WarCraft III returns to PC in its Reforged edition. A version that promised to return the franchise to the top and that is being the opposite.
We have been since your announcement at BlizzCon 2018 waiting for your arrival. A stipulated arrival for the end of 2019 that Blizzard quit almost at the end of last year. We wanted to put the glove on the four hours of redesigned kinematics, the new interface, the total integration with Battlenet or the new additions in history to better connect it with its successor, World of Warcraft.
The Dream Remake, what the veteran players of this strategic game wanted. It was perhaps not the best Blizzcon in recent years but WarCraft III: Reforged, which was the name of this reimagining of the classic, was enough for us. Until it reached the market.
WarCraft III: Refunded
The ladder that gives rise to this paragraph says it all. So much so that even Blizzard has enabled automatic reimbursement for all those fans of the video game who are not happy with the final result. The stir caused by the failed launch of WarCraft III: Reforged must have been heard even in the darkest corner of the Activision Blizzard offices.
It smelled a long time. There was already information that most of what was promised at that Californian fair dedicated to the different Blizzard universes would not be present in the final product. And we didn't want to believe it. But it has been. Most of the promises that invited us to dream have been lost along the way and the only breadcrumbs we have left are a renewed graphic aspect and nothing more.
Why has Blizzard left us naked with passion? Was it the lack of time? According to the company, no, everything has its explanation – which we also want to believe. The only renewed cinematic scene is the one that introduces us to the game, but nothing more. The story remains as it was told 18 years ago, not another word where it does not touch. Both unaltered, according to them, to offer the consumer the same experience that veteran players had in their day. However, the voices have been redone and the reason for this was to add them to the new kinematics and thereby update the complete pack of scenes and added history.
And there is still more. No automatic tournaments, no clans, no profiles, no rankings, no interface renewal or customized campaigns. Or worse, total absence of commands for text chat. All this also affects the players of WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos Classic.
Campaign Mode
WarCraft III: Reforged deals with the history of the Alliance fighting the Plague and the Horde to get out of captivity to return to what they always were, brutal warriors. Between passage and passage, different conflicts span Azeroth, including the Burning Legion and the subsequent rise of Arthas as the Lich King. If you are veteran players, you will know the story by heart, if not, you can visit the official website where they offer some more history of it. However, the plot has not altered an apex with respect to the original so there is no novelty in this reinforced. The changes are in the graphic aspect where here we have been given what they promised.
Now the graphics are in high resolution reaching up to 4K and with models full of infinite details in which to get lost. However, despite the improvements Blizzard makes the video game feel renewed but without losing the essence of the original. Everything has been done with great care and within a few hours you will believe that WarCraft III always looked that way. It is a glorious feeling. However, the scenarios may be a bit empty and some models are somewhat short, such as trees. Perhaps something else could have been worked on in this regard but nothing remarkable.
The missions – 62 to be exact -, abilities of the heroes, constructions or armies have not received changes, nor those of the enemies. There are also no new units or adversaries. In this sense, the only thing different from the original edition is that here we have the Frozen Throne expansion as standard. Although yes, every owner of the original copies will now play on the WarCraft III: Reforged client with graphics adapted to HD monitors although with some negative points.
If you are a player who once spent hours and hours in front of a CRT creating buildings, ordering the heroes to attack the enemy, enjoying custom games or simply exploring all the maps to the millimeter, you are in luck. Not only will you feel at home, but the experience is much more enjoyable than in ancient times. This, of course, is due to the graphic improvement but also because the gameplay of the original has been fully respected. It is also very friendly with new players.
So far everything looks like a scandal. In fact, if you are one of those who like to play away from the network of networks, you may notice in your games that, at most, you will find errors in the description of some skills and little else. The worst comes when we enter its online facet.
Online mode
And we come to perhaps one of the most delicate parts of analyzing the video game. There was a lot of expectation to try the new map editor – with more tools at our disposal – the clan system, the tournament system, the qualifying games or a list of chat channels. All this, except the map editor, has not been added as promised. It is true that Blizzard has spoken about it and will presumably arrive in an upcoming content update, but this is not done.
Versus mode for 1vs1 to 4vs4 or custom games with countless maps created by Blizzard or the community and with options such as spectator mode, game speed, random hero or visibility type among others. But no tournaments or MMR.
We would give them the benefit of the doubt or the patience of waiting for a new patch if, at least, what there is will work correctly, because neither does it. Random disconnections or no match usually occur often and even if we select the Booty Bay map the game tells us that it cannot enter it because it contains an offensive word. And yes, it's a map created by Blizzard and we can't play it.
The icing that decorates the cake is taken by the classic WarCraft III players since with the launch of Reforged they are forced to use the reinforced client and, at the same time, swallowing with the cuts and problems they suffer. That is, they lose all the features that they already had and that they promised us.
At the moment, we only have to wait in this section for Blizzard to put the batteries since since its launch until today there has been no update patch that corrects or improves the situation.
Don't leave, there's still more
The dilemma that analysts have when it comes to scoring video games in cases like this is huge. Do we score for what you have and not for what is missing? Do we rate based on what we have not received? Blizzard has actually made it even more difficult if possible because it is not only that they have not given us the promise, is that the game brings basic manual failures.
The interface today remains the same and is not too well adapted to current resolutions. It gets big and annoying to navigate the mapping. Nor is there a menu with which to create shortcuts – bindear – if not you have to do it through the text file found in the My Documents folder. The chat is huge and you can not only see which channels are active but answering a private is uncomfortable from the main menu. To do this we have to open the list of friends with the pointer, right click, choose who to answer and answer. Forget about trying in the middle of a game, it is not possible and there is no shortcut for it. There is also no full integration of Battlenet into the game, bye groups.
Technically we have seen a somewhat unstable framerate, especially in video scenes generated by the game engine – the original but hypervitaminated. Also excessive wait times completely random on loading screens or even problems with the speed of movement of the mouse – which cannot be configured.
There are also errors in the color palette for the classic version that in theory will be corrected soon but also, and as we have indicated paragraphs above, there are missing skills or untranslated descriptions. Graphic errors we have not had but we have checked in videos and images that exist – as characters that should appear on the screen and do not – so perhaps there may be more errors in other sections that we have not suffered.
With the text and audio – both in Spanish – we have mixed feelings. We think it's a good idea to double the video game with the voices used by their homonyms in World of Warcraft but it doesn't seem to be that way for the public. Also it is not possible to switch to the originals. On the other hand, in this reinforced version, proper names of objects, cities and characters have been adapted as they are currently in the company's mmorpg. Here, too, there is a disparity of opinions, ours being that of something correct and necessary. So why are we not at all comfortable with these decisions? Because both were updated to bring an expanded plot and new cinematic scenes that have not been added, so we believe it is a half-done job.
The dilemma of the note
First of all, it must be said that WarCraft III was once – and perhaps still – one of the best RTS titles. With WarCraft III: Reforged we are offered practically the same thing we already knew since it is the same video game but with different skin. Valuing separately we have an incredibly good campaign mode – although a better spinning script would have been good – with a beastly finish. A totally enjoyable experience from beginning to end that we are sure anyone would buy with their eyes closed. The problem lies in everything else.
Should we penalize that we have been promised functions that have not arrived or have omitted? In a way, yes, they sold it to us, but our duty is to analyze what we have in hand, not the ghost content. Thus the final criticism is divided between a good campaign and a nefarious online mode to which the beginner's mistakes that have been made of launch are added. As something as absurd as being able to chat with a friend in the middle of the game.
Surely these mishaps are corrected soon as usual but nowadays the gaming experience is not as pleasant as we would have liked. And it's a shame because WarCraft III deserved this promised Reforged and not a "Refounded."
CONCLUSION
Blizzard has done an excellent job in giving a breath of fresh air to WarCraft III with Reforged in graphic matters. The quality of the models of both characters and buildings is excellent and the same for the sound section. The campaign is still a delight and very fun. However, its online facet makes water everywhere with an unpolished netcode, lacking promised content and errors, in general, nothing common in a company that has been creating high quality video games for more than a quarter of a century. It looks like a product to finish.
THE BEST
- Excellent graphic finish.
- The gameplay is still wonderful.
- The campaign is still beastly and long lasting.
WORST
- No renewed kinematics or extension of the main plot.
- Online games that are usually disconnected.
- No tournaments, qualifiers, clans or profiles.
- Disastrous integration with Battle.net.
- Lack of chat commands.
- Keyboard shortcuts (not all) through a text file.
- Various errors and unusual absences in size games.
Improvable
It may have acceptable elements and entertain, but in general it is an experience that will leave no trace.
