Each mission has at least one quest associated with it that must be completed to
win. When multiple quests appear in a mission, they are divided between
main and secondary quests. The main quests must be completed, but the
secondary quests are optional. Completing the secondary quests will earn
you rewards in the form of special items or units, and these rewards always
provide help in completing the mission's primary goals.
Central to the game's campaign is a new type of unit known as the hero.
Heroes are strong special units that have unique abilities or spells, and can
carry special items. The special items have different temporary and
permanent effects, and can boost the hero's powers or heal or strengthen nearby
units. Heroes also have the advantage of gaining experience from combat,
allowing them to advance in level and gain even better stats.
In many games, there is a strong disincentive to using unique units in that
their loss is usually so devastating as to make eventual defeat almost a
certainty. Warcraft III has devised a way to prevent this from happening
with its heroes through the inclusion of special structures known as the
Altars. Slain heroes can be resurrected at Altars, albeit at the cost of a
nice chunk of gold. Players will be more willing to use heroes as they
were intended to be used, leading troops into battle, given the safety net
provided by the Altars. The gold cost and time it takes to resurrect
heroes consequently serve as deterrents to reckless hero endangerment.
It's a nice system and it works.
In addition to the playable races in the game, there are a number of other types
of creatures and races that inhabit the world and can be either your friend or
your foe. Sometimes they will be allied with you but act independently,
other times they will be available to hire as mercenaries, and often they'll
just be looking to pick a fight with you, completely oblivious to the fact that
you have your hands full with other matters. The creatures are a mixture
drawn from high fantasy and mythology, and help to add more life and character
to the world of Warcraft III, not to mention a nice random element to the
missions.
There's only one real knock against the game's campaign, and it is only
noticeable if you are a strategy gaming veteran. The storyline begins with
a few tutorial missions that cover strategy gaming basics such as how to move or
gather resources. Skipping the tutorial missions means missing out on some
of the game's storyline, though. Also, the human campaign won't be too difficult
for strategy pros to breeze through, even on the hard difficulty selection.
Stick with it though, the game provides plenty of challenge as you advance
through the campaign. If you are only a casual strategy gamer or are new
to the genre, then the campaign is laid out perfectly for you. You'll be
eased into the game and given the tools needed to face up to the game's later
challenges.
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