Warcraft 3: Reforged: Test: Really as murky as everyone says?

Almost 18 years ago, Blizzard Entertainment released Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos, a strategy game that is still considered one of the best representatives of this genre to this day. In addition, it paved the way for the huge online phenomenon World of Warcraft, and the popular genre of MOBA would probably not exist without Warcraft 3 today. It is therefore not surprising that the community happily jumped when a remake was announced. The new edition with the suffix Reforged is finally here. And angered the fans like rarely a game before.

At the latest when Blizzard presented a demo of Warcraft 3: Reforged at BlizzCon 2018, the anticipation of the fans knew no limits. After all, the material shown looked terrific: not only the units and landscapes abounded with loving details, but also the cutscenes shone with a modern glow. Even the interface made a pleasantly fresh impression. However, doubts already arose during the first test phases: after all, the remake no longer seemed as fluffy as in the presentation. However, such shortcomings could still be explained by the early status of the pre-release version – it would certainly improve by the release. But a few days ago the bitter disappointment: nothing has improved.

We really like that

But one after the other. To this day, Warcraft 3 is considered a reference for strategy players. His campaign, which is as extensive as it is exciting, four playable factions and the very entertaining multiplayer mode are still unmatched. Despite the remarkable age of 18, the game has hardly lost any of this charm. One would think that it would be laughed if a developer like Blizzard, known as a perfectionist, could not convert such a classic into the modern.

In fact, we first have to find out that we really like Warcraft 3: Reforged on some points. Above all, the revised graphics have made a significant leap forward compared to the original: It starts with nicer textures, goes over slightly adapted locations and extends to a much more stylish presentation of light and shadow effects. The water also looks better in the remake. The same applies to the loving details of the units, which even show small tufts of fur and individual bones (among the undead). Such little things greatly benefit the atmosphere.

In addition, 18 years after the original release and countless playthroughs, the game's solo campaign still captivated us as before. The events surrounding Arthas, Jaina & Co. are told damn well, the production has lost none of its splendor. Blizzard even made minor changes here and there. This affects, among other things, a mission that takes you to Stratholme, or the depiction of Sylvanas Windrunner as a real Banshee unit. However, Blizzard dropped the originally announced, more extensive adjustment to the status of World of Warcraft during development. On the one hand that's a shame, but it benefits the original feeling of the classic. Thanks to the four factions, all of their strengths and weaknesses are also fun to play in multiplayer.

What we don't like

But now follows the inevitable fat "but". Because in the case of Warcraft 3 Reforged, a lot went wrong. It is not even possible to say exactly why and how something could happen, but pretty much every aspect of the game seems to be affected. Let's start with the previously praised graphics improvement. Yes, the reforged variant looks prettier. However, the release version of the 2018 demo lags significantly behind. There is not much left of the newly created cutscenes that dripped with atmosphere at BlizzCon. Slight changes can be seen here and there, but the end result is much less impressive than promised.

The same applies to the rest of the graphics, which are presented in a drilled form, but also do not reach the BlizzCon level – not to mention the user interface. That borders on misleading advertising, because quite a few fans may have placed their pre-orders due to the presentation at that time.

Warcraft III: Reforged – Launch Trailer

Warcraft III: Reforged is a complete redesign of the timeless real-time strategy game classic. Experience the epic beginnings of the Warcraft saga.

But that's not all: there are also some unexplained technical problems. Our test games were plagued by sometimes very annoying lags. It gets worse in multiplayer mode. Regular breaks in the connection are almost the lesser evil. All the missing features, which were still included in the original from 2002, have a worse effect: We are looking in vain for rankings that should provide additional motivation in the multiplayer part, including of Profiles or a tournament tool lacks any trace.

Even with the editor, Blizzard allows itself a discussion-worthy approach: While this laudably offers you a few new functions, at the same time Blizzard secures all rights to the custom maps created by fans and prohibits the use of third-party brands or their copyrights. With this one wants to avoid an independence there like with Dota back then. The merger of the original and the reforged client is also at least questionable. If you only have the original version of Warcraft 3, you will also benefit from all future updates – but without the new graphics.