The Warcraft universe is a unique phenomenon in video games in a sense. At least because it combines three completely different genres: RTS (real-time strategy), MMORPG (massively multiplayer role-playing games), and DCCG (digital collectible card games). In all cases, we are dealing with superstars of their genre. It’s no surprise that this universe has spawned numerous books, comics, board games, movie adaptations, and endless fan works.
This month, the very first game in the series, the strategy game Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, turned 30 years old. This is a great opportunity to recall how this legendary universe was born, as well as to talk about the games and add-ons that have shaped the modern image of Warcraft.
Birth of the world
Let’s imagine a game dev at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. The real-time strategy genre does not yet exist as such. But games are gradually starting to appear where developers experiment with gameplay elements that will later become typical for strategies. Among such ancestors of the genre is Utopia (1981), one of the first god simulators where the main gameplay took place in real time, but events took place in a step-by-step cycle.
Herzog Zwei (1989), a hybrid of strategy and action for the Sega Genesis, is considered one of the first RTS prototypes due to the ability to control units in real time. Stone Age, in turn, experimented with resource management and settlement development, paving the way for future strategies.
However, the real genre breakthrough happened in 1992, and its name is Dune II (Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty, Dune II: Battle for Arrakis and simply Dune: The Battle for Arrakis).
This game, created by Westwood Studios, offered almost everything we love about strategy: base building, resource gathering, unit deployment, a technology tree, fog of war, unique sides of the conflict, and a strategic mode with a choice of expansion direction. The world of Dune II was based on the novel by Frank Herbert, taking players to the desert planet Arrakis with its giant worms and melange, the main resource. However, the plot remained in the background, leaving room for the genre to develop in other directions. We have a separate large article dedicated to games in the Dune universe.
The young Blizzard Entertainment studio, founded in February 1991 and then called Silicon & Synapse, closely followed the success of Dune II. Employees were so enthusiastic about the game that they spent all their lunch breaks playing it, discussing strategies and shortcomings that could be fixed.
By that time, Silicon & Synapse had already established itself as a studio that skillfully improves on other people’s ideas and its own. At first, it was engaged in porting games to different platforms, but its real talent for “creative rethinking” was manifested in its own projects. Two of Blizzar ‘s early hits are The Lost Vikings (1993) and Rock n’ Roll Racing (1993).
Before The Lost Vikings, there was actually a game called Goblins (1991), created by the French studio Cocktail Vision, headed by Pierre Guillot and Philippe Ullrich. Their recognizable style, humor, and unusual gameplay influenced many games of the time. Rock n’ Roll Racing was preceded by Blizzard’s own RPM Racing (1991), but who remembers it now?
It would be unfair to call these games plagiarism or self-replication. Blizzard didn’t just adapt existing ideas, but created something unique based on the best of what had already been done. The same goes for Warcraft.
The development of the first RTS studio began on the initiative of programmer Patrick White, who literally “collected” ideas based on screenshots of Dune II. His enthusiasm allowed him to quickly create the first game engine. White personally handled maps, sprites, and even interface programming – a true all-rounder! However, the developers realized that the game should be not only technically perfect but also conceptually interesting.
The issue of setting took a long time to resolve. Blizzard even considered buying a license for the Warhammer universe, but most of the team was against it. They believed that the original world would give them more freedom and creativity. As a result, the world of Warcraft was born – dark, fantasy, and with obvious references to Tolkien. In addition, the influence of the Dungeons & Dragons board game and the experience of working on The Lost Vikings added depth and humor to the world.
The name “Warcraft” itself came from the artist Sam Didier, who used the word as a nickname in his Dungeons & Dragons game. His idea of contrasting “warcraft” with “witchcraft” perfectly fit the concept of the new game.
Technical innovations and challenges
Blizzard developers focused on fixing the main shortcomings of Dune II and adding something significantly new. One of the important innovations was the ability to select several units at the same time. However, this feature created problems with the path building algorithm, which made it necessary to limit the simultaneous control of up to four units. This was a compromise, but in Warcraft II, this limit was raised to nine, and this significantly changed the dynamics of the game.
Another breakthrough was the multiplayer mode. At that time, artificial intelligence was too simple, and playing against a computer quickly became boring. The idea of online multiplayer was not new, but its implementation was usually technically difficult, so there were few such games. One of the first successful ones was Doom (1993). However, the implementation of online multiplayer in RTS turned out to be a rather non-trivial task. Synchronization problems and errors drove the programmers to despair. At one point, they even considered abandoning multiplayer, but the team was able to overcome the technical difficulties, and the result justified all their efforts.
This is how Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, a game that took the best of its predecessors, added originality, and became the basis for a cult series that has captivated millions of players.
Warcraft: Orcs & Humans
Year 1994
Platforms DOS, Mac, later – Windows
So, the Warcraft mega-series was born out of a simple desire to make “something like Dune II, but better.” As we have already mentioned, for the first time in the RTS genre, a multiplayer mode and the ability to select several units at once (albeit only four) and manage them as a group appeared. Also, there was not just one valuable resource, as in Dune II, but two – wood and gold.
Missions included a variety of tasks: liberating peaceful settlements, rescuing prisoners, and destroying specific enemies. This, together with an interesting fantasy setting, brought the familiar gameplay formula to a new level.
The game’s plot was about the first war between humans and orcs. The latter came through a portal from another world and began to occupy the lands of Azeroth, so in a sense, they are aliens. Most of the plot was presented through simple text briefings before the missions.
Players could go through the campaign for each side of the conflict, and they had their own view of the events. Interestingly, each faction had its own unique units and spells. Humans relied on knights, clerics, and mages, while orcs had necromancers, sorcerers, and could summon demons. This asymmetry not only diversified the gameplay, but also emphasized the difference between the two races in the storyline.
Frankly speaking, the game’s plot was not deeply developed, and today these cutscenes with text on a static background may seem primitive. However, they laid the foundation for the epic story that spawned not only games, but also a lot of books and comics with canons or not quite canons.
The game had other drawbacks as well: limited troop management, lack of defensive structures, and not very smart AI. But all this was compensated by the exciting multiplayer and vivid graphics. Speaking of graphics, the head of the studio, Alan Adam, insisted that the artists work in bright light, saying that players were unlikely to play in the dark.
Critics warmly welcomed the game, especially noting the presence of multiplayer and juicy visuals. Warcraft sold well, which allowed Blizzard to get back on its feet and prove to itself and its new owners that it was capable of creating successful original projects.
Despite its archaic nature, even today, 30 years after its release, there are fans who reminisce about their youth and fight their first “war” with friends online. Warcraft: Orcs and Humans can be purchased on Blizzard’s native Battle.net platform for 149 UAH or on GOG for $3.25. Or you can buy the remaster with slightly improved graphics and controls for 339 UAH.
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
Year of release 1995
Platforms DOS, MacOS, Windows
After the success of the first part, Blizzard wasted no time. A year later, in 1995, Warcraft II was released: Tides of Darkness, a game that not only improved on its predecessor’s formula but actually set the standards for the RTS genre for years to come.
From the very beginning, the developers decided to make everything bigger. Instead of modest battles for gold mines, players got epic battles on land, sea, and air. The maps became bigger and more diverse: there were mountains that could be cut through to create passages, deep seas with oil deposits, and dense forests where ambushes could be set up.
Technically, the game has made a huge step forward. The graphics became brighter and more detailed, it became possible to select up to nine combat units at a time (a luxury for that time!), and artificial intelligence learned not only to attack blindly but also to use different tactics. Finally, defensive structures such as towers and walls appeared, adding strategic depth to the base’s defense.
The game’s economy has also undergone significant changes. Oil was added to the classic resources of wood and gold. To extract it, it was necessary to build oil towers and shipyards, between which tankers ran. Interestingly, the developers initially planned to add a fourth resource – stone – but abandoned this idea in order not to complicate the economy.
The game’s controls have been significantly improved. Unlike its predecessor, units could now execute commands with a simple right-click, without the need to first click on the corresponding action icon. Although experienced players still used hotkeys, this innovation made the game much more convenient.
At the request of fans of the first part, the developers improved the “fog of war”. Now the already scouted territory remained visible, but enemy combat units were hidden on it, and buildings were shown in the state in which they were last seen. This added more tactical depth to the game and made reconnaissance an important part of the strategy.
The plot unfolded six years after the fall of Stormwind, the main city of humans in the first part. After the defeat, the orcs returned with new allies – trolls and ogres. The humans were not left alone either, uniting with elves and dwarves in a powerful Alliance. Both factions received 14 exciting missions each, and not all battles were against an obvious enemy – it was often necessary to fight internal opponents both in the Alliance and in the Horde. The game featured full-fledged videos between missions that created a real sense of an epic saga.
The map editor was a particular pride of the developers. It was the first serious tool for creating user-generated content in an RTS. Players could build their own maps, scenarios, and even mini-campaigns. However, the possibility of creating modifications was fully realized only in the next part of the series.
The online mode has also been improved. Players could compete via local networks or online services such as Kali. Thanks to this, the game became popular among enthusiasts, and some matches turned into real tournaments, laying the foundations of esports. Let me remind you that Battle.net, a well-known Blizzard service, appeared only a few years later with the release of Diablo (1997).
The visual style of the game deserves special attention. The developers paid attention to the smallest details – each building had a summer and a winter version, and all combat units, buildings and their icons were drawn in eight different color schemes for each possible player in multiplayer.
Warcraft II also gave us the series’ signature humor. Combat units began to make funny jokes when you repeatedly click them, and the narrator often ironized the events in the game.
Of course, it was not without its drawbacks. Artificial intelligence still had trouble finding its way around, which often meant that units had to be controlled manually. Walls that could not be built but often appeared in story missions irritated players because of the long time it took to destroy them. However, all of this did not prevent the game from being recognized as a masterpiece.
The game received high praise from critics and players alike. Magazines called it “the perfect strategy”, “the new standard of the genre” and “the best game of the year”. Sales exceeded all expectations, making Blizzard one of the leaders in the gaming industry.
Later, the expansion WarCraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal (1996), which added new campaigns and for the first time showed the world of Drenor, the homeland of the orcs. This expansion added even more depth to the Warcraft universe and set the stage for future stories.
The second part of the franchise can also be purchased officially on the Battle.net platform for 248 UAH or a remaster for 508 UAH.
WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos. Now in 3D
Year of release 2002
Platforms MacOS, Windows
By the old standards, fans have been waiting for the new series for a long time, as long as 7 years. However, those who didn’t care about the fantasy setting were happy to play the equally legendary online RTS StarCraft (1998) from Blizzard all this time. Eventually, in 2002, the world saw Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, which improved the already almost flawless strategy formula and added a bit of a role-playing element and three-dimensionality to the genre. And the players appreciated it: in the first month, one million copies were sold, and the game was named Game of the Year in six gaming publications at once.
The main innovation was the introduction of heroes, special units that could gain experience, learn new abilities, and carry items. This added a whole new dimension to the game: now success in battle depended not only on the number of troops, but also on how well you controlled your hero.
The game is set 12 years after Warcraft II. The plot begins with the prophecy of the mysterious Mediv about the return of demons. Interestingly, the prophet did not address people, but the orc leader Thrall, the son of one of the main characters of the previous parts. The game skillfully intertwines the stories of all four races, where each campaign shows different sides of the conflict, and actions for one race often have consequences that have to be dealt with when playing for another.
Blizzard also expanded the game universe by adding two new races: night elves and undead. Each race has a unique style of play and its own philosophy. The Night Elves, an ancient race that allowed the developers to reveal the background of the Warcraft universe, turned out to be particularly interesting.
Technically, the game also made a big step forward. The new 3D engine made it possible to create spectacular battles and cinematic cutscenes that told a fascinating story. At the same time, the developers paid special attention to the balance in multiplayer, even if it meant redesigning the single player campaign.
In addition to the appearance of heroes, the game introduced several interesting mechanics. For example, the “tax” system – the more troops you hire, the less gold you get from mining. This encouraged players to engage in more active combat instead of passively accumulating an army. There was also a change of day and night that affected the gameplay: at night, the range of vision decreased, and some units of night elves became invisible.
Traders, mercenary camps, life and mana sources appeared on the maps. Now the victory depended not only on the destruction of the enemy base, but also on the control of key points on the map.
A year later, the expansion WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne (2003), which significantly changed the approach to gameplay. While in the original game most of the missions were classic RTS (building a base and destroying the enemy), in the expansion, the campaign became more like an action/RPG. Players were more likely to lead small groups of heroes, complete quests, and explore maps with hidden secrets. Boss fights, castle sieges, and other various scenarios appeared. Each race received a new hero and additional units, and with the advent of shops, it became easier to buy items for heroes. Also, two additional subfactions appeared in the game – naga and blood elves, although they were available only in the campaign. The developers also brought back naval battles, although ships were available mainly in story missions.
But the most important element of Warcraft III was the improved World Editor. This powerful tool allowed you to create your own maps and campaigns. It was thanks to it that Defense of the Ancients was born in 2003, a fan-made map that later evolved into a separate MOBA genre and spawned such hits as Dota 2 and League of Legends. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to officially play the third part today, as an official remake of the game was released 18 years after the original. Let’s move on to it.
Warcraft III Reforged
Year of release 2020
Platforms Windows, MacOS
2020 was supposed to be the triumphant return of the legendary game. Warcraft III: Reforged promised updated graphics, redesigned cutscenes, and a fresh take on the classic. But something went wrong.
The graphical update turned out to be ambiguous. On the one hand, unit models have become more detailed, with better animations and textures. Some characters, such as Sylvanus, were brought into line with the World of Warcraft canon. But when you look at the environment, the magic disappears. Landscapes, trees and water have remained virtually unchanged since 2002.
The cutscenes were a particularly painful blow. At presentations, Blizzard demonstrated impressive updated videos with cinematic angles and emotional character animation. The company promised four hours of remade videos, but in the final version, everything remained almost the same as in the original. Even the scene in Stratholme, which was shown at the presentation, returned to the old format, with primitive animation and static camera angles.
The game was not spared from technical problems. Even on systems capable of running the most demanding modern games at maximum settings, there were freezes when new buildings or special effects appeared. The interface, which was promised to be updated for widescreen monitors, remained clumsy, with empty fields at the edges of the screen.
The problems also affected basic mechanics. Setting up hotkeys required manual editing of text files instead of a convenient menu. The 12-unit troop allocation limit looks archaic, especially when an army can have several dozen soldiers. Artificial intelligence still has problems with pathfinding – units get confused by obstacles, and combat formations don’t work well.
The community was outraged not only by the technical state of the game, but also by Blizzard’s attitude to user-generated content. The company claimed the rights to all custom maps, which did not inspire mod creators. Many familiar features, such as the rating system and clans, simply disappeared from the game.
Blizzard could not decide whether it was making a remake or a remaster. At first, they announced a complete redesign of levels and cutscenes, and then quietly abandoned these plans. As a result, the game ended up in an intermediate state – not updated enough for a remake and too changed for a remaster.
After the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, the game received a large-scale 2.0 update. The developers have significantly redesigned the technical part, focusing on improving the user experience and expanding the multiplayer capabilities.
The update brought 4K support and advanced video settings. The camera has the ability to change the viewing distance. The game has a tournament system and an improved rating system. The user interface has undergone significant changes with detailed match statistics and updated visual elements.
Although the 2.0 update didn’t fix all of Reforged’s problems, it demonstrates the seriousness of the new owners’ intentions for the game’s future. Perhaps over time, Warcraft III will get the update that the legendary strategy game deserves.
Warcraft 2000: Nuclear Epidemic — an unreleased game from a Ukrainian studio
In 1998, the Kyiv-based GSC Game World studio was working on Warcraft 2000: Nuclear Epidemic, which was supposed to be a remake of the original RTS. The game offered an atypical setting for Warcraft: instead of a fantasy world, players got a modern military conflict with nuclear weapons, satellites, missile defense, and other technologies. Additionally, a global map was planned, which expanded the game’s strategic capabilities.
Despite interesting ideas, the project was not completed. Blizzard developers decided not to deviate from the classic fantasy theme, so the game was canceled. However, it is the involvement of GSC Game World, which later created the cult series S.T.A.L.K.E.R., that makes this story an important part of the Ukrainian gaming heritage.
World of Warcraft
Year of release 2004
Platforms Windows, MacOS
At the end of 2001, Blizzard did something that no one expected it to do – it announced not a new RTS, but a massively multiplayer game in the Warcraft universe. Fans were puzzled: why would a successful company experiment with the then little-known MMORPG genre? But it turned out that Blizzard knew what it was doing. After all, there was a very successful online RPG called Lineage 2 at the time, so why not try, as Blizzard often does, to do something similar but better?
Development began back in 1999 with an ambitious goal: to allow players to personally explore the world of Warcraft. A team of 50 developers spent five years and $63 million, a record budget at the time.
On November 23, 2004, World of Warcraft was finally released, and it was a real explosion. On the first day, over 200 thousand players created accounts, and the servers were so overcrowded that their number had to be urgently doubled. Imagine: the game took up four CDs (five for the collector’s edition), updates took hours to install, and some players with a modem connection saw their character moving in jerky motions. But even this did not stop the flow of new players.
The success of WoW exceeded Blizzard’s wildest expectations. During the first year, the game gathered more than 5 million subscribers, and at the peak of its popularity in 2010, there were already 12 million of them. In 2008, the game entered the Guinness Book of Records as the most popular MMORPG in the world. Over the first ten years of WoW’s existence, more than 100 million accounts were created.
World of Warcraft players begin their journey by choosing between two opposing factions – the Alliance and the Horde. Each of them has unique races and backgrounds: noble humans, dwarves, and night elves represent the Alliance, while proud orcs, taurens, and trolls fight for the Horde. You also have to choose a character class – from mighty warriors and dexterous thieves to mystical mages and priests.
The gameplay of WoW combines exploration of the vast world, completing quests, collecting equipment, and team battles. Raids are especially exciting – large-scale dungeons for a group of 10-40 players, where you need to coordinate actions to defeat powerful bosses. Professions are an important part of the game – characters can become blacksmiths, herbalists, engineers, and even cooks. And the achievement system encourages you to explore every corner of the world and complete a variety of tasks.
The game is set after the events of Warcraft III. Azeroth is once again under threat – either an ancient evil awakens in Nagrand, a burning legion tries to destroy the world, or the ancient gods threaten the very existence of reality. Each expansion adds a new chapter to this epic saga, where players become direct participants in the most important events.
What made WoW so special? First, it was a truly living world without any loading screens. Secondly, the game was friendly to newcomers – you didn’t have to spend months learning the mechanics to start having fun. But most importantly, it was not just a game, but a social experience. Players found friends, created guilds, organized large-scale raids, and even found love. It was not uncommon to see players sitting around a campfire and chatting – a kind of medieval fantasy social media.
Over the years, the game has received ten major expansions, each adding new lands to explore, new character classes, and a bunch of new content. And although now, in 2024, the original WoW may seem a bit outdated (who would agree to beat the same mobs for 30 minutes for a quest?), its influence on the gaming industry is hard to overestimate.
Despite its venerable age, and World of Warcraft is already 20 years old, the game continues to release add-ons, such as World of Warcraft: Dragonflight (2023), World of Warcraft: The War Within (2024), and it looks like it will bring Blizzard good money for a long time.
What’s next
In addition to the legendary Warcraft and World of Warcraft series, the franchise is expanding in different directions. The mobile action/strategy game Warcraft Rumble allows you to enjoy tactical battles with your favorite characters in the format of miniature figures. The Hearthstone card game, released in 2014, immerses players in exciting duels using characters from the universe.
But the Warcraft universe doesn’t live only in games. So, if you are interested in the history of the world, it is best revealed in books such as The Rise of the Horde by Christy Golden and Arthas: Rise of the Lich King by the same author. The novels describe the background of key events, reveal the characters and deepen the lore of the universe. Fans regularly gather at BlizzCon and other thematic conferences to share their creativity, communicate, and be the first to learn about new releases in the franchise.
Despite the changes in the gaming industry, the world of Warcraft remains alive and continues to captivate new generations of players with its epic story, vivid characters, and diverse gameplay. It has long been more than just a series of games – it is a cultural phenomenon that unites millions of people around the world.
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