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93-530: Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos is a high fantasy real-time strategy computer video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment released in July 2002. It is the second sequel to Warcraft: Orcs & Humans , after Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness , the third game set in the Warcraft fictional universe, and the first to be rendered in three dimensions . An expansion pack , The Frozen Throne ,

186-555: A day/night cycle to the series. Besides having advantages or disadvantages for certain races, at night most creeps fall asleep, making nighttime scouting safer; however, the line of sight for most units is also reduced. Additionally, some Night Elf units become invisible at night when not moving. Other minor changes to the gameplay were due to the 3D terrain. For instance, units on a cliff have an attack bonus when attacking units at lower elevations. In addition, Warcraft III adds powerful new units called heroes. For each enemy unit killed,

279-451: A deep concern with moral issues; in other works, the conflict is a power struggle, with, for instance, wizards behaving irresponsibly whether they are "good" or "evil". Role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons with campaign settings like Dragonlance by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis and Forgotten Realms by Ed Greenwood are a common basis for many fantasy books and many other authors continue to contribute to

372-417: A fixed interface in the bottom of the screen that displays a mini-map , the information about the currently selected unit or group of units and possible actions for this unit or building. If multiple units are selected, the game automatically groups them by type, allowing all units of the same type to be given special commands (like using their skills). A small top bar displays the current time of day as well as

465-466: A fog of war portion of a mini-map may not be updated until they are rediscovered. Similar to custom layers in Google Earth , some team-oriented multiplayer games, such as Age of Empires II or Empire Earth , allow players to draw temporary lines, signals or markings on the mini-map for others to see. This allows for quick communication over large distances in games. In some 3D video games,

558-455: A friend in ranked matches, Warcraft III offers "Arranged Team Games", where a team joins a lobby, and Battle.net will search for another team; as with anonymous matchmaking, the enemy team is not known beforehand. While campaign games can have many different objectives, the sole objective in multiplayer games is to destroy all the buildings of the opposition. In default melee matches, players can pick their own heroes, and losing one will not end

651-403: A hero will gain experience points , which allow the hero to level-up to a maximum level of 10. Progressing up a level increases the hero's attributes and also allows the hero to gain new spell options (bringing role-playing video game elements to the series). Certain hero abilities can boost allied units. All heroes can equip items to increase skills, defense, and other abilities. At level six,

744-709: A limited base. The last level of each race's campaign is an "epic battle" in which a large number of enemy foes has to be defeated. The game's multiplayer mode uses the Battle.net network. Players can create free accounts in regional "gateways," which helps reduce lag ; these are Azeroth ( U.S. East ), Lordaeron ( U.S. West ), Northrend ( Europe ), and Kalimdor ( Asia ). Unlike previous Battle.net-enabled games, Warcraft III introduced anonymous matchmaking , automatically pairing players for games based on their skill level and game type preferences, preventing cheating and inflating their records artificially. If players want to play with

837-429: A mini-map, the mini-map begins completely blank, while the map is automatically drawn as the player discovers new areas of the game world. After players discover new areas, the terrain of the discovered area often remains visible on the mini-map. If the player's characters or units cease to see the area, the area might be covered by a fog of war , so that unit or structure movements in that area will not be shown. Things in

930-465: A more cartoonish looking world that started with Warcraft III was continued in World of Warcraft which deliberately used less realistic depictions to allow the game to be played on less powerful PCs, thus increasing the potential player-base. The artwork of Warcraft III was hugely influential on a number of other high fantasy real-time strategy games that followed it. Most of the music of Warcraft III

1023-458: A more realistic experience, based on the belief that PC gamers preferred these graphics, leading to Warcraft: Orcs and Humans looking like Medieval Europe . Blizzard allowed classical fantasy properties like Dungeons & Dragons and The Lord of the Rings to influence Warcraft II , adding more fantasy races such as elves, ogres and dwarves, while still keeping a more realistic design. With

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1116-653: A notable part in other Blizzard games, such as Hearthstone (2014). The majority of the playable heroes from Warcraft III were featured in their crossover multiplayer game Heroes of the Storm (2015). In October 2018, Comic Book Resources listed four characters introduced in Warcraft III in their list of the Top 25 most iconic characters ever created by Blizzard, including Illidan Stormrage and Jaina Proudmoore. High fantasy High fantasy , or epic fantasy ,

1209-470: A powerful sword called Frostmourne. When he is told that his forces have been recalled by the Emissary, he begins losing his sanity and engineers the burning of his own ships to prevent their return. Arthas and Muradin eventually find Frostmourne but learn that the sword is cursed. Disregarding the warning, Arthas offers his soul to gain the sword which leads to Muradin being knocked out (and presumed dead) by

1302-527: A rapidly spreading plague , which kills and turns human victims into the undead. Arthas kills the plague's originator, Kel'Thuzad, and then purges the infected city of Stratholme which leads Jaina to part ways with him in disgust. The Prophet, who failed to convince other human leaders to flee west, begs Jaina to go to Kalimdor. Arthas pursues the dreadlord Mal'Ganis to the icy continent of Northrend, where he helps his old friend Muradin Bronzebeard in finding

1395-536: A real-time automap include Sirius Software 's Wayout in 1982 and Arsys Software 's WiBArm in 1986. When the feature became popular with action-oriented games such as Doom and Diablo , the automap feature in these games did not pause the game and allowed the player to continue gameplay while the map was on screen. MUDs , which were popular multiplayer virtual worlds in the mid-1990s, rarely provided an automap. This resulted in MUD clients adding automapping as

1488-641: A recreational aspect to Warcraft III . Global scores and standings in matchmaking games are kept on a "ladder". Warcraft III takes place in the fictional world of Azeroth. Several years before the events of the game, a demon army known as the Burning Legion, intent on Azeroth's destruction, corrupted a race called the Orcs, and sent them through a portal to attack Azeroth. These events were previously shown in Orcs & Humans , Tides of Darkness and Beyond

1581-433: A remastered version of both Warcraft III and its expansion, The Frozen Throne , called Warcraft III: Reforged . Warcraft III takes place on a map of varying size, such as large plains and fields, with terrain features like rivers, mountains, seas, or cliffs. The map is initially hidden from view and only becomes visible through exploration. Areas no longer in sight range of an allied unit or building are covered with

1674-544: A retrospect published in March 2018, Waypoint calls the game's story "one of the all-time great single-player campaigns in history", specifically emphasizing the Alliance mission "The Culling" in which the player is placed in a no-win situation and forced to help Arthas slaughter his own people before they turn into aggressive zombies . Three years prior, in 2015, Vice called "The Culling" as well as Arthas's betrayal at

1767-671: A score of 92/100, indicating "Universal acclaim". Most critics praised the game's graphics, both the design of the individual units as well as the game world itself, concluding that Blizzard successfully entered the 3-D universe. German magazine PC Games compared the units' appearance to beauty pageant contestants and emphasized many details such as waving capes, knights who balance their weight from one foot to another while standing around and bodies of water colored red when units die in them. The campaign-related cinematics were especially noted, with multiple critics declaring them most impressive feats of video rendering. However, GameSpot noted that

1860-516: A shard of ice when Frostmourne is released. Arthas slays Mal'Ganis with the blade and returns to Lordaeron where he murders his father, King Terenas. Now an Undead Death Knight, Arthas meets with the leader of the dreadlords, Tichondrius, who tasks him with resurrecting Kel'Thuzad. After exhuming his body and killing his former mentor Uther the Lightbringer for his father's urn to transport the remains in, Arthas sets off to Quel'Thalas, kingdom of

1953-406: A system of "seamless quests ". Some plot development happens in an occasional cinematic, but most occurs in-game with cutscenes. Objectives, known as quests, are revealed during the progress of the map. Main quests are those that must be completed to proceed to the next chapter, but there are also optional side quests that are not initially revealed, but can be discovered and completed while following

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2046-404: A tournament item at BlizzCon 2005 and other tournaments around the world. DotA is largely attributed with to being the most significant inspiration for the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) genre. A strong fanbase has opened up the opportunity for sponsorship and advertising, eventually leading the genre to become a global cultural phenomenon. In 2012, Valve acquired commercial rights to

2139-541: A unit and an appearing icon collar. In the early stages of development, Blizzard emphasized the role-playing aspect and downplayed base building. Around January 24, 2000 a video from Korea appeared on the Internet; the video showed some aspects of gameplay along with commentary by Pardo. This version already had an interface concept, however most of the interface were placeholders. It had a map, icons for abilities and unit commands and an eye-shaped display for gold. Originally,

2232-487: A variety of tasks. Though the editor has received updates through game patches, it is not officially supported as a product. The Lord of the Rings was a particularly popular subject for modded maps, as a trilogy of movies was released around the same time as Warcraft III . Some custom maps have enjoyed great success, particularly maps based on Aeon of Strife such as Defense of the Ancients (DotA), which became

2325-472: A year of work this concept did not work out and the existing framework was used to create Warcraft III instead. As a result of these design choices, the first version shown at ECTS 1999 had no notable interface, however it did have portraits for the heroes. In first previews, the game's design and gameplay was therefore compared to games such as Myth and Heroes of Might and Magic . Various articles showed that abilities and items were used via right-click on

2418-400: Is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters , themes , or plot . High fantasy is usually set in an alternative, fictional ("secondary") world , rather than the "real" or "primary" world. This secondary world is usually internally consistent, but its rules differ from those of the primary world. By contrast, low fantasy

2511-407: Is an orphan or unusual sibling, and frequently portrayed with an extraordinary talent for magic or combat. They begin the story young, if not as an actual child, or are portrayed as being very weak and/or useless. The hero often begins as a childlike figure, but matures rapidly, experiencing a considerable gain in fighting/problem-solving abilities along the way. The progress of the story leads to

2604-531: Is characterized by being set on Earth, the primary or real world, or a rational and familiar fictional world with the inclusion of magical elements. The romances of William Morris , such as The Well at the World's End , set in an imaginary medieval world, are sometimes regarded as the first examples of high fantasy. The works of J. R. R. Tolkien —especially The Lord of the Rings —are regarded as archetypal works of high fantasy . The term "high fantasy"

2697-534: Is divided into four campaigns, each featuring a different faction. Each campaign is itself divided into chapters, and there is a set order in which they have to be played as the story follows the events in these campaigns. Additionally, an optional prologue campaign that serves as a tutorial can be played before starting the main campaign. Unlike previous Blizzard titles, such as Warcraft II or StarCraft , there are no mission briefings in which plot exposition occurs and objectives are announced; rather, Warcraft III uses

2790-574: Is laid out similarly to that of StarCraft , and is told through the races in a progressive manner. Players can also play matches against the computer, or against others—using local area networking (LAN) or Blizzard's Battle.net gaming platform. After Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal , the last in the Warcraft saga, was released in 1996, Blizzard began development of a point-and-click adventure game called Warcraft Adventures: Lord of

2883-491: Is not considered to include the sword and sorcery genre. High fantasy has often been defined by its themes and messages. " Good versus evil " is a common one in high fantasy, and defining the character of evil is often an important theme in a work of high fantasy, such as The Lord of the Rings . The importance of the concept of good and evil can be regarded as the distinguishing mark between high fantasy and sword and sorcery. In many works of high fantasy, this conflict marks

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos - Misplaced Pages Continue

2976-526: Is powerful enough to allow modders to change almost any aspect of the game and create new maps that feature little of the game's original content. Despite its wealth of features, the World Editor was easy enough for players without any coding experience to design new games. Through Battle.net, players can then share these maps with others, increasing the popularity of custom maps. To facilitate modding, Blizzard and third-party developers released tools for

3069-466: Is similar to a mini-map but traces its origin back to early role-playing games . In early dungeon crawl video games, players were expected to draw maps by hand as they played the game to solve complex mazes and explore large dungeons. Game boxes such as those for early 1980s Wizardry games included graph paper for this purpose. Games featuring automapping simulate the creation of a map, typically showing an abstract top-down view of nearby areas of

3162-756: The 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards , the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences awarded Warcraft III with " Computer Strategy Game of the Year "; it also received nominations for "Computer Game of the Year", "Innovation in Computer Gaming", " Outstanding Achievement in Game Design ", and " Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition ". Warcraft III has been an influence on real-time strategy games, especially

3255-580: The DOTA name trademark. Immediately after the release, Blizzard began brainstorming content for an expansion and development began in October 2002. In January 2003, Blizzard announced that the expansion pack was titled The Frozen Throne and continues the story for the Night Elves, Humans and Undead after the events of the main game while providing a completely separate, role-playing focused campaign for

3348-576: The World Editor , or the default multiplayer scenarios. The map editor allows a variety of custom maps to be created, such as a number of tower defense and multiplayer online battle arena maps, the most notable of which was Defense of the Ancients . The game also offers friends lists and channels for chatting, where players can create custom channels or join Blizzard-approved ones. Warcraft III also allows players to band together to form "clans", which can participate in tournaments or offer

3441-561: The World Tree . In the game, as in many real-time strategy (RTS) games, players collect resources, train individual units and heroes, and build bases in order to achieve various goals (in single-player mode), or to defeat the enemy player. Four playable factions can be chosen from: Humans, Orcs, (both of which appeared in the previous games) and two new factions: the Night Elves and the Undead. Warcraft III ' s single-player campaign

3534-509: The fog of war , meaning that while the terrain remains visible, player caused changes such as enemy troop movements and building construction are not. During a game, players must establish settlements to gain resources, defend against others, and train units from buildings to explore the map and fight computer controlled foes. There are three main resources that are managed in Warcraft III : gold , lumber , and food . The first two are required to construct units and buildings, while food restricts

3627-650: The Burning Legion marching towards Mount Hyjal in their intent to corrupt the World Tree and thus the whole world, Humans, Orcs, and Night Elves form a reluctant alliance to spring a trap on the Burning Legion. They manage to delay the Legion long enough for many ancestral spirits to gather at the World Tree and destroy Archimonde as he attempts to reach it but in doing so, the Night Elves lose their immortality and their power over nature will gradually wane over time, though they do not mind. Peace once again comes to Kalimdor as

3720-414: The Burning Legion's forces wither away in defeat. Medivh, in a final monologue , then states that he needed to teach the world that guardians are no longer necessary to look after Azeroth and that he is satisfied that his task is now complete. Medivh then disappears, stating that he will now take his place amongst the legends of the past. After the success of Warcraft II (1995) and Warcraft II: Beyond

3813-659: The Clans , which was supposed to continue the story. Lord of the Clans was canceled in favor of Warcraft III in 1998, which was presented to the public at the European Computer Trade Show in September 1999. The game's design and gameplay was significantly altered during development, with the final game sharing little similarities with the originally presented version (see similarities to StarCraft ). The game received acclaim from critics, who praised

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos - Misplaced Pages Continue

3906-402: The Dark Portal (1996), Blizzard originally planned to continue the story with a point-and-click adventure game called Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans . This game was supposed to tell the story of Thrall from being raised in captivity to becoming the leader of his clan. However, in 1998, Blizzard canceled Lord of the Clans for not meeting the company's quality standards. Thrall's story

3999-525: The Dark Portal . After many years of fighting, the Orcs were defeated by a coalition of humans, dwarves and elves known as the Alliance; the surviving Orcs were herded into internment camps, where they seemed to lose their lust for battle. With no common enemy, a period of peace followed, but the Alliance began to fracture. The game follows the story of three different heroes: The young and idealistic human paladin and crown prince of Lordaeron, Arthas Menethil , as he becomes more and more corrupted until he joins

4092-608: The Exclusive Gift Set, came bundled with the cinematic DVD, official BradyGames strategy guide, and Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition. At BlizzCon 2018 on November 2, 2018, Blizzard announced a remaster of both Warcraft III and its expansion The Frozen Throne entitled Warcraft III: Reforged featuring remodeled characters and graphics with a prospective release in 2020. It was released on January 28, 2020. Many promised features and updates were not initially included, and several controversial changes were also made to

4185-464: The Legion to be destroyed. Kel'Thuzad opens a dimensional portal and summons the demon Archimonde, who begins the Burning Legion invasion, not before destroying Dalaran. Arthas and Kel'Thuzad are cast aside by Archimonde but Kel'Thuzad reveals to Arthas that the Lich King has already foreseen this and is planning to overthrow the Burning Legion. Thrall arrives on Kalimdor, meeting Cairne Bloodhoof and

4278-528: The Legion's control. Thrall manages to reach the Oracle, in fact the Prophet, who tells him of Grom's actions. Following the Prophet's directions, Thrall and Jaina join forces and capture Grom, healing him of Mannoroth's corruption. Thrall and Grom begin to hunt Mannoroth and Grom kills him, dying in the process, but in doing so freeing the orcs from the demonic control of Mannoroth. Tyrande Whisperwind, leader of

4371-527: The Night Elves, is outraged to find the Humans and Orcs violating the forests and blames them for Cenarius' death, so she vows to destroy both. However, she soon finds out that the Burning Legion has arrived on Kalimdor. In order to oppose the Burning Legion, Tyrande reawakens the sleeping Elf Druids, starting with her lover, Malfurion Stormrage, and frees his brother Illidan Stormrage from prison, against Malfurion's wishes. Illidan meets Arthas, who tells him about

4464-413: The Orcs. Among other changes, The Frozen Throne added a new hero for each faction as well as five neutral heroes that can be hired by all factions. After a public beta test that allowed 20,000 players to test the expansion, it was released worldwide on July 1, 2003. Upon release, Blizzard made Warcraft III available with four different box arts, one for each faction, in a limited edition. In addition to

4557-414: The Storm . Blizzard pointed to DotA as an example of what dedicated mapmakers can create using strong developer's tools. DotA All-stars became an important tournament scenario, starting with its prominence at the debut of Blizzard's BlizzCon convention in 2005. Since then, MOBAs have had a big impact on the development of esports , becoming some of the most watched games in the world. The World Editor

4650-710: The Tauren and clashes with a human expedition on the way to find an Oracle. Meanwhile, the Orcish Warsong Clan is left behind in Ashenvale to build a permanent settlement, but angers the Night Elves and their demigod Cenarius by cutting down the forests for resources. To defeat them, the Warsong leader Grom Hellscream drinks from a fountain contaminated with the blood of the Legion's pit lord commander Mannoroth, successfully killing Cenarius, but binding his clan to

4743-460: The Undead and assists with the summoning of demonic forces to Azeroth; the adventures of Orc warchief Thrall as he brings his people to the continent of Kalimdor to escape human captivity and the impending downfall of Lordaeron; and the events involving Tyrande Whisperwind, the Night Elven leader, who has to deal with both the arrival of humans and orcs in their sacred lands and the invasion by

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4836-561: The addition of demons) and only a single resource to be mined. In January 2001, Blizzard announced the Night Elves as the last race as well as the conversion of demons into an NPC race. The next major changes came between ECTS 2000 and E3 2001, when a different interface and the Night Elf race was revealed. The versions demonstrated at E3 2001 and ECTS 2001 already contained all the final interfaces and units. In April 2001, Blizzard still experimented with different resources and had versions of

4929-422: The addition of role-playing elements and heroes as units. More than the game itself, mods created with the World Editor led to lasting changes and inspired many future games. Defense of the Ancients (DotA) paved the way for the multiplayer online battle arena genre, inspiring the creation of the mod's standalone sequel, Dota 2 , and games such as League of Legends , Heroes of Newerth , and Heroes of

5022-451: The character models were of mediocre quality, especially when viewed up close during in-game cutscenes. Critics also praised the interface as simple yet powerful and making it very easy for players to effectively control their units. The game's soundtrack was widely lauded as atmospheric and aiding the game's tone, featuring faction-specific music such as heroic hymns (humans) or charming flute melodies (night elves). Reviewers especially noted

5115-405: The character's learning the nature of the unknown forces against them, that they constitute a force with great power and malevolence. The villains in such stories are usually completely evil and unrelatable. "High fantasy" often serves as a broad term to include a number of different flavors of the fantasy genre, including epic fantasy , mythic fantasy, dark fantasy , and wuxia . It typically

5208-567: The country's seventh best-selling computer game between January 2000 and August 2006. Warcraft III received a "Gold" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom. In France, it sold over 200,000 units by March 2005. The game was awarded the title "game of the year" by GameSpot as well as "best real-time strategy game of

5301-526: The currently owned resources and the current upkeep level. The top left corner displays a portrait of the player's hero(es) for quick access. If worker units have no jobs to do, their icons are displayed in the bottom left corner for easy assignment. Warcraft III features four playable factions: The Human Alliance — a coalition of humans, dwarves, and high elves — and the Orcish Horde — composed of orcs, trolls, and minotaur -inspired tauren — return from

5394-552: The demon forces. The game opens with the Orc leader, Thrall , waking from a nightmare warning him of the return of the Burning Legion. After a brief encounter with a being who is known only as "the Prophet", and, fearing that his dream was more of a vision than a nightmare, he leads his forces in an exodus from Lordaeron to the forgotten lands of Kalimdor. Meanwhile, Arthas defends the village of Strahnbrad from orcs. He then joins Archmage Jaina Proudmoore , who aids him in investigating

5487-447: The different races' campaigns are structured similarly. Each begins with a level involving simple mechanics to introduce the faction and the basic elements of their hero and units. After one or two such levels, the first "building mission" occurs, requiring them to build and maintain a base while competing with one or more enemy forces. The only campaign that breaks this pattern is the Night Elf campaign, whose first mission involves building

5580-548: The end of the Alliance campaign and the destruction of Dalaran three of the seven greatest moments in Blizzard Entertainment's history. The game's multiplayer features were lauded by many critics with GamePro describing them as "addictive" and a fruitful result of long beta testing. Reviewers emphasized that the Battle.net integration made multiplayer games easier than with any other game at that time and lauded

5673-511: The establishment of a dependable fan base due to the success of the first two games, the creative team behind Warcraft III decided no longer to follow their artistic vision. As such, the game's visuals mark a notable departure from the previous games in the series, using bolder and more vibrant colors and pursuing a more comic book style. Didier also integrated characters he designed for Dungeons & Dragons into Warcraft III , such as Uther The Lightbringer and Illidan Stormrage. The shift towards

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5766-483: The first game and became involved in writing stories and missions in Warcraft II. Warcraft III was the first game Metzen served as creative director for, a role he would continue in for all Blizzard games until his retirement in 2016. As did Warcraft II and StarCraft before it, Warcraft III contains a World Editor program that allows players to create their own custom scenarios and maps. The World Editor

5859-461: The first time, more than 15 years after the game's first release. Warcraft III was the first Blizzard game to be rendered using 3D graphics. Unlike other 3D games of that era, this included all parts of the game, including the menu screens. All characters, including environment units like sheep, have their own 3D portraits when selected that animate when the unit is talking. The game does not use mission briefings like its predecessor but instead tells

5952-475: The game even for players who did not purchase Reforged . This led to mixed reception from critics and negative reception from fans , resulting in Blizzard offering refunds. The release of Warcraft III: Reforged resulted in the termination of the original titles Warcraft III and its expansion The Frozen Throne being supported any further. On review aggregator website Metacritic , Warcraft III received

6045-508: The game was found to be balanced enough that no faction is overpowered. GameSpot emphasized positively that the game adds some variety compared to other real-time strategy titles because it forces players to go exploring early on while simultaneously building their base, lest their hero does not gain sufficient experience to win in later battles. The review also noted that each faction has safeguards in place to prevent one player from rushing their opponent too early. GamePro also highlighted that

6138-547: The game was planned to be released at the end of 2000. At E3 2000, Blizzard showed a first gameplay trailer that included an interface with some elements of the final design. Then from E3 2000 around May 12, 2000 to ECTS 2000 the game was not changed very much. Gameplay footage from 2001 reveals a polished version of the interface seen in the E3 2000 trailer. Back in November 2000, the game was set to feature five playable races (with

6231-399: The game with gold, lumber, mana stones and upkeep or a race depending resource that represented the population like the required food in newer versions. In the middle of January 2002, Blizzard shipped out 5000 beta versions of Warcraft III to randomly selected testers in order to help improve it before being released in stores. The beta release had all the game's units and races, however, it

6324-528: The game world that is automatically updated as the player character gains knowledge of the environment. Automaps typically display doors, terrain types, and important locations or items. When discussing The Bard's Tale III ' s role as one of the first CRPGs with automapping, Computer Gaming World in 1994 wondered "How did we ever play without it?". Early automaps typically found in role-playing video games were pause screens that stopped gameplay when opened. Early examples of video games to feature

6417-464: The game's presentation and multiplayer features. It is considered an influential example of RTS video games and one of the greatest video games ever made . Warcraft III was a commercial success, shipping 4.4 million copies to retail stores, selling over a million within a month. Video game modifications created with the World Editor , such as Defence of the Ancients , led to lasting changes and inspired many future games. In 2020, Blizzard released

6510-417: The game. To make the game proceed more quickly, by default the map is fully revealed but covered in the fog of war. Warcraft III , like Blizzard's previous title StarCraft , allows for single and multiplayer replays to be recorded and viewed, allowing a game to be played at slower and faster speeds and viewed from the perspective of all players. Players can also host custom games, using maps either created in

6603-404: The hero can obtain an "ultimate" skill that is more powerful than the three other spells that the hero possesses. Heroes can also utilize the various natural resources found throughout the map, such as controllable non-player characters, and markets in which the hero can purchase usable items. Often, hero units become the deciding factor in determining a winner. Warcraft III ' s campaign mode

6696-478: The high elves. He kills Sylvanas Windrunner , the Ranger General of Silvermoon (only to resurrect her as a banshee), corrupts their sacred Sunwell and revives Kel'Thuzad as a Lich. The Lich informs him of the Burning Legion, a vast demonic army who are coming to consume the world, as well as about his true master, the Lich King, who was created to aid the Legion with his Undead Scourge but in truth wishes for

6789-463: The individual units' sound effects, the realistic battle noises and mystical magical effect sounds as well the units' humorous comments. The voice acting was praised by many reviewers, with GameSpot finding that it "conveys each personality distinctly and vividly". While IGN also praised most of it, they also noted that some voice acting was mediocre and very few voices actually bad. While each faction has different units with strengths and weaknesses,

6882-418: The main questline, oftentimes granting benefits that help with those main objectives. Through each race's campaign, the player retains control of one or more heroes who slowly grow in experience as the levels progress, which is carried over to subsequent missions, allowing the hero to become more powerful throughout the course of the campaign. While different in terms of story-line and precise gameplay, all of

6975-477: The maximum number of units that can be possessed at the same time. Additionally, a new "upkeep" system means that producing units over certain amounts will decrease the amount of gold one can earn, compelling players to focus on playing with a limited number of units to avoid penalties. The game displays units and buildings as well as the environment from a classical top-down perspective with a slight angle that can only be zoomed and rotated slightly. The game features

7068-501: The mini-map rotates when the player character or game camera faces different directions to keep the top of the map always corresponding to forward from the camera's point of view. This is common for games in the Grand Theft Auto series, and many racing games that show the track in a mini-map. In other games such as The Legend of Zelda series, the map does not rotate but features an arrow that moves about and rotates to show

7161-412: The player character's position and the direction they're facing. In some games, mini-maps that only show the close surrounding area often have icons on the edge to show the direction of locations or characters outside the area shown on the map. Some games also have a feature where the mini-map zooms out when the player character is travelling at high speed and zooms back in when they slow down. An Automap

7254-544: The powerful "Skull of Gul'dan". Consuming the Skull and becoming a demon-elf hybrid, Illidan uses its power to kill Tichondrius but is banished from the forest by his brother as he is now part demon. Meanwhile, the Prophet summons Thrall, Jaina, Tyrande and Malfurion, and reveals that he used to be Medivh, the Last Guardian and the betrayer from Warcraft: Orcs & Humans , returned to make amends for his past sins. With

7347-614: The previous games while the Undead Scourge and the Night Elves were added as two new factions. As in StarCraft , each race has a unique set of units, structures, technologies, and base-building methodology. The game also introduces creeps, computer controlled units that are hostile to all players. Creeps guard key areas such as gold mines or neutral buildings and, when killed, provide experience points, gold, and special items that can be used by heroes. Warcraft III also introduced

7440-569: The regular game, a limited Collector's Edition Warcraft III bundle containing a Warcraft III cinematic DVD , including behind-the-scenes features and the cinematics of all prior Warcraft games; a Collector's Edition Soundtrack ; a Collector's Edition instruction manual ; The Art of Warcraft book; and lithographic prints was released. Blizzard also released the Warcraft Battle Chest , which contains Reign of Chaos bundled with The Frozen Throne in one box. Another version,

7533-445: The settings. Mini-map Mini-maps have become common in real-time strategy and MMORPG video games because they serve as an indication of where the current screen lies within the scope of the game world. Most first-person shooter games also have some version or variant of the mini-map, often showing enemy and teammates locations in real-time. Mini-maps have been around since the age of arcade video games . The term radar

7626-443: The signatures of Blizzard games are the unit quotes: If a single unit is clicked four or more times in a row, the unit's voice samples become increasingly comical. The unit may start getting angry at the player, or make allusions and references to other games, film or jokes. Most of the game's missions and background story was written by Chris Metzen , who also provided the voice for Thrall. Metzen had previously contributed artwork to

7719-406: The story using cutscenes rendered using the game's 3D engine. These cutscenes show the characters using a side-view camera, zooming in to the models. Additionally, each campaign features pre-rendered cinematics that show the outcome of the campaign. According to Samwise Didier , Blizzard's art director for Warcraft III , the company, when developing the first game of the series, attempted to create

7812-534: The variety of factions as well as the balance between those factions. Warcraft III sold one million units in the first month after release, becoming the fastest-selling PC video game in history at that time and surpassing a record set by Diablo II. The NPD Group declared it the third-best-selling computer game of 2002. In the United States, Warcraft III sold 1 million copies and earned $ 49.4 million by August 2006, after its release in July 2002, making it

7905-476: The various mechanics, such as heroes and upkeep, offered more tactical possibilities than ever before. Many reviewers praised the game's campaign for creating an epic storyline that avoids typical stereotypes and provides a nuanced portrayal of the different factions. Gamecritics.com concluded that Blizzard had finally succeeded in fleshing out the story-line of the first two Warcraft titles, giving each side its own motivations and differences beyond cosmetics. In

7998-423: The year" by PC Gamer and received a number of other awards and accolades from critics. In 2018, Rock, Paper, Shotgun declared Warcraft III to be the 34th best strategy game of all time. German magazine GameStar ranked Warcraft III as the best strategy game and the second best PC game of all time in 2018, noting that the game and its expansion pack received scores higher than any other game since. During

8091-475: Was coined by Lloyd Alexander in a 1971 essay, "High Fantasy and Heroic Romance", which was originally given at the New England Round Table of Children's Librarians in October 1969. Many high fantasy stories are told from the viewpoint of one main hero. Often, much of the plot revolves around their heritage or mysterious nature, along with a world-threatening problem. In many novels the hero

8184-404: Was composed by Tracy W. Bush, Derek Duke, Jason Hayes, and Glenn Stafford. The Limited Edition of Reign of Chaos came with much of the orchestral music on a separate CD. Each of the four playable races has different music: monastic music for the humans; ambient and Native American -sounding music for the Night Elves; warlike music for the Orcs; and fast, haunting music for the Undead. One of

8277-580: Was instead worked into Warcraft III , whose development began in early 1998. The game was announced as a role-playing strategy game (RPS) on September 5, 1999, at a press conference by the game's lead designer Rob Pardo inside the Henley-Suite at the European Computer Trade Show 1999. According to Pardo, Mike O'Brien , the game's lead programmer, originally planned a strategy game—tentatively titled Warcraft Legends —with few units to command, over-the-shoulder camera and no base building. However, after

8370-530: Was only playable over Battle.net; single player games and LAN play were not playable on the beta version of the game. Warcraft III was first released in the United States and Australia on July 3, 2002 and in Europe on July 5, 2002. Blizzard continued to maintain WarCraft III , regarding technical issues and compatibility for newer operating systems. In April 2018, Blizzard integrated widescreen support for

8463-601: Was released in July 2003. Warcraft III is set several years after the events of Warcraft II , and tells the story of the Burning Legion's attempt to conquer the fictional world of Azeroth with the help of an army of the Undead known as the Scourge, led by fallen paladin Arthas Menethil . It chronicles the combined efforts of the Human Alliance, Orcish Horde, and Night Elves to stop them before they can corrupt

8556-448: Was used as a tool for creating many popular tower defense custom maps that served as inspiration for the standalone tower defense games, such as Plants vs. Zombies . Many of the characters, locations and concepts introduced in Warcraft III and its expansion went on to play major roles in Blizzard's World of Warcraft (2004), which became the world's most popular MMORPG by player count of nearly 10 million in 2009. They also took

8649-468: Was used through the 1980s instead of mini-map . Battlezone (1980) and Horizon V (1982), have an overhead-view, circular radar showing the locations of enemies. Rally-X (1980) and Defender (1981) have a miniature, rectangular view of the entire scrolling world above or on the side of the play area, allowing players to see enemies that aren't on the screen. Many mini-maps make use of similar features. Common features are: In many games using

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