E136: Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness

Warcraft II is one of the most influential RTS games of all time.  It brought the genre to the mainstream with insane sales, and set the standard for UI and tech trees for years to come.  Blizzard had cracked the code on what made RTS games tick, and it laid the groundwork for the classics that would come in its wake.

But for all its influence, how much fun is Warcraft II to actually play today?  Does it suffer from its far more simplistic mechanics and mirrored factions, or is there something elegant and refined about a more stripped back and focused RTS?

On this episode, we discuss:

Presentation
How well does Warcraft 2 sell its aesthetic and lore?  Do its cartoony graphics hold up well compared to RTS’s of today?  Are the responses of its units annoying or endearing?

Macro
Are the macro elements of Warcraft II well realised?  How does it balance building up your economy versus developing a standing army to take the battle to the enemy?  Are there diverse objectives or constraints to liven up the experience of building up your base?

Micro
How fun is it to micro your units in Warcraft II?  Do the lack of quality of life features like unit queuing, rally points and limited units per control group make the experience miserable?  Are there any units that stand out as affecting the flow of battle?

We answer these questions and many more on the 136th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!

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Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K
Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another
Warcraft 2 OST: Glenn Stafford

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If you’d like more RTS discussion, Pat guested on the Nostalgia Goggles Podcast for Starcraft 1!  You can listen to that episode here.

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Was your experience playing Warcraft 2 back in the day radically different from our own?  Were there any strategies or tactics that we missed?  What other under the radar modern RTS games should we play?  Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!

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