Warcraft III Update

It's been several months since we've seen Warcraft III, so Blizzard stopped by today to give us a look at the latest version of the developing game. Although there aren't a lot of new features in this build when compared with the ECTS version shown in early September, there are a few more subtle changes and new insights into the existing units and environments.

We were impressed by the increasingly detailed environments. In one lava level, sections of the ground were cracked and glowing like red-hot embers. Geysers spewed bubbling balls of fire into the air, and great fingers of molten rock jutted up from the landscape. We also got to see a demonstration of the camera controls, which will not be available for the players but are used in the game's cinematics. In those cases, the camera could zoom down and tilt back to offer a level view of the terrain and characters. Then, when the cutscene is finished, the camera will snap back to the default overhead view.

We learned a few new things about the existing units, including many of the new spells for the heroes and a new "giant" class of unit types. We also got a look at some of the buildings and learned more about the tech tree. For more information, check back next Tuesday, when we'll post a new Warcraft III preview update. In the meantime, check out these three new screenshots. The screens show an orc warlord letting out a raging scream, two orcish catapults attacking a human fortification, and wolf raiders coming upon a neutral settlement. You'll notice that in the warlord screenshot, the warlord hero has a unique name. All heroes will now have randomly generated names to distinguish them from each other. We'll reveal more names and more of the differences between heroes in our upcoming preview.