Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (DOS)
by Blizzard Entertainment
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Category: Video Games
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Product Summary
Brand: Blizzard Entertainment Inc.Format: CD-ROM
Platform: DOS
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Product features:
- Play as either the Orcs or Humans, in a series of missions with full-voiced cut scenes.
- See how the series began!
Video Game Reviews of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (DOS)
Customer Review: First in the series has some flaws
Summary: 3 Stars
Warcraft: Orcs and Humans was partly responsible for modern success of the RTS genre and its historical significance is undeniable. But how does it play by today's standards?
Unfortunately, not well. Warcraft practically requires players to use the keyboard - ctrl/shift to do multiple unit selection, and hotkeys to give orders. This makes it very tough to play well one-handed. A generation later with Warcraft II Blizzard would get it right with the control scheme, but it's bound to frustrate seasoned RTS gamers here.
The other major problem is with AI. The computer is exceptionally weak, building tiny ineffective attack forces and waiting for you to raid its base. It does not defend well against ranged attackers at all. Once defending units are killed off, the computer never bothers to rebuild them. And it ALWAYS falls for being 'baited out' by a fast-moving troop, leading its entire army into a trap in pursuit of something it could never catch. One Human level asked me to rescue some peasants and rebuild my town before attacking the Orc base - but since I couldn't find them, I simply stormed the enemy with my starting units, and crushed them outright.
To compensate, the computer cheats - always starting with a free (sizable) base, while you have to build from scratch. It ignores the economy entirely, instead building units on a set schedule and at no cost, but it is still incapable of putting up much resistance.
Bad AI extends all the way down to unit pathfinding - units mill around haphazardly and run into walls, stopping them in their tracks for a second before they head off in another random direction. More than once I ordered my units to travel across the map, but they instead wandered off to a dead end and eventually just gave up! The bad pathfinding adds more to the value of ranged units, since they don't have to stop-and-go maneuver around your own units to gang up on an attacker.
These things could probably still be okay if the game had some still-relevant multiplayer, but unfortunately it is based on IPX or direct modem connection and doesn't allow user-created maps. And the campaign isn't even compelling, since most missions just give you a short blurb of "yet another enemy base stands in the way of our victory, crush it" and then you're on your way.
The graphics are low-resolution but nicely detailed, and I have no complaints. Music for PC is MIDI (how disappointing - there is CD audio here too, but it's only for Macintosh players!), and the sound effects are decent but lack variation.
Unless you are a die-hard RTS gamer or Warcraft fanatic, I would not recommend this game - it's too easy, the controls too frustrating, and the storyline is not engaging. The next revision, Warcraft II, is still every bit as good as it was when it first came out. Find the [...] edition for under ten bucks and give it a shot if you are interested in the history of Warcraft.
Description of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (DOS)
WARCRAFT ORCS vs HUMANS set the standard by which all future fantasy gaming was to be measured by. Its FABULOUS! Enter a mystical world where evil Orcs and noble Humans battle for survival and domination. With an ingenious arsenal of weaponry and powerful magic these two forces collide in a contest of cunning, intellect and brute strength. Extremely addictive & will provide countless hundreds of hours of one of the absolute best PC Game programs ever produced for computers!-- Winner Best entertainment software award.-- Premiere year finalist- Computer Gaming World-- Editors Choice Award-PC Gamer Strategy game of the year runner up- PC GamerReal Time Games
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