. After the defeat of Orcish horde at the hand of the Alliance in the second war and the destruction of the Dark portal, the remaining orcs were rounded up and put in internment camps. The game starts with the Orcs being freed by a new warchief from their internment camps and leave for a new continent across the sea. The Humans are troubled by a mysterious disease that turns people into living dead. Meanwhile the undead are preparing for a way to let their Demon masters enter the world of Azeroth.

The game features five campaigns and four playable races: Humans, Orcs, Night Elves and Undead with unique units and buildings. Several heroes that can level up and learn new skills support your troops in battle. The game was followed by an expansion called The Frozen Throne.

Spellings

  • 魔兽争霸3:混乱之治 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

363 People (320 developers, 43 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 91% (based on 86 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 219 ratings with 17 reviews)

The most disappointing game I've ever played

The Good
Being a huge fan of Warcraft 2, when I heard Warcraft 3 was being developed I had very high expectations for the title, so when it came out I instantly bought it. And man, what a waste of money that was.

The graphics are pretty good and there's a lot of variation of enemies and locations which are pretty interesting to see. Additionally, there's a lot of custom graphics available on the net. However this is just another way of fooling you into thinking this game is cool.

The editor is very extensive, and still probably one of the most extensive RTS editors to this day. But even so the game has some retarded limitations that can get incredibly annoying at times, and some of the editors aren't nearly as powerful as they seem, like the AI editor. Still it was pretty fun to mess in the editor every once in a while

The Bad
Why the HELL did they turn the fastest RTS game ever made into a RPG piece of crap? Warcraft II is still one of the best RTS games ever made but it hasn't aged as well as other games due to the engine limitations, so I was hoping that Warcraft 3 would have been a great sequel with the same premise but better gameplay and a much better engine. So why didn't it happen?? They ruined the entire Warcraft universe with an overly serious business story with many unlikeable characters, extremely bland, RPG-esque gameplay and a lot of other things.

My main problem with Warcraft 3 is that the game is overall a lot slower because of the addition of RPG elements. As I've said in most of my reviews, RPG elements do not make a game "deep" or "fun" but they just ruin it. I can understand placing RPG elements in an actual RPG game but this is a sequel to the fastest RTS game ever made so it's totally out place. Everything takes way too long to build, to attack and to die. You put two units fighting each other and it takes like 2 minutes for the other one to die. It's not fun at all, it's absolutely atrocious. In Warcraft 2 units would take approximately 6 seconds to die but that's why the game was so much fun to play to begin with, but here it feels sluggish and totally ruined. And they even removed naval warfare!

Of course there's a ton of other issues, most of them still dependant on the fact this is a RPG game. There are new hero units which sound cool on paper but in reality they're incredibly boring to use and manage, since you got to kill random creatures on the map to level up, and I'm sure I already mentioned somewhere how much I hate leveling up, but it goes without saying.

Not only is the build time an absolute joke, but somehow they managed to screw up the population count as well! You can't have more than I think 90 food units, but unfortunately most units take up about 3 food units, with some even consuming up to 9 units. Yes, that's right, it means that not only is the game painfully slow but your selection of units will also be incredibly limited. And apparently the more units you have, the more expensive stuff becomes. I don't think it can get worse than this.

Another new element introduced is an inventory system, which is probably the only decent RPG element in the game (although it's not necessarily an RPG element so maybe that's why it's acceptable), but it's not implemented well at all. Essentially most of the items are just upgrades that give you more armor. As if units didn't take way too long to die already! The idea is nice, it's just the execution that leaves a lot to be desired.

But the most pathetic aspect of the game is that, despite how slow it is, most online matches do not go beyond 20 minutes. How sad. The campaign is varied but it isn't particularly fun, either.

The Bottom Line
Without a doubt the most disappointing game I ever played, and this game marks the beginning of Blizzard's downfall.

Windows · by CKeen The Great (160) · 2011

A pretty good game (if you like micromanagement).

The Good
First off, it is graphically awsome. If you have the power to run at full details, it's rather stunning. Sadly, you need a beast to be able to run at full details, and not lag in games, especially 4v4.

This is a fast game, and I like fast games. You'll need to make quick decisions to be able to get anywhere levelwise.

This brings up the micromanagement. This game requires a very large amount of micro. If you aren't able to manage every unit in a battle, you're going to lose games. Being able to spot which unit is getting hurt, and moving it away; being able to cast hero spells as soon as they are available; never having a break in production (all at the same time) is crucial to winning. Luckily, the population limit is so low it's a bit easier. The population limit is 90, but it's essentially 70, because once you go over 70 you start paying 7 gold as "upkeep" for every 10 gold you mine. Once over 40, you pay 4 gold for every 10 mined. And, of course, almost nothing takes only one population point. The armies are quite small compared to previous RTS games.

The heroes are a nice RPG twist to the RTS genre. Each race (Night Elves, Undead, Orcs, and Humans) have three heroes from which to choose. Each has strengths and weaknesses. The hero you choose at the start can, and should, greatly effect your tactics in the game. For example, if you are Humans and playing vs an Undead, you would strongly consider the Paladin hero as one of your early choices, as he has a spell that not only heals your units, but harms Undead units. If you, as an Orc, decide to go for the Tauren hero, you will find that a defensive style is probably the way to go. Etc, etc.

The creeps (units controlled by the AI) are another interesting injection into this game. Special places on each map (a health fountain, fr example) are guarded by creeps, ranging in difficulty from terribly easy to terribly hard. Killing these creeps with a hero nearby allows him to gain experience, and therefore, more skills (just like an RPG, as mentioned). They also drop items which can be used by your heroes.

Lastly, if you just want to go online and play a game, it is simple as can be. Just a couple clicks, and Bnet will match you up with another person, within a certain level. Levels are basically a meter of your skill. More wins and you will go up in levels. Lose, and you could drop in levels. Beating high level people will give you bigger boosts then lower people. It is another RPG concept inserted into Warcraft III.

The Bad
The micromanagement can still get incredibly overwhelming, and if you don't keep up, it will quickly destroy you. Trying to process all the information isn't always easy for us people over 20.

The creeps have lead to several, shall we say, cheap tactics. On certain maps, it is quite easy for an orc player to quickly destroy VERY high level creeps, and have the experience go to their hero, without sacrificing more then a peon. This, of course, leads to a huge advantage within five minutes, and theres almost no way to overcome this.

The fact that you get so few units leaves little margin for error. Lose one little unit by mistake, and it could cost you the battle, and if you're not careful, the entire game. Losing a hero is even more catastrophic, as they can take a while to revive, especially at higher levels.

There is little variety. Each race has a pretty specific thing they do to win, and the only difference is who has the better micro. Sometimes you will be surprised by a different strategy, but not too often. It can get rather dull. I know of several high level players who do the same thing every game, no matter what they are facing, and they tend to win because their micro is insanely good. There's just not much you can do against that.

The Bottom Line
A decent, fun game. RPG elements help make it more then a simple RTS, but little room for error can make it a very frustrating experience.

Windows · by Dr. Elementary (273) · 2003

Great in single player mode. Very repetitive in multiplayer mode.

The Good
The single player mode. Those single player missions, connected by a great story and brilliant cutscenes are really what makes this game worth buying. Playing through the missions of Humans, Undeads, Orcs and Night Elves is really highly entertaining and let's you forget the real world for about 2 days.

The Bad
The multiplayer mode - actually the reason why I could hardly await the release of this game. I LOVED the multiplayer mode of StarCraft with it's many, many tactics and possibilities. But after some days of gaming it became clear that War III is actually a huge step backward concerning multiplaying as the battles are very, very repetitive. War III only knows 2 tactics: rush or tech. That's the only decision the player has to make. No surprises await the player in the rest of the match: Rush: Me or the opponent is dead. Fine. The match practically ends here as mistakes are not forgiven in War III. Tech: After many minutes of hectic building, 2 or more huge armies clash together - a short fight takes place and the game practically ends as base defense is not really a problem in War III (we forget about the rather defensive undead race here).

Well that's it. A typical WarCraft III match. Okay, you learn some spells here and there or try building another unit ... but actually the matches keep being the same again and again. (Most spells are useless anyway and there aren't many unit types either)

So. That's it. Nice try, Blizzard ... but PLEASE go back to the roots with StarCraft 2 !

The Bottom Line
A nice RTS game enriched with RPG elements and a well told story. Fun to play in single player. Yet, if you're looking for a replacement for the aged StarCraft ... look somewhere else.

Windows · by Electric Penguin (3) · 2003

[ View all 17 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
credits completeness? Rola (8485) Oct 11, 2012

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Cut races

The game was originally to have six fully playable races. The sixth race was never revealed, and the first to be dropped. The Burning Legion was originally to be a playable race as well, but due to the effect it would have on their appearance in the game (the idea of having to give them peon units and balancing them out with the other races would diminish their "all-powerful" image), they were dropped down to being non-playable.

Development

WarCraft III originally debuted at ECTS 1999 as a much different game than the final product. The original idea was to make it a RPS, Role Playing Strategy game, incorporating both RTS and RPG elements together. Although some RPG elements are still present, many were cut. Originally you exclusively controlled heroes, with your extra units being "attached" to them. The game was in more of a 3rd-person perspective (which you can see if you zoom the camera in all the way), and you would explore with your hero (camera fixed on him), completing quests and defeating your opponents. However, due to various reasons (one being that the game was turning out to be very similar to their MMORPG, World of WarCraft which was being worked on as well), the camera angle was scaled back and the game was turned into more of a traditional RTS with some RPG elements.

Pre-order version

For those who ordered this game from EBWorld.com (now EBGames.com), they got an extra WarCraft III DVD that contained all three trailers for this game, plus the cinematic trailer for World of WarCraft.

References

  • Blizzard put three Starcraft units into the game. These units are Zerg Zergling and Hydralisk and Terran Marine.They can be accessed from included map editor or at the end of the last campaign.
  • In chapter 7 of the Orc Campaign, your tauren units will eventually encounter a lizard named Hungry Hungry Lizard, a pun on the old board game Hungry Hungry Hippos.

References: Full Metal Jacket

The game features at least three references to Stanley Kubrick's Vietnam war film Full Metal Jacket:* The Tauren Chieftan in the game claims that "Only two things come from Texas, and I've got horns". This refers to a line in which drill sergeant Hartman tells a Texan recruit that "Only steers and queers come from Texas. And I don't see your horns" * "This is my owl, there are many like it, but this one's mine", spoken by a Night Elf Huntress, is based on a mantra used by recruits to refer to their guns. * The Orc Grunt says "Me so horned. Me hurt you long time", based on a line I can't repeat in the potential presence of children.

Thrall

The character Thrall has origins in the cancelled Warcraft Adventures game, which was to explain how he escaped from captivity, freed many captive orcs and helped rid them of demonic corruption.

Awards

  • 4Players
    • 2002– Best PC Game of the Year
    • 2002– Best PC Strategy Game of the Year
    • 2002– Best PC Game of the Year (Reader's Vote)
    • 2002– Best PC Strategy Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
  • Computer Gaming World
    • April 2003 (Issue #225) – Strategy Game of the Year (Readers' Choice)
    • April 2003 (Issue #225) – Best Cinematics of the Year
  • GameSpy
    • 2002 – PC Game of the Year (Readers' Choice)
    • 2002 – PC Strategy Game of the Year (Readers' Choice)
    • 2011 – #18 Top PC Game of the 2000s
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • February 01, 2003 - Best Strategy Game in 2002 (Readers' Vote)

Information also contributed by Ace of Sevens, Aian, Itay Shahar, Martin Smith, MAT and Warlock

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by MAT.

Macintosh added by Xoleras.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, phlux, tarmo888, Carl Ratcliff, Zeppin, Patrick Bregger, Plok, FatherJack.

Game added July 4, 2002. Last modified March 22, 2024.