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OTS 2008-10-10

Theme:: Light; Dark

By Elliott Chin
04/28/00

Developer:
Blizzard

Publisher:
Blizzard

Target Release Date:
End of 2000

This is the conclusion to our three-part preview. Read the other parts to catch up on all the latest info.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Part Three: The Undead
Page 1 of 5

A month ago, Blizzard announced the undead race for Warcraft III, which partly answered one of the most-asked questions in gaming these days: What else is going to be in Warcraft III? We know quite a lot now about the orcs and humans, and we also know of the demons, although unfortunately, there is little information on those evil dimensional raiders as yet. We at GameSpot guessed that one of the next races to be revealed would be the undead. Maybe it's because the undead are so ubiquitous to fantasy literature and gaming, or it could be that we got an inkling after we saw the skeletons in the ECTS demo. Either way, like many others we figured one of the races would be the undead, and Blizzard didn't prove us wrong - but they still managed to surprise us.

Click to enlarge

Although Blizzard announced the undead race previously, they didn't reveal a lot of details. Not content to sit and wonder, GameSpot went to Blizzard to find out more about the enemy that is known as the Scourge. The undead are no strangers to the Warcraft universe: The death knights were skilled spellcasters who added immense supernatural might to the orcish Horde, as they raised squads of skeletons from the fallen to bolster the orc army. However, between the time the orcs conceded defeat in Warcraft II to the beginning of Warcraft III, the orcish Horde decided that it would no longer suffer the rule of otherwordly powers, whether they be demons or undead. So the death knights and skeletons were exorcised from orc society, and the orcs returned to their shamanistic roots. But the undead, like an ever-creeping blight, would not go away. Nerzhul, a leader among the orcs who whipped them into their previous, evil incarnation, left the orcs and is now the leader of the undead. Under his command, an entire legion of the dead, stronger and more diverse than ever before, has come to Azeroth to lay waste to the world. They don't want to conquer the world - they want to destroy it and raise an undead nation in its wake.

A formidable task is ahead for the Scourge, considering that the orcs and humans have considerable power at their command - but we found out that the undead have incredible abilities at their disposal that are more than a match for any orc or human. In fact, there's a lot about the undead that surprised us. Rob Pardo, lead designer on Warcraft III, wants to ramp up the difficulty and gameplay style of the different races, with the orcs and humans being the most traditional in terms of play style. The undead, on the other hand, are an advanced race that play very differently than any previous -Craft race. They have newfound powers and a unique gameplay style that makes them excellent marauders that can mobilize great armies in a moment's notice. Join us as we unveil these unique powers of the undead.

Next: How the undead play