In summary
Warcraft III: Reforged provides the necessary fuss, and certainly not in the way that Blizzard hoped for. Yet the gameplay of this new version is still like a house. The campaign is fine, but essential parts are missing from the game, especially the multiplayer part. Moreover, the game does not look nearly as good as promised. Together with the necessary bugs, this ensures that we cannot become enthusiastic about Reforged. Blizzard should have delayed the game.
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Final assessment
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Review bombing is nowadays a thingy. It is a way in which fanatic fans express their opinion through a user review, and not necessarily in the most nuanced way. The phenomenon takes place on sites and platforms such as Steam and Metacritic. Because fans leave very negative reviews about certain games, the average score is strongly reduced. For example, the first games that exclusively appeared on the new Epic platform were ruthlessly nailed to the competing Steam. The youngest victim is Warcraft III: Reforged. The game even has the lowest score ever on Metacritic, while the original is known as very good. What is going on? Is Warcraft III: Reforged really that bad?
Blizzard launched Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos in 2002. The game was praised as a great playing rts with rpg elements, a great campaign and nice and smooth gameplay. However, it was also a game that especially comes into its own in multiplayer. Expansion The Frozen Throne appeared a year later. With that, Blizzard smoothed out many small folds, so that the whole would become one of the best rts games ever. It’s almost crazy to think that a year later World of Warcraft was released, the game that would make Warcraft one of the most famous franchises ever. And it is even crazier to think that with Warcraft III: Reforged, Blizzard has considerably polished up the look of the original game. Those who play Reforged can choose between Classic settings that make the game look just like in 2003, and the Reforged settings with the upgraded appearance. With the latter settings, the game looks a lot better, but it is immediately noticeable that the models of the various characters certainly resemble those from the current version of World of Warcraft.
Classic and Reforged
Anyone who sees the polished appearance of Reforged pass by may be disappointed. At first glance the game does not seem that much nicer. How big the difference really is, is only clear when you try out the Classic mode. Then it appears that the original version looks considerably less detailed. With the Classic version on your screen, it is clear how memories can discolour the image. At least that is the case with us. The difference between the two versions is considerable; our memories of the original are apparently more beautiful than what the game really offered visually at the time.
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