E3 2002: Warcraft III preshow report

There'll be no shortage of Warcraft references at Blizzard's E3 booth this year, as the developer will be showing both Warcraft III and World of Warcraft at the show. On track for release this summer, Warcraft III is in the final stretch of polishing and testing, after spending over three years in development. While the game's multiplayer component has received ample attention because of the recent public beta, E3 will be one of the first places where the story-driven single-player game will be shown to the public in its near-final state.

Warcraft III takes place about a generation after the end of Warcraft II, and much has changed in this fantasy world. The story will introduce a fearsome new adversary, the demonic burning legion, which may lead to some unusual alliances. In addition to the familiar human and orc factions, you'll have the opportunity to play two new sides, the night elves and the undead, during the course of the 32-mission campaign. Blizzard has worked to incorporate role-playing elements into the campaign, including character development for heroes and optional subquests in each mission that provide heroes with experience and items. The game's epic story has been integrated much more tightly into missions, and dramatic events are conveyed through in-engine cinematics. Missions objectives are said to be much more diverse than what we've come to expect from real-time strategy games.

Warcraft III's emphasis on powerful heroes backed with small armies comes across well in the game's multiplayer. We've already seen much of how the game's mechanics streamline some unit management tasks, with features like automatic formations that put melee units in front and ranged and spellcasting units in the rear, as well as the auto-casting of some basic spells, like heal or raise dead. The unit balance encourages mixing complementary unit types, and there are many memorable supporting units, like the comical dwarven mortar team, the druid of the claw who transforms into a bear, and the undead's potent necromancers. Of course, heroes are the center of attention as the only units that can carry items and gain experience. As heroes go up in level, they gain access to increasingly powerful abilities, including one high-level ultimate spell each.

Blizzard is working to finish Warcraft III up for release in late June. E3 will give us a chance to see how the developer's last-minute polishing efforts are coming along. We'll have a closer look at the game from the show floor.