#8: WarCraft III (2002)

#8: Warcraft III
Platform: PC
Release Date: 2002
Genre: Real Time Strategy

Many people hate it. Even more love it. Some even swear by it. But no matter what, most people are guaranteed to have played it. Yes, I’m talking about WarCraft III (and no, not specifically DotA).

I remember anticipating this game like no tomorrow, back when I was in Form 1. Not only was I a fan of RTS games, WarCraft III also happened to be the sequel to my first ever RTS, WarCraft II (which my older cousin introduced me to and subsequently annihilated me with his army of Dragons OTL).

When I first played WarCraft III, the story-line and hero orientated gameplay totally blew me away. I was so engrossed with the story I practically whosyourdaddy-ed my way through it just to know what happened next. The way I played was akin to an RPG – turn on God Mode, ditch all non-hero units, pump my heroes up with any loot they could find, and Rambo through the whole mission. Yes, pathetic I know but hey, I was 13 back then! XD

That said, I never really enjoyed the RTS-aspects of WarCraft III. The whole RPG-slash-RTS system was too complicated for me, and I found myself either being severely under-leveled, under-teched or under-resourced. I could never find that perfect balance between them, and sucking at micromanagement doesn’t help either.

Due to this, I ended up enjoying WarCraft III for its RPG elements more, which inadvertently leads us to DotA. I first played DotA at random Cyber Cafe sessions with my friends (version 5.XX era), but it wasn’t until after my SPM did I start playing it religiously. The simplicity of the game map made it easily accessible, but the learning curve was a pretty steep one, as I soon learned.

I don’t want to bore anyone with DotA talk, but sufficient to say, I found it very enjoyable. Random DotA matches with my Secondary schoolmates, random DotA sessions with my PE12 classmates, random DotA games in SPR, random DotA games in HiVE versus SPR… Really, what’s not to like? :3

DotA aside, there are countless customs maps in WarCraft III which serve to add even more to the experience. There’s X-Hero siege for the hero-inclined, Tower Defense for the tactical nuts, X-rated maps for the lulz and other maps like Treetag, Hungry Felhounds and Warlock for pure, mind-numbing fun.

To me, WarCraft III will always remain as the top LAN party game. It’s Action 52 done proper. It may not be as exhilarating as StarCraft, as satisfying as Left4Dead or as classic as Counter Strike, but it sure offers something for everyone.

Next: A classical JRPG, complete with bad dubbing and inability to switch between voices!