"WarCraft 2" After years, part 2/3

Part 1/3 -> https://steemit.com/english/@herosik/warcraft-1-after-years-part-1-3

Before I started writing this text, I decided to go through "Tides of Darkness" again, because in previous sessions I didn't pay too much attention to gameplay and its flaws. Over the years, I got used to it and did not catch my eye, such as imperfections in the case of other games, movies or anime. Despite the artificial extension of the game by the need to build many farms and laziness of programmers (both races are still not much different in terms of the game), it was played just as well as in previous sessions. Although I am forced to agree with critics one and two, it is hard to disagree with some of the claims that "Orcs and Humans" looks like the alpha version of "Tides of Darkness". The more that the work began in February, and the game hit store shelves in December of the same, 1995. It's really a tuned one, but with a few fresh ideas that have replaced this overly slow-down gameplay, such as the need to build roads, or the ability to select only 4 units. In the sequel, they increased the limit to 9 soldiers, making the game more dynamic and easier to operate the army in battles. The missions themselves are unfortunately poor compared to the competition, almost all are based on the diagram - expand the base, gather an army, destroy the enemy. The Westwood games also had this template, but there they tried to diversify the gameplay more, throwing more missions that escaped the above scheme. For example, those with a commando / Tanya, or those with a limited number of soldiers in which we have to perform a specific task. Oh yes, Westwood combined gameplay with the plot much better. Although Blizzard games are characterized by a more extensive universe than RA / C&C, they did not know how to marry the game with a proper presentation of the world and heroes until the premiere of "StarCraft". I read about the story in the manual and the cutscenes with a flush of face, learning the world of Azeroth, but my fondness for Kane and his Brotherhood NOD is much stronger.

1996, when players played in "Duke Nukem 3D", "Super Mario 64", "Quake 1", "Civilization 2", "Resident Evil 1", "Command and Conquer: Red Alert", "Tomb Raider 1", "Pokemon: Red / Blue", "Diablo 1", "Crash Bandicoot". The RTS genre still had the best years ahead. Blizzard then begins to ascend the throne, from which it will fall after a dozen or so fat years, and then begin to rot, what symptoms we see today. At the time, however, the situation was different, they rather did not suspect that they would become one of the most important companies for players not only from my generation but also the peers of my uncle. What's more, the first prototypes of custom games appeared in this game, which was developed in StarCraft and 3 parts of Warcraft. I mean various TDs, chasing peons/peasants. I don't remember if there were other maps, I'm talking about those that I checked myself. And they were very limited in relation to what was done with them in "Reign of Chaos" and "Frozen Throne". Despite the strong competition, Blizzard's team won the sympathy of the players at that time. I was still too young to understand how much impact it had on the market and players, but the amount of multiplayer prizes and praise from older players speak for themselves. Diablo, created by Blizzard North, certainly brought it back and who knows if we would see the third installment of WarCraft at all, were it not for the success of the 1st and 2nd part of "Diablo". "StarCraft 1", which they designed then might not be enough to consolidate the position of the Blizzard. Many good studies have not survived the test of time and today it is mainly fans or people who have left their mark.

However, I remember how lucky I was playing with my friends who borrowed games from me or were interested in the subject. The mechanics were simple, so-called "easy to learn, hard to master". I have never played matches at BN, but my friend played a lot and the game was not so trivial, as if it seemed to the folks playing the three. Micro (unit management) and macro (map management) were as key to victory as they were with later Blizzard's products. The mass of ogres with a well-thrown blood-mirror, and mages using polymorphs or shield-fire, require agile fingers and thoughtful moves because units can lose a lot of life by attack/casting animation or the need to turn towards the attacked opponent. This is due to the above reasons and the low amount of hp, which gives less time for effective metrication. Fortunately, artificial intelligence algorithms play less aggressively and are less ruthless against mistakes made by players than in 1. At least in the stand, because the addition "Beyond the Dark Portal" is much more difficult relative to it. Just like in "Tides of Darkness" I had a real problem with up to 3 boards, so an extension to W2, each board is a separate challenge. Almost each of them is repeated 2, sometimes 3 times, but cool - it's easier than in the space RTS.

There is nothing special in the game, but it gives a lot of fun and screwed with the syndrome of one more board. Units are still not much different, they have at most slightly different skills (trolls/elves) or spells (paladins/mages and ogre-mages / death knights). Each race has the same units, which differ only in skin. It was only "StarCraft" that focused on real diversity, introduced more tactical and race options that differ not only in units, weaknesses/strengths but also forced the player to have a different style of entertainment. However, this is only a song of the future, which I will write about in the next text. Returning to the subject, were it not for the fact that at the beginning (usually) we do not have farms and we have to build a few or a dozen of them before we can start to develop, then the game could be finished fairly quickly. While at the initial missions, when we do not have a lot of armies, it is not so tiring yet, the farther away, the longer it takes us to achieve full fitness. One farm costs 500 gold and 250 wood, which means that a peon/villager must go to the mine five times and collect wood 2/3 times (2 times as there is a sawmill, 3 as long as there is no), and increases the maximum number of units by 4. Adding up, to increase the limit to 40, you have to spend 5 thousand. gold pieces and half as much wood. For this price you can build a branch or buy a lot of upgrades.

Before I discuss the story, I have to write about two things. First of all, passing the game this time I paid almost no attention to the story. It doesn't make much sense, as I will explain in point two, and I simply waste my time. I have already devoted so much time to this world, absorbing so much useless knowledge that it is enough for me. Secondly, returned. These appeared already at Wc3, but they were not as big as the changes or additions that WoW made. Nevertheless, what I remember from lore has already been rewritten or corrected several times, so overly detailed talk does not make sense. I stopped following lore after Burning Crusade, so if I write something inconsistent with the current canon, I just have it somewhere xD. Sorry, but these are the effects of adding threads to the fictional world. These are just as insignificant things as some of the threads from books or comics "Star Wars" relative to the film trilogy. Since they were not in the main product, they are bullshit or insufficiently important things that fans of a given universe are excited about.

The script continues the story known from the one - people got a shameful crap, orcs burned their capital, so they had to flee overseas to Loarderon. Refugees are led by Anduin Lothar, the greatest knight of the kingdom of Azeroth and the hero of his people. Orgrim Doomhammer takes over the majority of orcs and, in order to exterminate enemies, enters into an alliance with ogres, trolls, goblins, and dragons. Human races, having no other choice, join forces, and thus formed the Alliance. It consists of elves, gnomes, dwarves, griffins led by them. We have 14 missions per race, in a few appear heroes like Uther Lightbringer, Anduin Lothar, or Zuljin and Cho'gall, but these are characters that do not matter to the player at all. Their stories are not an essential part of the script, so you can even get rid of them altogether. For comparison - it's hard to ignore Kane from C&C '95, who filmed the whole story, such as Arthas in "Reign of Chaos". And it was released earlier than "Tides of Darkness", so it was possible to do something like that, it was enough to have an idea. Anyway, before the premiere of the above games we managed to meet Zelda, Mario, Samus from "Metroid Prime", what more popular fighters from "Tekken" or "Mortal Kombat" and as the example of C&C showed, it was possible to create a charismatic hero who would attract players to monitor screen.

This does not mean that I criticize the plot in W2, I would be a hypocrite if I said that. For years I liked these heroes, just like today I like Sapkowski's characters. I considered this world to be a good universe, and I still think so (putting in brace everything that happened in WoW and its additions). Now I just looked at it objectively, i.e. without emotions, comparing coldly the product to the product that was created in comparable conditions, around the same time, and I see that it could have been done better. And the fact that for years I did not pay attention to it and myself turned on Khadgar, Medivh, Sargeras, and their stories, I blame on great gameplay and skillfully written universe (although WarHammer fans would sooner say "copied"). A well-written world alone, however, is not enough for many people and you need something more to get their attention. You still need to at least introduce intriguing or at least charismatic heroes and properly present them, and then do the same with the world. For example - "Command and Conquer" despite a little detailed world, gains a lot through movie cutscenes (of which there are more than in W2) and a greater impact of the characters on the game.

"Beyond the Dark Portal" continues the threads of the second part of the game. People let the orcs down, and the mage Khadgar and the paladin Turalyon closed the Black Portal leading to Draenor. The problem is that the destruction of the stone structure did not dissipate the magical energy accumulated in the place where it had previously stood. Khadgar knows that the Greens will come back, the only question is when it will happen. He decides not to wait and, together with other champions, creates an expedition whose goal is to drive to Draenor and reach the orcs to zero. At the same time, the shaman Ner'Zhul takes command of the horde and reunites all the clans that began to clash with each other after losing their leader. However, he does not care about defeating the Alliance, or at least this is not his most important goal, but one of several. He is most interested in acquiring several artifacts that will increase his power and allow the opening of many new portals. The plot is still not very outstanding, more heroes do not give much, because they are just as flat as in ToD, but at least they made a step in the right direction in better combining the plot with gameplay. Let's say I have slightly warmer associations than with ToD heroes.

To sum up, despite my complaints, playing "WarCraft 2" gives me pleasure. However, it is difficult for me to say whether the game has grown old well. In the sense, I'm not sure if my opinion is justified and not too dictated by my nostalgia. I will say yes if you plan to play the third part, I recommend it all together. The transition does not take much time, most of the game felt the passage of time well and only a few elements get a little bad. Not enough to cause irritation, but to feel that it is a game from the old days. The times when Blizzard waved the game was for many, many years, and most players were delighted. Ironically, in recent weeks, Blizzard has been faced on almost every side.