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Game:WarCraft III
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, released by Blizzard Entertainment in 2002, is a real-time strategy computer game and the second sequel to Warcraft: Orcs and Humans. It is the third game set in the Warcraft Universe.
Details the second coming of the Burning Legion and the origins of the Scourge, along with the fall of Lordaeron and the awakening of the Night Elves. In addition, the Orcs leave the Eastern Kingdoms and on their journey to Kalimdor, save the Darkspear Trolls from destruction. When they arrive, they also assist the Tauren and officially form the Horde as a collective of these races.
Contents
* 1 Overview
* 2 Story
o 2.1 prologues: Exodus of the Horde
o 2.2 Human Campaign: The Scourge of Lordaeron
o 2.3 Undead Campaign: Path of the Damned
o 2.4 Orcish Campaign: The Invasion of Kalimdor
o 2.5 Night Elf Campaign: Eternity's End
* 3 Play details
Overview
One of the main innovations WarCraft III offers over the previous games in the series is the way the role of hero units has changed. Where before, heroes were merely very powerful varients of standard units, now they are unique, with their own special abilities that normal units do not have access to. For instance, heroes within the game can find or trade items to increase skills, defense, etc. With each kill of an enemy of a certain level the heroes gain experience points, eventually resulting in increased levels of their own, and new spell options (thus introducing role-playing game elements to the series). Heroes also can apply beneficial auras to allied units.
Another new innovation is the addition of creeps, which are computer controlled characters the player fights even in multiplayer. They guard key areas or neutral buildings and are designed to act as a resource for the players to kill to provide experience points to a player's hero and to provide hero items. The idea is to force the player to be aggressive instead of "turtling up" (refraining from adventuring outside of one's starting area).
Within the game there are four races at war: the Human Alliance and the Orcish Horde, who also appeared in Warcraft I and Warcraft II, along with two new character teams, the Night Elves and the Undead. As an April Fool's joke before the game was released, Blizzard announced that the Pandaren would be the fourth race. The company didn't reveal the Night Elves until a month later, and pandas are a running gag in WarCraft now (to the point that a Pandaren Hero -- called the Brewmaster -- was available in the expansion pack, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne). A fifth playable race, the Burning Legion, was changed during play-testing to a set of non-player characters and monsters (with a playable "cameo" on the last level of the Undead campaign, as Kel'Thuzad summons Archimonde).
Players meet other players over the Internet to set up multiplayer games via Blizzard's free Battle.net service, or may play against the computer.
A number of game and plot mechanics are a direct result of Blizzard's experience with StarCraft.
WarCraft III also includes a very thorough scenario editor. It uses a scripting language similar to the trigger system used in StarCraft. As well as providing the ability to edit any aspect of the units, buildings and spells, it has such advanced features as custom tilesets, custom cinematic scenes, dialog boxes, variables, and weather effects. Many custom maps, featuring a large variety of gametypes continue to be developed, and together with the expansion pack have contributed to the longevity of the game.
The game was developed by Blizzard Entertainment, a subsidiary of Vivendi Universal, and released in July 2002. Warcraft III proved to be one of the most anticipated and popular video game releases ever, with 4.5 million units pre-ordered and over 1 million additional units sold during its first two weeks. Story
Similar to how Starcraft was told, the story in Warcraft III is told through all four races in a progressive manner. The order is Human, Undead, Orc, and Night Elf. prologues: Exodus of the Horde
Human Campaign: The Scourge of Lordaeron
Prince Arthas, a paladin of the Silver Hand, the Captain and Jaina Proudmoore, Arthas' former lover and apprentice-Archmage, are investigating a strange plague that is spreading across the lands of Lordaeron. To their horror, they find that the plague turns unsuspecting people into hideous Undead warriors, and must move to stop the Undead's plans. Arthas proceeds to hunt down the plague's originator: Mal'Ganis. Mal'Ganis travels northward to the icy lands of Northrend, and Arthas follows him. There he aids an old friend, Muradin Bronzebeard, who tells him of a power weapon, a sword called Frostmourne. Arthas obtains Frostmourne, at the cost of Muradin's life, and uses it to defeat Mal'Ganis. However, as a result, Frostmourne steals Arthas' soul and turns to ally the undead...
Undead Campaign: Path of the Damned
With their new leader, the Undead must move to complete their purpose in Lordaeron, which is to destroy the remnants of the Alliance, and to pave the way for a new invasion. In a series of quests, Arthas succeeds in reviving a former adversary, Kel'Thuzad, as a Lich, and the two successfully open an inter-dimensional portal for the true masters of the Scourge, the Burning Legion, to enter the realm of Azeroth (see the article on Arthas for a more detailed description).
Orcish Campaign: The Invasion of Kalimdor
After escaping Human captivity and fleeing to the shores of Kalimdor, Orcish warchief Thrall must lead his brethren to safety and ensure their survival in this strange and hostile land. Help comes from the Tauren, a nomadic group of Kalimdor-natives, and their leader, Cairne Bloodhoof. Unfortunately, fellow Orc Grom Hellscream falls under demonic corruption, and Thrall is forced to ally himself with Jaina Proudmore, now leader of the survivors of Lordearon. He also discovers (courtesy of an oracle) that his fate is to help repel the Burning Legion, and he and Jaina accomplish this goal, and also to save Hellscream. Afterwards, Grom insists upon battling Mannoroth, the demon who cast him into the corruption. Thrall and Grom succeed in vanquishing Mannoroth, but Grom is slain in the proccess.
Night Elf Campaign: Eternity's End
With the coming of the Undead and Burning Legion as well as the Humans and Orcs, Tyrande Whisperwind and her Night Elf Sentinels fight a desperate battle to save their beloved home of Kalimdor. She first reawakens her lover, Malfurion Stormrage, and then the Druids of the Talon and finally the Druids of the Claw. She also decides to free the great betrayer, Illidan Stormrage, and he is eventually instrumental in weakening the Legion. Finally, she and Furion join forces with Proudmoore and Thrall to delay the Legion's advance until a proper end can be arranged for their leader Archimonde (mirroring the final mission of StarCraft, in which the player commands a multi-racial force against a common foe).
Play details
The four warring races have different advantages, most of them similar to the racial attributes of the Terrans, Zerg, and Protoss from StarCraft, another popular RTS from Blizzard. The different strategically significant traits of the races in Starcraft have been combined in new ways to form the Warcraft III races. The Warcraft III Night Elves, for instance, resemble the Terrans in that their buildings can move and their base fighting unit has a missile attack, but like the Zerg, their worker units are consumed when they create most buildings. The Undead have the Protoss's ability to summon buildings rather than constructing them, so a worker unit is not tied up in construction; also like the Protoss, they have a dedicated invisible spy unit, but their buildings have to be constructed upon dedicated infested terrain called Blight (like the Zerg Creep), and their army line-up is strategically similar to that of the Zerg.
However, unlike other RTS games, WarCraft III has introduced a new element of game play, special units called Heroes. Heroes are super units that have special abilities that expand as the game progresses (as they gain experience). For example, a Human Archmage hero can acquire the ability to (temporarily) summon water-elementals, increase the mana regeneration rate of surrounding magic casting units, create a blizzard over enemy units, and teleport friendly units to other parts of the map. In the course of a game a maximum of up to three heroes can be built, but if they die, they can be revived at an altar.
Between Heroes and a low food cap it is difficult to win through sheer numbers, and Micromanagement becomes more important. The upkeep concept also keeps armies small as it penalizes anyone who gets too big too fast. As a result gameplay is more tactical than strategic.
There are strong distinctions in the game between melee and ranged units; between air and ground units; and (particularly in The Frozen Throne) between mundane, magical, and antimagic units. Antimagic units, such as the Humans' Elven Spell-Breaker (only in the expansion pack) and the Night Elves' Dryad, have the ability to cancel the effects of magic spells cast on other units.