Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Warcraft Orcs & Humans + Warcraft II Battle.net Edition – Review
Many of today’s younger generation of gamers got into games such as World of Warcraft, without ever truly playing the games that set the stage for the biggest MMORPG of all time. The saga that is known as Warcraft all started in 1994 in America and 1995 in Europe, with Warcraft: Orcs and Humans. The game was an immediate success, and during the same year the second installment already hit the shelves and was a massive improvement of the original in terms of gameplay and graphics. We can easily state that this series put Blizzard on the map and probably allowed them to make the Diablo and StarCraft series very successful as well. Recently the first installment of Diablo was released on GOG.com in a DRM free format, and now Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition followed suit and can also be purchased on GOG.com. These versions work perfectly without having to install programs that allow you to run older games.
Right off the bat, when comparing both games on pretty much all aspects, there’s a world of difference between them, even with only a year in-between. The first game was heavily pixilated, while the second installment had a more comical and smoother art style. The control schemes have been heavily updated in Warcraft II, where you can select a group of nine units, where you can right click to move your character or tell them to attack, and where you can scroll over the map by letting your mouse cursor go to the edges of the screen. The original Warcraft forced you to use the arrow keys in order to scroll over the map, it also only allowed you to select one unit at a time, and you also had to select the move command in order to actually make the desired character do something useful. The buildup of both games is very similar however, you’ll have to build a base, harvest gold, chop trees, drill for oil (only in WCII) and train units to overthrow your opponents. Some missions do only give you a specific amount of units with which you’ll have to complete the mission at hand.
The original Warcraft games already offered a lot of lore that is still known today. Many famous characters in WoW actually originated from the original Warcraft series, with perhaps Warcraft III being the pinnacle of storytelling in the RTS series of Warcraft. That being said, the first two games always offered a short narrative before each mission for each of the playable races, being the orcs and the humans. Each race has its own specific units, but they pretty much have the same basic units, which have nearly the same range and damage output, making sure the game is pretty balanced in terms of which side you’re playing. You can opt to play the campaign, but also custom matches etc. Again, there’s a huge difference in flow for both games, mainly due to the controls and the fact that you can only select one unit at a time in the original Warcraft. Luckily, the games do come with a set of options to alter the speed of the game, allowing you to speed things up, if you’re used to the fast pace of normal games. Be warned though, if you opt for a fast speed, it’s sometimes harder to adjust your commands, especially in the first Warcraft game, as you’ll have to press the command button per character. When planning bigger battles, it’s best to switch to a lower speed for a few moments.
Conclusion
Is it relevant to give a fairly steep amount of money to these old school games? It’s easy to answer that question with a resounding yes. While it certainly takes some time adjusting to the gameplay of the first Warcraft game, the atmosphere, the music and the overall lore make the game great to (re)play, especially without having to tinker with DOSBOX and other programs in order to make it run. When you arrive at the second Warcraft, you’ll be happy that the controls and overall mechanics have been updated and you’ll be good to go in mere moments. While the price may be a bit steep, the DRM free copies are certainly worth it if you really want to replay these classics, or want to dig into the history of Warcraft.
Warcraft Orcs & Humans + Warcraft II Battle.net Edition - Review,
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Loving these classics!
It does take some time getting used to the controls of the first Warcraft. The speed options are certainly a plus!