Blizzard is a game developer that likes to pull things out of the bag and surprise people. As part of the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct stream held on Wednesday November 13, the WoW dev revealed that not only is Warcraft 2 getting remastered, but the original Warcraft Orcs and Humans is too. What’s more, both are available right now, so it’s time to rewind the clock and head back into the original genre-defining RTS games. Now you can see where StarCraft, Command and Conquer, and many others got some of their inspiration from.
It’s always been a shame that Warcraft Orcs and Humans and Warcraft 2 have been left behind – they defined much of the series and their legacy can still be felt in Warcraft 3 and World of Warcraft. These two classic RTS games have been ripe for a lick of paint, and now that’s arrived thanks to a big remaster that brings them right up to date – but unlike some remasters, Blizzard isn’t changing too much that made the original games so great.
Both games have been given completely upscaled and redrawn graphics, which thankfully still retain the chunky, Warhammer-esque style of the originals. Similar to other brilliant remasters like Halo, Command and Conquer, or The Secret of Monkey Island, you can switch between the new art style and the old one at the push of a button.
Gameplay wise, not too much has been changed but there have been some quality of life improvements. Both games now have revamped user interfaces, giving far more information in a way that better suits the updated graphics and the expectations of a modern RTS player. Health bars, tooltips, a mission select screen, and much more will make everything much smoother to play. In addition, Warcraft Orcs and Humans has received a couple of gameplay enhancements, such as the ability to select more than one unit at a time – something anyone who remembers laboriously clicking on each Orc grunt one by one to send them into battle.
Warcraft Orcs and Humans Remastered and Warcraft 2 Remastered are both out now, and you can grab them as part of the re-released Warcraft Battlechest which includes all three original RTS games. Head over to the Blizzard site to learn more, and check out the remasters for yourself.
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