By 1995, real-time strategy was still finding its feet. Dune II had invented the genre. Warcraft: Orcs & Humans had refined it. Command and conquer wasn’t around yet. So it was Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness that finally made it good. Blizzard didn’t just improve on the first game. They obliterated it.
Everything Warcraft did wrong, Warcraft II did right. The controls? Fixed. Now you could select up to nine units at a time, which doesn’t sound like much today but was an absolute game-changer. The pathfinding? Not great, but better. Units still had a tendency to get stuck on trees like lost children, but at least they weren’t outright refusing to follow orders. The interface? Streamlined, intuitive, and no longer actively working against you.
Then there were the visuals. For a DOS game, Warcraft II looked incredible. Bright, colorful, and packed with detail, every sprite oozed personality. The human towns felt alive. The orc encampments looked like something out of a fantasy nightmare. Units had exaggerated animations and distinct designs, making it easy to tell a footman from a knight, a grunt from an ogre. The fog of war, a feature barely noticeable in the first game, now rolled in like a thick mist, hiding the horrors that lay beyond.
And the sound? Phenomenal. The music was catchy. The voice lines were iconic. “Zug zug.” “Stop poking me!” “Ready to work!” Blizzard’s obsession with polish was in full effect, turning what could have been simple audio cues into endlessly quotable lines.
Most importantly, the gameplay felt good. The factions were balanced but distinct. The humans had paladins and gryphon riders. The orcs had death knights and dragons. Naval combat, completely absent in the first game, was introduced and actually mattered. Resources weren’t just about hoarding anymore. Choke points, strategic positioning, and map control played a real role in battles.
Then there was multiplayer. Warcraft II didn’t just support it. It thrived on it. Through direct modem connections, LAN, and eventually Battle.net, players could finally test their skills against something more competent than the AI. And that’s when the game truly came alive.
Blizzard wasn’t just making an RTS. They were making a legacy. Warcraft II didn’t just set the standard—it became the standard. It paved the way for StarCraft, Warcraft III, and ultimately World of Warcraft.