Warcraft 2 - Tides of Darkness

Title: Warcraft 2 - Tides of Darkness
Platform Played On: PC
Release Date: December 9, 1995
Date Played: 1999-2000
Time Played: 100+ hours
Completed (Y/N): Yes
Score: 5/5





Opinion:
This writeup is actullay about all 3 parts of Warcraft 2, the original game (Tides of Darkness), the expansion pack (Beyond the Dark Portal), and the combined Battle.net edition. Most of my time was actually spent playing the Battle.net edition as it combined the game and the expansion into one, and added Battle.net support for multiplayer (along with a myriad of other improvements such as hotkeys and support for Windows (as opposed the original DOS client).

I was first introduced to Warcraft 2 (and the whole franchise) while attending 9th grade in High School. We had a tournament form around this game that was played out in the computer lab over the lunch period . Although our fun didnt last for more than a few months since the school severely limited our ability to install games on the lab's computers when they found out about it. Not to say that we didnt figure out creative workarounds. This tiny classroom turned computer lab was where the gamer in me came into the form that he is today. This is where the name Duxa came from, and with it my competitive multiplayer spirit was born. I remember myself being pretty good at the game and having good enough kill to death ratio that everyone wanted to be my partner.

My only frame of reference when playing Warcraft 2 was Red Alert and Dune 2, it was not until years later that I played the original Warcraft. When compared to the original though, even though released a few years later Warcraft 2 came a long way. The addition of hotkeys, higher resolution, and doubling (if not tripling) the unit variety make it a much more tactically and visually interesting game. More emphasis is put on the story. There are quite a few cut-scenes and custom tailored missions to progress the narrative.

Warcraft 2 (especially Battle.net edition) runs at a much higher resolution than the original did and therefore the graphics are more vibrant and detailed. The whole game from units to buildings to background has a lot more detail and by the 1995 standards amazing graphics. Warcraft 2's cartoony graphics allow it to look good years (even decades) after its release.

As masters of outshining everyone (including themselves) Blizzard added more unit types, more building types and more voices for the said units. And just like in the first game clicking multiple times on the same unit would make them say funny things such as "Stop Poking Me!" and other phrases that have become a part of almost every gamer's lexicon such as "Work Complete" (said in a funny accent). This time around there were a lot more unit responses for everyone to enjoy and giggle about.  While most other developers would reuse the engine, add a few units and missions and release the game as a sequel, Blizzard is too good for that kind of thing. They are too good now, and as you can see they were then. They wrote a whole new engine for Warcraft 2. A new engine that would allow them to push the boundaries of the genre even further both graphically and mechanically.

Warcraft 2 took it's predecessor's genre defining qualities and improved upon them, further defining the real time strategy genre. Warcraft 2 is a pioneer of the mid 90's through early 2000's. If you have never played it, you kind of missed the boat. However as a legacy gaming venture it aged well and is very much playable today. It is not as rich in narrative, nor is it as forgiving as some of the more modern RTS games are; however it is still enjoyable and the fact that there are people that still play Warcraft 2 every day nearly two decades since its release has to say something about how good of a game it is.