Many years after the Dark Portal that bound the Orcish homeland of Draenor and the Human world of Azeroth was destroyed, a young Orc named Thrall was captured and raised as a slave by humans who followed the ways of treachery rather than those of honor.
Using the skills driven into him by his captors with his own natural strength and courage, Thrall escaped his wicked masters and, once free, set out to find his stolen heritage. Finding his kind forced to live passively in controlled settlements, the young warrior sought out the few, scattered Orc clans that managed to evade the wrath of the Alliance. From their camps in the harsh wilderness, Thrall swore to lead his brothers back to the status their heritage demanded. Under Thrall's leadership as the new Warchief of the Horde, the Orcs rediscover their abandoned Shamanistic culture and use this newfound power to revolt against their cruel wardens.
As civil strife rages through the nations of the Alliance, the lands of Azeroth undergo strange changes, and the threat of a new, unseen foe draws near. Finally, in an unholy firestorm from the heavens, the Burning Legion arrives. Cursed to roam the greater realms forever to consume the primal energies of magic to survive, the Legion has ravished world after world in its mad lust for arcane power. Cunning, sinister and seemingly unstoppable, these dark slayers come to not only drain this domain of its magic, but to eradicate all life within it, as well.
Now, in the face of an even greater invasion, the reunited Horde and the armies of Azeroth have shifted their focus from conquest, betrayal, defense or honor.
Six different races to command including Orcs, Humans and Demons, each possessing unique units, magical abilities and weapons of war.
Skeletal and skinning animation process allows infinite frames of animation resulting in true fluid movement of 3D models.
Advanced world design tools allowing players to customize every aspect of the game including tile sets, character art, quests, mission objectives, and unit types, AI, attributes, special abilities and spells.
Expanded multiplayer options over Battle.net™ including a larger number of players per game and multiple game types including team play and questing.
Warcraft III is expected to release by the end of 2002 in Windows 95/98/2000/ME/NT formats.
Two New Nations of Warriors
The Warcraft universe grows with the introduction of two new races for players to control.
The Night Elves are mysterious, shadowy beings and are one of the eldest races of the world. They have emerged from centuries of seclusion to defend the world from the coming apocalypse.
The Undead is a plague-ridden army known as the Scourge that has come from the frozen wastelands of the North to topple civilization in its darkest hour.
Multiplayer Mayhem: Expanded multiplayer options over Battle.net® with up to 12 players per game*, multiple game types (including team play and questing) and new game matching and tournament options.
* This number may change during our beta test period and is not final.
High Resolution Support: Warcraft III offers support for multiple resolutions and will take advantage of many features included with the latest 3D cards while supporting as broad a range of older cards as possible.
Legendary Heroes: Legendary Heroes lead powerful armies while they complete quests, gain experience and acquire special items. As the core of each race's force, Heroes have the ability to advance in levels, learn new spells and abilities and confer special benefits to nearby units.
Special Items and Equipment: Legendary Heroes can carry up to six special items in a small inventory. The items can turn the tide of battle as they grant the Hero the ability to cast offensive and defensive spells, heal units, utilize special abilities or gain bonuses to specific statistics.
Neutral Buildings: Several types of Neutral Buildings exist, each with a different function. From selling Hero Items, hiring out Mercenaries, to healing nearby units of hit points, these structures confer a wide variety of strategies and surprises for even the most veteran of players.
Neutral Units: There are numerous Neutral Units - known as Creeps and Critters - that inhabit the world of Azeroth. Creeps are hostile units that relinquish Gold when killed and sometimes guard valuable resources or Neutral Buildings. Critters are friendly neutral units such as sheep or seals.
Huge Spell-casting System: Many types of spells are available to the clever player, including Offensive spells, Defensive spells, Counter spells, Autocast spells that are cast automatically, Auras, and the extremely potent Ultimate spells.
New Multiplayer Features
Shared unit control between players
Trading of resources between players
Choice of army color
Observation mode
Ability to ally with computer players and Improved Battle.net Features
New ladders including 1 vs. 1, 2 vs. 2, and clan ladders
Improved game filtering options
Anonymous matchmaking for games
Improved ladders that prevent "win trading"
Separate name space for Warcraft III on Battle.net allows players to obtain new account names without conflicting with those in previous games
Improved clan support with levels of membership, home clan channels and clan ladders.
