Interface

Looks damn familiar

One quick look at the interface says everything one might need to know – it’s all here. Everything ever associated with StarCraft or WarCraft still applies – from the gargantuan, space-hogging block of icons and information at the bottom to the same style of hotkeys. The game’s view is familiar despite its new 3D trappings and even closer zoom on the action.

Despite appearances, all is not the same in Craft land. While adjusting the AI’s abilities has been a part of setting the balance for the races in StarCraft (like the notorious dumb Reaver example), it is also now part of the interface. Got a half dozen healing spellcasters? Tired of casting heals all by yourself? You can get them to do it automatically. Many basic abilities and spells that would be too tedious to cast by hand can now be automated.

Nice looking 'rax

Yeah, dream on

I am the destroyer!

The zoom is very close as you can see from some of the pictures and though the camera can be adjusted to tilt down, this will only result in less viewable area. There is minimal “rotation” of the camera – 90 degrees left or right, and that rotation doesn’t stick, it’s only like turning a neck instead of your whole body.

Minor advancements add up to improve the playability of WC3 over its predecessors. Now if you have a group of multiple unit types selected, you can used the Tab button to switch between the various types. Should you land on a spellcaster, you can get him to cast a spell on a specific unit in that group by casting on the icon of the unit in the interface, rather than finding it on the screen.

Take them one at a time

Don't forget the towers

Almost got him!

Squint-eyes!

Many aspects of the interface are designed with multiplayer in mind. WarCraft III gives players the option to record games – something they’ve been screaming for since StarCraft. Many settings can be changed – the terrain of a map is revealed by default yet still affected by the fog of war, but you may wish to disable the fog altogether.

Battle.net automatically pairs two competitors together, matching people with similar records to provide a fair fight and prevent abuse of the ladder. People who enjoy playing 2v2 teams with specific people can set themselves as partners and find a match against another such pair. Naturally, you can always create custom games. These need not be vanilla WC3 either, but can include many mods and new maps that the community has already sprung up with. Heck, some people even have quick RPG sessions.