Warcraft origins

Im going to take a break from map reviews and touch up on warcraft history. On how it all began and from something so simple came a beautiful and pretty much a house hold name as far as Role playing games goes.

Way back when when not every home had a computer, when day time television was the 'bees knees' and when nerd were geeks and men wore spandex. Yes it was the late 80s when the digital age was setting its roots and computer gaming was but a simple past time for people.

The Warcraft franchise started with the 'Warcraft: Orcs and Humans' published and developed by Blizzard . Your standard fantasy tripe of playable humans and fantasy races(Orcs) fighting each other for whatever reason the scenario requires. Land grabbing, establishing territory, acquisition of resources. whatever. It changed the battlefield for RTS gaming forever.

There is a something one should take note of, some people say that warcraft was supposed to be Warhammer which belonged to GW(Games Workshop). As Blizzard was developing the game version of Warhammer what happened was that GW decided they didnt like how things were progressing and decided to pull out. Blizzard on the other hand decided to truck on renaming and changing a few things. And viola Warcraft was born

Hive Workshop

Here is a very wonderful community where you can find various stuff about Warcraft 3 and other fun things. It offers content for people to use, tutorials, helpful applications for map making and even stunning textures.

Link

Resident Evil City of Hell

Resident Evil City of Hell [ver9.2a]

Map maker: Panguin

Map Type: Survival

Number of Players:1-8

Replayability:7/10

Ever wondered how resident evil would play in a warcraft 3 scenario? I stumbled upon a foreign map a while back and it played pretty well, unfortunately I lost it but I found a translated one and it made me realize how hard it was. Team mates will be very much appreciated.

The game starts with a vague intro of a sewer then its character selection time. Im not sure but it features several characters from the resident evil franchise from Leon to Ashley to characters I don’t recognize since I only played RE4 from the franchise. Picking a suitable character choice is essential since some characters have special skills that can be very useful, such as Leon’s stun gun or Claire’s TNT bomber. Each has their strengths and weaknesses. Some can move faster while others can shoot faster.

The game begins with you at the police station, fending off attackers. Its split off into several chapters which have bosses you cannot possibly defeat on your own. What you can do is stick close to NPCs since early on the game, your damage is pretty useless.

There are quite a few cut scenes in this game, which should be helpful to the player. Telling them the plot and where to go next but sadly broken English prevents this. Looking beyong that and following the signals in the mini map, you can progress smoothly

The Good

I have to note this map has some pretty detailed character models. I am not sure it is because of the texture or the model itself but it looks pretty sharp.

The Bad

Game items are hard to spot especially once hidden in grass tiles. Consumables usually come in bright colors for players to quickly see and use. In this map its black all thru out the game. Another thing I found was some friendly NPCs instead of running or walking to a part on the map, they dash their way into the fray. It doesn’t mess with the game or anything but it irks me in a way.

DOWNLOAD LINK

Raziel the Soul Reaver Beta_35[ver]

Raziel the Soul Reaver Beta_35[ver]

Map maker: Trinin

Map Type: Campaign

Number of Players:1-2

Replayability:3/10

Take a trip down memory lane and play one of the good games for the PS1, Soul Reaver.

The map is very easy and is essentially a shortened version of the game focusing only on the storyline of Soul Reaver. From learning how to shift into the spectral realm to pass objects, to slaying everyone that stands in your way, and finally having a showdown with your former master Kain.

It’s a ver quick game, Id probably take you a thirty minutes to an hour at the most. Full of cut scenes and has custom models and even sounds from the game itself.

It’s worth a try. But expect nothing more than a very quick game. Dont blame me for anything.

DOWNLOAD LINK

Goblin Experimentals [ver 6.00]

Goblin Experimentals [ver 6.00]

Map maker: aimaintesi host77

Map Type: Survival/Coop

Number of Players: 2 -12

Replayability: 7/10

I’ll make it simple you are a goblin which is from a goblin tribe from three goblin tribes. The goal of the game is for you to decimate the opposing goblin tribe. Create buildings, make traps hunting animals and do so many more  in your quest to outlive and out last the other tribes. Since this is a survival game you need to cooperate to win. There are several roles from alchemists to miners, each job having advantages and disadvantages. For example the alchemist has a skill that allows him to make flowers/herbs/stuff sprout from the ground while a mechanic can instantly create coal without needing a structure. The former is useful mid game while the latter is effective early on.

Resource gathering is one of the main points of the game. You constantly lose your HP while away from a campfire. You need wood from cutting down trees, minerals from mining rocks and food from killing animals. You can do all of this but doing so will cause you the game. As the game suggests at some point you need to assign specific tasks to characters which skills cater to that task. For an easier game flow cooperation is needed to build a strong camp that can resist attack and raids from creeps and other players.

Thankfully the structures build themselves. Resources are all over the map waiting for you to plunder and utilize, they may not replenish but there is a lot to go around. Once you get ample resource you can make armors, swords, TNT and much more. Creating items took me a while, but you just need the required parts in specific order to make the item.

The Good

It’s a fun game that makes the side races such as goblins the main characters for once. Its challenging and there are different strategies on how to play and hopefully win the game.

The Bad

You need to move fast and know what class is useful and how to utilize the field. First time players will be put off playing against experienced players. Resource management is everything.

DOWNLOAD LINK

Destiny Arena

Destiny Arena [ver 1.9]

Map maker: …..

Map Type:  Hero Arena

Number of Players: 1-10

Replayability: 7/10

Ever imagined several final fantasy heroes and villains pitted against each other in a small arena. Opposing fronts trying to level the playing field with magic and sword play. Destiny Arena is a map where you will play final fantasy characters (heroes, villains) and win against the opposing team. That’s how I remembered it. Now this version has a lot of characters from different franchises (Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail and even Fate stay night). Since I haven’t played the map for quite some time now, this is a very refreshing surprise. It used to be just Final Fantasy based hero arena. Now it’s an anime/manga based since the majority of characters are from that genre. Along with same arena based maps of its kind it holds its own ground. With its wonderfully done skills and fast paced game play. Teamwork is needed to rack some kill score.

The Good

The models and textures are superb. You can see your characters face and see the resemblance from the video game. Item building is easy to grasp since the required upgrade for an item is simple next to it.

Character skill sets are also thought out. It notes what kind of effect your skill has with its type. There are also areas where you can, if you are strong enough, battle a Jinnchuuriki and hopefully win. You can use the soul that it drops either for making a cursed item or selling it in the shops. The skill effects aren’t that bad, not balls to the wall good but its okay. Considering they have it to script it themselves.

The Bad

One of the most fatal bugs has been fixed and I thank the map maker for this. Imagine out running a group of enemies, only to find out that you can not return to your base. You had a one out of ten chance of getting through. The enemies have a ten out of ten chance of unleashing all of their skills on your sorry hide. Thankfully that bug has been fixed. The game needs more custom content. Sure enough the game character models are on a league of its own but the terrain, the mobs scattered throughout the map and even the shop NPCs could use a little customization.

I mean the concept of killing a Jinnchuuriki for its soul is pretty cool, adding a custom model for it will make it cooler.

Download Link

War of the world

War of the world [ver 1]

Map maker: unknown

Map Type:  Hero Defense

Number of Players: 1-8

Replayability: 6/10

The opening description is pretty, how should I say this, interesting. It’s broken English with typos here and there. But I cannot let the description drive me away. The game might be good and fun to play. It’s a defend your castle/structure type of map. Right off the bat similar with the loading introduction the characters themselves have typos. Well the good thing is the description is pretty straight forward. You also get a free archer which also serves as your courier. The archer has a base health of twenty five thousand and range damage of one thousand, not bad for a courier.

Once you choose a character you make your way to the frontlines and start killing some enemy units. Killing the enemy is not as easy as it sounds, especially when your 5 hits away from dying even with a full health bar. Thankfully the class I picked is a sumaner which I guess it means it’s a summoner, since my skill set allow me to summon creatures to do my bidding. The character is also a ranged unit, thankfully.

There is no time to think. Just carefully surveying the battle field will chip off away important life points from your character, which in this case almost got mine killed. Enemies are constantly pouring in from the opposing front, giving you a brief moment to regroup then back to defending your base.  The map itself is pretty big. You can explore and find certain things such as enemies and allies. 

The Good

A map that is fun to play with friends or just defend the castle by your lonesome. Every once in a while a certain event takes place whether it be elves needing rescue or finding new allies to add to your army. It’s a nice touch. It has some nice custom models, one model in particular is one of my favorites by far.

The Bad

Like I said before the typos in this game is pretty prominent, not much character variety and the description is very lackluster. It maybe direct to the point but you can at least provide a back story for flavor. Spell bugs is also a concern. An example would be the summoner having a creature previously stronger only to revert to a weaker form with a higher spell level. I hope that they fix this in future updates.

Download link

And by far the best custom character I have ever laid my eyes on. It looks so very clean and it just blows my mind away. I..I don’t even know what it is…