Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne

Warcraft Remastered Battle Chest

When I turn around at my desk and count the number of Blizzard PC boxes on my shelf I hit nine. When I think of the amount I've bought digitally plus physically I get a bit woozy. Prepare thy pocket book as there is another Battle Chest that just launched today that looks worth buying.

The Warcraft Remaster Battle Chest includes updated visuals and more for classic Warcraft Orcs & Humans, Warcraft II & Warcraft III. The games look to push things into the new age with 4K visuals and a ton of update to Warcraft III that look to sate fans that criticized the release some years ago. At $40 this won't break the bank, even if you already have these games in a much... Read All

WarCraft III: Reforged Is The Best Coat of Paint on Azeroth!

WarCraft III: Reforged launched yesterday and being a huge fan of the original and the Frozen Throne expansion I was heavily anticipating it's launch. Now that the game's out I've downloaded it and played it on my PC and started the Orc prologue campaign. Back in 2002 Blizzard released the Orc prologue campaign as a standalone game demo that setup the events of WarCraft III. I always felt like it was a unique way to release a demo, with original post game content but as Blizzard recently noted, most fans had no idea it existed. Later on they patched in the prolog into the main game as a playable option but it didn't contain the incredible voice acting and most people... Read All WarCraft III: Reforged launched yesterday and being a huge fan of the original and the Frozen Throne expansion I was heavily anticipating it's launch. Now that the game's out I've downloaded it and played it on my PC and started the Orc prologue campaign. Back in 2002 Blizzard released the Orc prologue campaign as a standalone game demo that setup the events of WarCraft III. I always felt like it was a unique way to release a demo, with original post game content but as Blizzard recently noted, most fans had no idea it existed. Later on they patched in the prolog into the main game as a playable option but it didn't contain the incredible voice acting and most people we're either focused on multiplayer or were done playing WarCraft III to notice. All that said, WarCraft III: Reforged is back and it might be a cliche thing to say at this point but it's more true with this game than most but if you loved the original you need to play Reforged.

Let's Start With The Controversy... Because There's Always Controversy

The strongest part of WarCraft III: Reforged is the thing it's getting some negative reaction from in that originally Blizzard said that they'd change up aspects of the single player campaign considerably and it seems like they let that go in favor of giving you the original game with a new visuals. As you can see from the video above the way they showed the scene at Blizzcon this year is not how the game shipped. It seems Blizzard took the fan critique they heard from players that preferred the original WarCraft III camera and reverted back to that forgoing the more modern cinematic style they showed at Blizzcon. This has caused quite a negative fan reaction but I frankly can see both sides and I'm with Blizzard on reverting the camera style to the original.

Put simply, HD remakes are better served with fewer changes to the original source material and deciding to prefer the original camera angles is best form of respect to the original material. I know the original WarCraft III is still available to install and that version will always exist but focusing HD remakes on making fewer changes to the base game is the better choice because HD remakes are generally more more accessible because they are newer and in the case of WarCraft III: Reforged seamlessly connect to modern Battle.net and are available in the launcher making them more accessible. There's also a charm to the hokey camera angles of WarCraft III that firmly date it back in the 2000 era of PC gaming that should be experienced by a modern audience in 2020.

I Don't Care About Camera Angles, Is This Game Any Good?

If you like hero focused real time strategy games then uh yeah, WarCraft III is good, it's actually really good. But you know, I'm also incredibly biased because every couple years I come back to play the campaign. In fact when I heard Reforged was on it's way I stopped playing WarCraft III and decided to play the Reforged campaign from the start again ... for the first time.

And like I said before, this is WarCraft III with a 4K coat of paint and it's superb. The gameplay is crisp and that 2000's PC era awkward polygons of the original game are rounded out to create quite a visual treat. Blizzard did such a great job respecting the original game it's actually pretty hard to notice many changes. That said the biggest change to the game are the visuals, something they took the most inspiration from being World of Warcraft. Because, see kids, before World of Warcraft hit the streets WarCraft III was the king of Azeroth. As World of Warcraft became the biggest MMO of all time it also developed a more of a unique visual identity that was originally rooted in WarCraft III. That said, as visuals evolve and 3D tech to match it certain characters look different in World of Warcraft than in WarCraft III. One big change I noticed right away is that Thrall in WarCraft III: Reforged looks quite different than in vanilla WarCraft III. It's not a big deal but as the original is burned forever in my brain I noticed. And a lot of other models have changed too to fit World of Warcraft better and this is a change I don't mind. It's less keeping WarCraft III: Reforged for strict purists but it's not abandoning the World of Warcraft players either.

I heartily welcome WarCraft III: Reforged because it's Blizzard giving one of my most beloved games a very purist treatment. But I do understand that some people wanted what they saw at Blizzcon and I can't say I blame them for that. With that I also agree with Blizzard for keeping to the original game because at the end of the day, the game was already great it just needed a 4K coat of paint.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/30/2020 at 10:00am

I've played the first two WarCraft games and that's it. I'm not sure how I over looked WarCraft III. I'm glad they did this, that means I have something to look forward to playing, whenever I get around to it. It's difficult to play classic games in modern times, because they look awful in comparison, that's why I love these HD remakes.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/30/2020 at 03:55pm

All that I’ve read about this game controversy-wise seems to be that it’s way unoptimized and buggy but it seems like you haven’t seen that at all.

It could have been neat if they kept the changes they presented at blizzcon with the option of switching to what they shipped with. Best of both worlds. There’s lots of speculation as to why they ended up shipping what they did but this wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/30/2020 at 05:21pm

> but it seems like you haven’t seen that at all.

Last night the game seemed to hard lock near the end of a mission but it just paused and continued and I was REALLY nervous i'd have to replay it. So i'd say so far, everything is fine, but there are little pauses from time to time that I imagine Blizzard will fix. Seen nothing beyond that but i'm running a pretty beefy Desktop and Windows 10.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/31/2020 at 03:43am

Uh, this isn't very cool.

"All your Warcraft 3: Reforged custom games belong exclusively to Blizzard"

https://www.pcgamer.com/all-your-warcraft-3-reforged-custom-games-belong-exclusively-to-blizzard/

I guess they are still sore about DoTA.

Travis Admin wrote on 02/01/2020 at 08:38pm

I saw this reddit comment breaking down some of the critiques. The one about them removing the old client for online play and forcing that download, while removing features is problematic. Even if you don't buy this, your current version of War 3 gets downgraded.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/ex1927/warcraft_3_reforged_has_a_record_low_08_score_on/fg5y8pp/

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WarCraft III Reforged Coming in 2019!

In what might be the best news out of Blizzcon, Blizzard finally announced that it will release an entirely new HD remake of WarCraft III in 2019! WarCraft III Reforged will include entirely new upgraded visuals as well as a rebuilt game engine that looks fantastic! WarCraft III is one of the best real time strategy games I've played and it's focus on heroes make it really unique in the RTS space. WarCraft III Reforged is available for pre-order now for $30 for the standard game or $40 for the game plus WarCraft III themed DLC included in other Blizzard games.

I'm a huge WarCraft III fan and this is a day one purchase for me but since there are no pre-order bonuses I... Read All

WarCraft III Gets A Horde of New Updates!

WarCraft III finally received the 1.29 update and it's got quite a few things in it worth coming back to if you haven't played it in a while. The biggest is that the game now finally supports 16x9 widescreen! WarCraft III was made in the ol' 4x3 era and even though the 16x9 world wasn't too far away the game was never updated to support different aspect ratios. They've handled this in a few ways by adding black pillars in the menu and then allowing the in game interface to properly scale to handle the resolution. It means the actual in game experience is now properly sized and avoids you having to run the entire game in 4x3! Blizzard has also expanded support to... Read All

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 04/24/2018 at 04:57am

I bought the Starcraft HD remaster and enjoyed it. I've never played Warcraft III, so I'm hoping it gets a remastered re-release.

Travis Admin wrote on 04/24/2018 at 12:41pm

You can't beat Blizzard's long term support for their games.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/25/2018 at 04:37pm

No you can't and they've released a couple follow on fix updates afterward! To me, WarCraft III is one of the best Blizzard games of all time and it's in that place of having good enough 3D graphics to still be good now and it's strategy elements with heroes is pretty unique.

Travis Admin wrote on 04/26/2018 at 03:16am

Yeah I love what they did with Starcraft Remastered, but seeing the improvements they made there only made me realize that War 3 really only needed modern resolutions. It still looks really good. The cartoonish style and the fact that the models aren't pixelated like they were in Starcraft help that along. I think Starcraft used 2D sprites?

Watching some videos of this 1.29 patch, you'd think it was already remastered in some ways. Definitely not in others: the menus are still 4:3, and the character images in the bottom... toolbar? Control center? Whatever you call that. Those images are obviously aging a bit.

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Blizzard Giving Warcraft III Some Amazing New Updates!

When WarCraft III launched back in 2002 I was hooked. I played a ton of WarCraft II and as a fan I was really excited to play the next installment and WarCraft III's focus on heroes, amazing 3D graphics and the story made it one of my most played RTS's of that era. I believe WarCraft III is an important game and since many have been getting the remastered treatment it seems like Blizzard might agree.

"Warcraft III's PTR is back and ready for your scrutiny. Join us in testing widescreen support, hero balance changes, and updates to Map Pools for 1's, 2's, 3's, 4's and Free-for-All. We've also added some experimental modes like 24 player support for custom games. "

... Read All

Blizzard Patching Warcraft III and Diablo 2 For Modern Operating Systems

In the video above Robert Bridenbecker head of the classic games division of Blizzard has recently talked about an upcoming Warcraft III patch 1.27 coming March 15th. If it's anything like the recent Diablo 2 patch it should update the game for modern operating systems and fix some bugs and popular cheat programs.

"It’s been a long time coming, but today we’re releasing 1.14a for Diablo II.

This update focuses on system glitches introduced by modern operating systems. In related news, you can finally retire those old Mac PowerPCs. Included with the update is a shiny new installer for OSX.

We’ve also begun working to improve our cheat-detection and hack-prevention... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 03/14/2016 at 03:01am

I'm downloading D2 for modern Macs right now, and I can't wait to try out W3.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/14/2016 at 03:04am

As a sidenote, I was unable to find the new mac client on the game page for the individual games, I had to go here:

https://us.battle.net/account/management/download/?show=classic

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/14/2016 at 04:16am

Good to hear the d2 Mac client is now available. It wasn't yesterday.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 03/14/2016 at 03:37pm

Awesome news!

Travis Admin wrote on 03/14/2016 at 07:19pm

It works really well on Mac, so far. I powered through to level 3 and it was smooth.

I don't know how to make it run windowed, though. The option isn't in there where you'd expect it to be. They haven't patched resolutions so you're still limited to 640x480 and 800x600 so in fullscreen it's skewed on widescreen monitors.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/14/2016 at 07:27pm

OK so, you can run in windowed mode by pressing cmd+m

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/14/2016 at 08:09pm

Nice thanks for letting me know. It should be easier to do the widescreen thing with War 3 than D2 as I believe the enemy patting and affronts keyed off what you see.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/14/2016 at 08:09pm

Or keyed to what you should see within a 800x600 field of view. Maybe they can change that?

Hopefully.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/14/2016 at 08:53pm

As of the last War 3 patch you can play it widescreen at least semi-natively with registry settings, so really it's just a matter of Blizz adding the menu options.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/14/2016 at 08:56pm

Ah, never mind. As of the latest patch, the widescreen resolutions are present in the menu already, so this upcoming patch won't have to worry about that.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/14/2016 at 09:01pm

Yup, confirmed. Even without this upcoming patch you can play in glorious 1080p.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/14/2016 at 10:07pm

OK reading more about it, it may still be stretching the image. I'm reading conflicting things about that. If so it doesn't look as bad as it does on Diablo II, perhaps because of the different way the isometric camera works.

Also, I wonder if Starcraft 1 will get this same treatment. I imagine they still have demand for it.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/14/2016 at 10:13pm

Oh! Yes, they will be updating Starcraft, according to what I reported on back in November. I had just forgotten :D

http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/careers/posting.html?id=1600060

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/14/2016 at 11:49pm

Yeah, you can stretch the image but 4x3 preserves the original aspect ratio, at least in the older version. I'll check this one.

It kind of bugs me to have the image stretched a bit so I keep it to 4x3.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/15/2016 at 05:17pm

OK so, trying out War 3 on Mac. Oddly, if you're in fullscreen it's going to stretch regardless, but if you're windowed you can't set the resolution. :/

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/15/2016 at 06:35pm

Having War 3 on Mac means I am going to play this more. I had an old save from the holidays, now I can keep going! I am currently in the Undead missions, which are super fun.

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