The release of Warcraft III: Reforged should have been a highlight for Blizzard after a rough few months that saw its reputation take a dive after the Blitzchung controversy. Riding high on the waves of nostalgia inspired by World of Warcraft Classic, the remaster should have been a sure-fire hit. Instead, it’s gone straight to hell quicker than the Diablo Immortal announcement. So what went wrong and can it be saved?
Broken Promises
There are two main issues with the game, the first is the fact that Blizzard broke its promises.
Over four hours of reforged cutscenes are said to be in the game and this has been delivered on, sort of. Between each part of the missions, there are cut scenes that explain or enhance different bits of the narrative. These have all been redone, as you can see in the comparison below. Gone are the weird boxes and our friend Thrall has been given a considerable facelift.
The disappointment comes in when it comes to the cinematics, as changes have not been made, despite revamped cinematics being used to advertise the game, and even being shown on the website.
The cinematics actually run a little smoother but this is down to the specs of modern machines, rather than anything Blizzard has actually done. They are in fact confirmed to be the originals, as you can see in the direct comparison of the two below.
At Blizzcon, we were also promised a fully revamped UI and this hasn’t happened either. The UI is simply a slightly smaller version of the classic one. It functions the same, still has the same limits and the only real difference is the lack of those annoying bookend graphics.
Many people, myself included, were disappointed that this simple change was neglected since they’d clearly already done the design. Moving the map, slimming down the size and giving players more real estate on their screen should surely have been a core focus in a remaster like this?
Players were also previously promised that the campaign would be overhauled to bring the story and location in line with current lore. This hasn’t happened either and the campaign as it exists is exactly the same as it was at release.
However, promises aren’t the only thing broken. Blizzard also managed to break the existing classic game.
The Culling Of Classic
All players have been forced over to the new client, with a classic mode being accessible via a toggle switch in the game’s options that simply changes the in-game graphics. As such all Battle.net official servers have been closed, meaning there is now no way to play the original game online unless you go through the Reforged client.
This might not have been an issue if it wasn’t for the fact that the new client is missing some pretty major features that were present in the original game.
One of the biggest removals is the custom campaign feature. While you can still create custom maps, you can no longer tweak campaigns. Oh, and your custom maps? Blizzard wants you to sign over all your rights to them. It doesn’t want another DoTA on its hands!
Player profiles are now gone, as is cross-region play for custom games. You’ll notice Clans, Ladders and Tournament mode are also conspicuously missing and players can no longer use the original IRC style Battle.net chat system that offered more ways to host custom games. In terms of the game itself, there are also some issues with the SD models, including missing shadows, and all campaigns now use The Frozen Throne balance.
It should be noted that Blizzard has clarified that tournament mode, along with the Reign of Chaos ruleset, were little-used features that actually got culled last year.
So Can Reforged Be Saved?
As a huge fan of the original Warcraft III, I’d love to say yes but at this point, it’s more about large scale damage control. This is especially true with players whose PC can’t handle the Reforged client and are being told “You can simply leave it as-is until you get a PC that can install the new game.”
Blizzard has once again proved that it simply cannot admit to its mistakes and apologize properly. While it has made a half-hearted attempt, the focus seems to be on reassuring players that those things we expected at launch are coming, maybe. And those that aren’t? Well, that’s for our own good. Oh and as for those cut scenes? Apparently we should be grateful because Blizzard “wants to preserve the true spirit of Warcraft III and allow players to relive these unforgettable moments as they were.” That still doesn’t answer the questions about the cinematics though…
New patches will be addressing the botched job of classic’s shadows and several other bug fixes. Leaderboards and Clans will also be coming back, apparently, but we don’t know when. It’s a start, but realistically the title never should have been released with such major issues in the first place.
Over time the game could well be fixed, but the real issue is the damage done by releasing it this way in the first place. While our review is generous, taking into account the redone graphics that they did get right and the core gameplay itself, most weren’t and the game’s Metacritic score has been bombed so hard it’s going to be a rough journey back even to hit average, let alone anything better.
If Blizzard wants to have any chance of getting out of this one then it needs to make good on the original promises and fast. The no quibble refunds will help but realistically the game isn’t going to get anything but bad press until they can prove they are actually intending to deliver everything they promised, rather than just a small part of it. For now it’s a waiting game but unfortunately we don’t have high hopes.
NEXT: World Of Warcraft III: Reforged Review: The Culling Of Features
