Test - Warcraft Battlechest: Test: If “I don’t care, I’ll leave it like that now” were a game

Three games for the price of one? With the opportunity to (re)experience and assess all parts of a major real-time strategy brand? What sounds like a great nostalgia trip unfortunately has a number of pitfalls. Whether Horde or Alliance: Returning to Azeroth is worth it, but with some drawbacks.

Yes, it's just a Warcraft and it fits so far, there are a few comfort functions, but a little more effort wouldn't have hurt.

If I were to submit a text like that, I would probably receive an unfriendly email from the editor-in-chief announcing that I would soon have more time. But basically that's what Blizzard is doing: delivering a first or new edition of the well-known real-time strategy classics, which have been around for 22 to 30 years, and formally meet the minimum standards for such comebacks, with few bonuses. Ideas counteracted by sloppy implementation or individual cuts. The fact that the whole thing is still entertaining is due to a solid foundation with a bit of nostalgia that was laid a quarter of a century ago.

The Battlechest - a common term in the company's tradition for bundles and collection boxes - somewhat confusingly includes six games - Warcraft 1 to 3, each in the original with corresponding patches and compatibility covers for modern systems as well as in actual new versions.still, the first two parts are subtitled “Remastered” and are the focus of our test, as they have been modernized for the first time in a long time.

Warcraft 1: Where small changes make a big difference

The Warcraft series, along with the eternal competition from House Westwood, impressively demonstrated the enormous leap that games made in the 90s. The first Warcraft and Dune 2, which were released shortly before, can boast of being pioneers of the genre, but within a few years the operation became hopelessly outdated and only tolerable for absolute purists.

The author of these lines, an ardent Warcraft 2 fan at the time, bought a booklet CD version of the predecessor in November 1997 and put it aside after two and a half missions. The crumb graphics would have been bearable, but the interface with the shortcut requirement for the simplest instructions such as moving and grouping was beyond the threshold of pain. If only there was something to take the title up a notch on the playability ladder!

Warcraft 1 Remastered meets this requirement. And as much as I will criticize the rest of the work delivered and as much as the lack of ambition of the product is annoying, this transfer alone is worth an appreciation. A game that is inaccessible to many modern people, like Uncle Ottokar's vintage car with a hand crank, only becomes inaccessible like Aunt Hildegard's car with a cassette radio and Easter Egg reverse gear. Units can be selected, grouped and commanded as was common in the late 1990s. Up to twelve - instead of four as in the original - units can be assigned to groups and sent into battle.

That alone makes it possible to experience the classic with significantly less suffering and is therefore a decent achievement in itself. And also a small modern idea: life bars above units and buildings only when needed, i.e. not when there is full health. On the other hand, there are a few why-didn't-anyone-think-of-that moments. The mana of magical units, for example, continues to be displayed without an exact numerical value - we have to estimate how long it takes from the next summon spell.

With these subtle innovations we can pit orcs and humans against each other in the campaigns. The first Warcraft is simpler in terms of the number and complexity of our troops - no air and water units, fewer spells and upgrades - and more restrictive in city structure.

Just like the successor, we build our base with the help of gold and wood and also have to secure the food supply via farms. This is of course a pretty crude principle in this form these days, but it works and the Blizzard back then had a lot of clever ideas with it, for example real indoor missions or summoning powerful elemental units.

The most obvious innovation in Battlechest is of course a modern graphic style - at the push of a button you can switch to the original view in parts - in order to put less strain on the optic nerves in 2024. Unfortunately, this one doesn't look that good. Critical tongues in various forums and Reddit threads are talking about AI-based upscaling, but in any case the end result looks incredibly soulless and is more reminiscent of the umpteenth game being promoted on social media than of the high-resolution variants of the original concepts . This is particularly annoying because coherent aesthetics are also one of the basic expectations of Blizzard. Or heard.

Free: The fact that the AI ​​can sometimes only stay alive by cheating, for example by being allowed to start constructions without construction workers - in return, the opposing units kindly line up in front of our archer groups like a string of pearls. By the way, the remastered version cannot be played against human opponents, even though the multiplayer mode was once the big hit of the first Warcraft.

Warcraft 2: Sloppy detail improvements

The successor, on the other hand - that's right: the battle is entering the second round, and in addition to orcs and humans, other fantasy races are dragged into the slaughter - starts from a more modern basis. Accordingly, the improvements seem minor and a little less well thought out. A maximum of twelve instead of nine units that can be selected at the same time and double-clicking for all units of a type: Great, but when adding the tenth unit the unit portraits are inelegantly compressed.

A construction menu that explains the missing requirements for constructions, upgrades or units - great! My very first attempts to play in the campaign ages ago actually stalled for a while when I didn't immediately discover the necessary path for knights. Are you still missing a stable and forge? Thanks, I knew. However, the writing style of the new tool tips seems much more concise than the sometimes slow style of the original texts.

A bit tricky, of course, but it fits with the overall impression - because visually, Warcraft 2 Remastered also seems like a half-hearted refresh. The sad I-don't-care-I'll-leave-it-as-it-now finale: The legendary German dubbing (“What do you want?” the knight rang out at us) was omitted from the remaster. The English voices are of course still convincing.

After all, Blizzard has included a lot of free maps and scenarios in addition to the campaigns. It's no surprise that AI, pathfinding and mission design still left a lot to be desired in 1996. But the basis for a beautiful game is recognizable, as is the progress compared to its predecessor in all areas.

For everyone who once had a lot of fun in Azeroth, the remastered package is worth it despite the few and unloving innovations. Aspects that are hard to imagine today, such as the completely symmetrical armies or the need to tell little extra stories without cutscenes or even voice overlays, have their charm with a little nostalgia bonus.

In the add-on “Beyond the Dark Portal,” the brand also established the concept of strong hero units. And pitting (under)water, air and land units against each other on the maps, giving units powerful buffs, which is combined with great sound effects – that has lost little of its fascination. I don't have a tower or flying unit to detect the orcs' diving turtles? It doesn't matter, I'll just send a few storms into the area if I'm lucky.

There are many dramatic moments and well thought out mechanics. The brand and our memories deserve more than this tepid infusion - but to be honest, the result is still worth it.