Warcraft III: Reforged (PC) Review

Right this moment, as the author of this article types his thoughts about Warcraft III: Reforged, he wants to stop doing so, and enjoy playing it some more. He wants to lead the Orcish horde to the distant lands of Kalimdor, aid the humans in their struggle to fight the seemingly unstoppable, undead scourge, watch as their prince gets engulfed by the flame of his own arrogance, witness the arrival of the demonic Burning Legion, take part in the first lines of battle, and hold it along with the mysterious and ancient Night Elves. Yeah, he also wants to stop sucking at multiplayer...

Those who haven't heard of Warcraft III, and were thinking of trying it out, open your digital wallet, and make that purchase right now! This is a great game, whose simple build-craft-scout-fight gameplay loop still holds up after almost two whole decades. Also note that this repackaging includes the magnificent expansion as well. Note, though, that Wacraft III: Reforged is awesome, because Warcraft III is awesome. This has nothing to do with what the new version has brought to the table. Yup. Blizzard has done it again. What should be an easy win, is an assortment of weird, or just plain wrong decisions.

Before anything else, however, it's important to explain what Reforged is. Is it a remaster? A remake? Something in between? Sure, this was never supposed to be a complete overhaul, yet this isn't a 1:1 remaster the likes of Crash Bandicoot either. It's... sort of remaster-ish... and kind of remake-esque. More than anything else, this is a visual upgrade, with widescreen support, high-definition textures, and reworked 3D models for everything, from simple props, to characters ...and this is the first part where it's evident that this whole 'reforging' thing is completely hit or miss.

Don't take this the wrong way. This remains a beauty, and will please newbies, but some changes will feel weird for many a long-time fan. For starters, the upgrade isn't really as strong as expected from such an old title. Yes, the textures are super high-def, yet unless you are viewing a cut-scene or zooming in really close, which you won't really do while playing this, you won't be impressed, really, as Reforged doesn't really try to spice things up. An improved water effect here, a better "firework" there, and a few additional, but minor bells and whistles, and that's about it.

There’s a general feel of irregularity here too. The 2D campaign start screens look bland compared to the blocky, yet eye-pleasing originals; some models are light-years better than before, yet others are beta version ugly, or have lost their cartoonish magic; many props are less striking and blend into the background; in-game cut-scenes have seen some light alterations, although Blizzard teased them to be redesigned; and, finally, only one CGI cut-scene has been remade. That’s nitpicking, though, as these remain flawless. Oh, and where are the comically enormous cleavages of human gals?!

Of course, the issues mentioned so far will only disappoint a big percentage of WIII fans. Sadly, there are a few problems that will affect both veterans and newcomers. A major oversight, as well as another broken promise, is that this retains the same, big-ass UI, with no scaling option at hand, key-mapping is still nonexistent in-game, as it requires editing a configuration file, and as the cherry on top, this was clearly released unfinished, full of bugs and connection issues. Patches do come frequently, but this isn’t a low-budget student project, but a product from a heavyweight publisher.

This weird hastiness continues with the online portion, with a lack of a variety of features; namely clans, tournaments, ranked ladder, and so on - add to that a slow matchmaking process, or even how a game can occasionally crash to the desktop, and you are in for a treat. It should also be known that any custom games crafted from the slightly updated editor are now property of Blizzard - understandable move from a business perspective, but also a blow to the stomach of one of the biggest mod communities ever - imagine if id Software did the same with friggin' Doom!

Up till now, you still have a great thing on your hands, just one whose improved wrapping isn't as improved as you expected it to be. The sight isn't pretty but there's hope that things will change after some time. Sadly, there's one more problem here, and it will be a deal-breaker for quite a few. This forces its changes on the core title, which means that if you don't own a physical copy of the game, you cannot experience it in its original form anymore. Sure, there's a 'Classic/Reforged' toggle available, but that only changes the visuals. Hard to understand what Blizzard is thinking nowadays...