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Monday 14 January, 2008
Michael Beck
Foundations of Game Design
Game Log: 1
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
Description
Warcraft III is a Real Time Strategy game centered in a medieval-esque fictional realm. It centers around a particular hero, and this hero is very important both in the storyline and gameplay.
Gameplay
Warcraft III is an enjoyable, yet unoriginal RTS. I was somewhat disappointed in the fact that there was little innovation; yet putting this into perspective, Warcraft and Starcraft are the iconic RTS games. The innovation may be there, but I have played too many others (including Starcraft) to appreciate it.
The one other shining part in this game is the character Arthas. He is your primary hero. However he often makes the wrong decision and commits atrocities in the name of justice. He purges a village to prevent an outbreak, and burns his own ships to foil a retreat. He is a well crafted character because his flaws make him an antihero, completely distinguishing him from his uninteresting classic brethren.
Gameplay (part 2)
The story, while demonstrated usually using the same ancient graphics engine as the game, is noteworthy. Because of Arthas’s dark tendencies, it is fascinating to watch his progression as he simultaneously conquers his foes and seals his doom. His prowess on the field usually spells disaster for everyone.
While not apparently original, the game was, in fact, terribly enjoyable. Though my love for RTS games may be the cause over gameplay, I like to get back to a classic RTS, as the last pair I’ve played have been unorthodox in style. The setting and style led to a fun game that was at times interesting, and occasionally difficult to take seriously, but always pleasant.
Design
One of the most important factors in an RTS is resource gathering. This game uses the two most common RTS resources: Lumber/wood, and gold/money. While some games are simple and use one resource to build everything, others can use several (I’ve played with both one and six). I believe 2-3 resources gathered by a worker class unit allows one to need to manage some amount of complication, while not forcing this to be a vast portion of one’s gameplay. Thus the resources management in this game is above minimal; simple, yet enough to keep it a part of the game (instead of a mere afterthought).
One aspect of the game I did find original was how much it centered around your character. There are a few times in which other heroes are part of your army, but by far you are usually the most powerful unit. There is an “upkeep cost” for building too large of an army. A small army has no upkeep, a large army has a small upkeep, and a vast army has a large upkeep. This causes one’s income to drop by as much as 60%. These to elements combine in order to, not force, but encourage you to use your hero primarily. One can revive the hero, so the usual tactic seems to be a small band and the hero in repeated assaults. There are few levels without a base, so the hero’s death is usually no issue. This is incongruent with the rest of the flavor of centering around the hero, yet it encourages the battle flavor of using your hero more than any other unit.
Though mostly common in its design, it does contain several of the classic levels of an RTS. The usual build and fight level with your base against an enemy base. A small force with a base against a large enemy with no base. Two forces without bases. A force against an enemy base, and of course, the “survive until the clock runs out” level. These are all represented, making the gameplay, while repetitive, not stagnant. There are also interesting levels that throw new challenges into the fore. One must use mercenary units unlike the usual units to destroy your ships before your real army finds them so as to prevent retreat. One must attack infected peoples that have done no wrong because they will turn undead; but you must kill a certain amount before a certain amount turns. With such variation in levels, the simple gameplay becomes quite enjoyable.
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