That bit where... Warcraft 3 (plus announcement)

If you haven't heard, yesterday I got a job as a volunteer writer for http://www.hookedgamers.com/! It's pretty exciting for me, as I'll be getting a taste of what it's like to be a professional writer - sticking to deadlines and whatnot- while still maintaining a bit of freedom over what I write about.

If all goes to plan, my first article on the site will be a preview of Borderlands 2, which I am currently taking a break from researching while I write this, so that's something to look forward to.

I shan't be falling behind on my blogging duties though, so today I'll continue my 'That Bit Where...' series by talking about one of my favourite games from when I was twelve and into my early teens, Warcraft 3.

Warcraft 3 - The Cutscenes


My favourite cutscenes in video games have always come from Blizzard, simply because of how long and how much time it seems has been put into each one. (I'm talking about the pre-rendered cinematic cutscenes here, not the in-engine ones)

It may sound strange that my favourite parts of the game were parts that weren't actually playable, and I don't mean to detract from the quality of the game itself, because it still remains one of my favourite RTS games to actually play. After seeing the first cutscene or two however, I found myself playing through the game just to get to that next epic piece of eye candy, forever hoping that the next one wasn't the last one.

It's quite hard to talk about them as they are just videos, so I'll let you watch them yourselves, if you haven't seen them before, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. I'll link the two that I remember the most fondly here, but if you want to see them all (around 10 or so) you can find them on YouTube.

This first one depicts Archimonde, (a Champion of the Burning Legion, you don't need me to tell you with that name that they're pretty bad dudes) destroying the city of Dalaran pretty much with his mind, so you know, he's pretty badass.

The second, and probably the most iconic of all the cutscenes from the game, shows Prince Arthas betraying his father by killing him and taking the throne for himself. This is a huge moment in the series, as Arthas begins his descent from loyal Paladin, filled with honour, to twisted and evil Death Knight. Arthas' story is followed throughout the series, culminating with him being the main boss of Wrath of the Lich King, one of World of Warcraft's expansions.

(Little known fact: The petals that fall around Arthas at the beginning of the video are in fact called Arthas' Tears, and can be picked using herbalism in WoW)

I absolutely adore the story and lore behind the Warcraft series, and to have that reinforced by such beautifully created videos is the icing on the cake.

Hope you've enjoyed the videos... I have, I'm going to watch the rest of them now.

Thanks for reading.