Introduction

Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
WarCraft III official page: http://www.blizzard.com/war3

Four out of five

Out of the five originally announced races, four have made it to the beta. Naturally, Orcs and Humans are still in the game. However, The Elves who fought with the Humans in WarCraft II have been given a separate race in WarCraft III - the “Night Elves” and the many undead units from the Orc camp have been split into a new Undead race.

Out of all four races, the Undead seemed the least finished and balanced – at least in the traditional sense. For example, they are the only race whose core units produced at the regular barracks do not have a single normal anti-air attack. The Crypt Fiend has a ranged attack, but is unable to utilize it against flying targets. However, the Crypt Fiend unit can get a “Web” ability that is researched at the Crypt. Web is a player-activated spell that forces flying units to the ground, where they can be hacked apart by regular, ground-attacking units. When given to the hands of a player with good micro-management skill, this ability can be downright abusive. However, a casual gamer used to StarCraft or WarCraft II style play will be confounded by the Undead’s lack of anti-air support. Webbed units can still attack, but they cannot move.

The heroes

Every hero in the game has 10 levels, and with the exception of level 1, he chooses an ability at each level. The hero can choose from any one of three or four abilities, two or three basic ones and one ultimate power. The basics are available to upgrade in immediately, and have three levels of power each. The ultimate is available at level 5 and is without a doubt the ability to choose upon reaching that level. The ultimate ability does not have multiple levels of specialization.

To gain levels, a hero must kill units. These can be the monsters and NPCs placed around the map (who also drop valuable items) or enemy units. The hero must not necessarily deal the killing blow, just contribute to the battle.

Like the other three races, the Undead can summon three heroes, each with a different forte in combat and unique set of abilities. The first, melee-oriented hero is the Death Knight. He has only two basic abilities, the first of which is Death Coil, which damages single enemy units or heals friendly ones. The second ability is Death Pact, which immediately slays the targeted friendly unit and uses a portion of its hitpoints to put up a damage shield around the Knight. The Death Knight’s ultimate power is Animate Dead, which will bring back to life the 6 most powerful units whose corpses still loiter in the target area.

Death Knight hero

Death Coil spell

Animate Dead spell