WELCOME TO WARCRAFT
I have officially taken the plunge into "Warfcraft" mania!
Earlier in the month I managed to snag Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos and the game's expansion pack The Frozen Throne off eBay. My knowledge of Blizzard Entertainment's hugely popular series is limited to say the least. That said, a few years ago my work colleagues and I put together a list of our favourite ever PC games with Blizzard's earlier real-time strategy title Warcraft II: Tides Of Darkness getting notable mention. As a result I have had a "Warcraft" game in my 'To Buy List' for what seems like forever.
Anyway, I've been keeping eyes open for an opportunity to sample this distinct gaming franchise for myself. Although the idea of World Of Warcraft, Blizzard's massively multi-player online role-playing title was not really to my palette. Don't get me wrong, I have heard very impressive comments made about the art design and gameplay of this alternative universe game. However, my own limited concentration span and the current demands on my free time have seen me give this option a wide a berth. For a start if the legend of the game's addictive nature holds some truth, a future consisting of marriage break ups, failing to hold down a job and withdrawing from society to such a degree as spending upwards of 48hrs at a time 'living' as my online persona, it is one I can do without.
Following on from some rather horrendous PC problems of late (I'll spare you the details), I have managed to correctly install both games and have taken a very quick peek. First off, the graphics are very impressive and fully realised in eye-popping 3D. As a casual game player and a nostalgic one at that, 3D RTS games still hold an exciting new promise for me. The games high visual standard is reflected in the Menu screens and the introductory cinematics are crisp with lush colours and strong audio support. Although I must say whilst playing through the tutorial mode I found the cartoonish talking heads of the in-game advisor rather laughable. More distracting than actually pulling me into the world of the game.
However, this is a minor criticism and as I am just starting out in my forays into playing Warcraft III, I'll reserve my judgement for a later date. It will suffice for now to say Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos and it's expansion The Frozen Throne have the potential to be a thrilling and original RTS gaming experience.
By the way, my interest in these titles was rekindled in large part thanks to a couple of excellent reviews by Michael Mackenzie. You can check them out here: Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos and The Frozen Throne.
Earlier in the month I managed to snag Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos and the game's expansion pack The Frozen Throne off eBay. My knowledge of Blizzard Entertainment's hugely popular series is limited to say the least. That said, a few years ago my work colleagues and I put together a list of our favourite ever PC games with Blizzard's earlier real-time strategy title Warcraft II: Tides Of Darkness getting notable mention. As a result I have had a "Warcraft" game in my 'To Buy List' for what seems like forever.
Anyway, I've been keeping eyes open for an opportunity to sample this distinct gaming franchise for myself. Although the idea of World Of Warcraft, Blizzard's massively multi-player online role-playing title was not really to my palette. Don't get me wrong, I have heard very impressive comments made about the art design and gameplay of this alternative universe game. However, my own limited concentration span and the current demands on my free time have seen me give this option a wide a berth. For a start if the legend of the game's addictive nature holds some truth, a future consisting of marriage break ups, failing to hold down a job and withdrawing from society to such a degree as spending upwards of 48hrs at a time 'living' as my online persona, it is one I can do without.
Following on from some rather horrendous PC problems of late (I'll spare you the details), I have managed to correctly install both games and have taken a very quick peek. First off, the graphics are very impressive and fully realised in eye-popping 3D. As a casual game player and a nostalgic one at that, 3D RTS games still hold an exciting new promise for me. The games high visual standard is reflected in the Menu screens and the introductory cinematics are crisp with lush colours and strong audio support. Although I must say whilst playing through the tutorial mode I found the cartoonish talking heads of the in-game advisor rather laughable. More distracting than actually pulling me into the world of the game.
However, this is a minor criticism and as I am just starting out in my forays into playing Warcraft III, I'll reserve my judgement for a later date. It will suffice for now to say Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos and it's expansion The Frozen Throne have the potential to be a thrilling and original RTS gaming experience.
By the way, my interest in these titles was rekindled in large part thanks to a couple of excellent reviews by Michael Mackenzie. You can check them out here: Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos and The Frozen Throne.
1 comment:
World of Warcraft's problem is that it's built around addiction rather than fun. Many people will no doubt disagree with this statement, but, based on playing it over a period of several weeks, I can't see anything enjoyable about it at all. It's never about what you're doing at the moment, but rather the promise of what you'll get access to if you complete quest X or reach level Y. To some extent you can probably claim that all games are like this, but many of them do a much better job of concealing the fact that they're simply dangling a carrot in front of your nose and yanking it away again whenever you get close. Blizzard's other RPG series, the Diablo franchise, is based on a similar concept of addiction, but it does a much better job of making the process fun, while the relatively simplistic nature of the games means that you can pick them up and play them for a few minutes at a time as a stress-reliever instead of having to devote your whole life to them.
Warcraft III is much better than World of Warcraft, from my perspective, because of its short-term gains. A typical online game will only last about 15 minutes, maybe longer if both players are extremely skilled and can keep each other at bay. And beyond your online rank (for games won and lost), nothing actually carries through from one game to another, so you don't get this feeling of continual grinding towards a non-existant goal.
Hope you enjoy the games, by the way. Can I recommend that you connect to Battle.net and get the latest patch for it (simply run either Reign of Chaos or The Frozen Throne, blick Multiplayer and then Battle.net on the menu, and it'll update the program for you). This makes some balance changes and fixes some bugs, and is essential if you want to play online or view other players' replays.
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