Source
r/WC3•
UselessData

Never played WC3, but heard only good things about it. Why is WC3 good?

Hello!

I really love RTS games, but somehow never came around to play Warcraft 3. I play mostly Starcraft, Company of Heroes, CnC, some Warhammer games and so on. So i want to ask, why is Warcraft 3 so special? Whenever people speak about RTS games, it's as if WC3 is a class above everything. What makes the game so good? What's the difference between "normal" RTS games and this one?

I'm sorry for asking for asking such a noobie question, but I couldn't google out anything useful :/

Posted Feb 16, 2015, 2:26 AM UTC

79
trivinium•

For me it was the hero system of the game. I never liked the mass 2 types of units and fight kind of games. The fact, that the supply limit is so low forces you to micro your units carefully and to try and keep 'em alive as long as possible. Without a hero your army sucks. Using different type of hero combinations is always fun.
The campaign is great as well, but since you played StarCraft you should know the quality blizz delivers with that.

8
blackstarx•

Aside from the main game, WC3 allowed for custom player made maps. This lead to a whole new breed of games. It also is what spawned DOTA.

7
Erezen•

Mostly the story. The campaigns weave together to form a huge cohesive story filled with great characters like Arthas, Thrall, Illidan Stormrage, Tyrande Whisperwind, and Sylvanas Windrunner. The cinematics are gorgeously animated and cap off each campaign in a truly epic fashion. The voice acting and writing are terrific (if a bit hammy at times), the world building is great, it's all there.

On the gameplay side of things, the four factions all play completely distinctly and the balance (bar some issues with heroes) is mostly solid. In a lot of other RTS's there's only two or three factions, or the differences are mostly cosmetic with only a few actual key differences (like Age of Empires II's "unique units" or tech tree limitations).

But a lot of games really manage to pull off what WC3 does gameplay wise. Really it's the massive, sweeping storyline of the campaigns that set this game head and shoulders above the rest.

5
Sagev•

What made Warcraft 3 special was its custom games - you never ran out of anything new to play, every day was an adventure of new custom maps.

5
[deleted]•

[deleted]

4
cloudburn24•

Excellent post. I think the point you hit on where you're always doing something is what has kept me playing on and off for over 10 years. In an RTS such as Starcraft, I feel like essentially all I'm doing is trying to outmacro my opponent whereas in Warcraft III I can do a variety of things. I can try to outcreep my opponent to have a hero level advantage; I can take a risk and fast expand to try to win with a gold advantage; I can harass the enemy while I fast-tech to have superior units; or I can rush the enemy and offensively tower to try and win early. Those are just some examples of different ways to play the game. High level players will often harass with one hero while leveling another hero at a different part of the map. Also, having three high level heroes is like playing DOTA on crack. So much fun. Also agree with you that the art style is timeless. Just an all around fantastic game and I hope someday we'll see a Warcraft IV with the same quality.

1
Mike941•

One word, Micro. WC3 has dynamic battles and each race has it's own unique style. There's plenty of options in any fight and the way you play a fight alone can win it for you even if the numbers make it look like you shouldn't win. There's a lot of strats too because of all the heroes. For instance a Night Elf player can go mass hunts with a DH first or a Kotg first or a PoTM first each one tweaks their strategy in different ways. That's a simple example it's actually more complicated than that. Even creep patterns can determine the outcome of a game, especially at a professional level.

2
Cajvall•

I like to mod wc3, i have done my own kind of dota from scratch. You can do so much with the world editor.

2
mysticrudnin•

In other RTS games, I can't seem to figure out why you're supposed to go out. There is nothing pushing me to do that.

WC3 makes it simple: you need hero levels.

2
WizLatifa•

the custom games

1