Revisiting the Warcraft Strategy Trilogy

This is video retrospective of the Warcraft strategy trilogy, including Warcraft 1,2,3, and both expansions. It looks at how the games develop over time and how the distinctive Warcraft look and feel evolved. It also features a brief tutorial on how to install and run the first two games on modern systems.
_____Table of Contents_____
Warcraft 1-- 0:54
Warcraft 2-- 8:44
Warcraft 2, Beyond the Dark Portal-- 15:03
Warcraft 3-- 20:06
Warcraft 3, The Frozen Throne-- 29:31
Warcraft 3, The Founding of Durotar-- 34:04
Appendix, Installing and Running Warcraft 1 & 2-- 37:37
Special Thanks to Patrons-- 42:06
_Warcraft 1 and 2 Links_
To Download as Abandonware:
www.myabandonware.com/game/war...
www.abandonia.com/en/games/309...
For More Information on DOSBox:
www.dosbox.com/
www.dosbox.com/wiki/GAMES:Warc...
_PATREON LINK_
/ noahcaldwellgervais

[@Omgacow1000]

That early description of Blizzard being a company people love made me giggle. Oh how times have changed

[@misuvittupaa8068]

Yeah, like people used to love konami. Live long enough to see yourself as a Trump and so on

[@Masilya111]

Sorry I love Blizzard games.

[@TylerjWebb]

I came to say this. As soon as he said it I had to look how old the video was and 6 years checks out

[@catgirlforeskin]

And things have changed even more since this comment, god

[@cormano64]

@@catgirlforeskin It's like Blizzard sees these as a challenge, lol. "We need to go deeper."

[@subatomicseal7789]

"[Blizzard is] a financial juggernaut that its fans really loves, and really loves its fans back" I miss 2015

[@Ignisrex]

a line that aged sadly poorly

[@Melsharpe95]

Blizzard is the very embodiment of "Die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villian."

[@ianjedi1282]

Sad face

[@poilboiler]

It's quite impressive how they keep finding new lows to dig themselves down in though.

[@BladedArrowTBGamer]

@@Melsharpe95 its because of activision imho

[@MrXalloc]

Warcraft 1 and 2 are now available on GOG.

[@professordetective807]

As is Diablo 1: www.gog.com/games?devpub=blizzard_entertainment_inc

[@Microphunktv-jb3kj]

@@professordetective807 ah.. with diablo1, there's an open-source remake engine for it, u still need assets from the original game tho, but it will make the game way more smoother freeablo.org

[@Grummar]

Warcraft 3 is such an amazing piece of software. The campaign and it's representation feels much more modern than even SC2 in 2019. There are much less polygons but the artstyle just doesn't get old. I'm personally not sure if the remaster is a good thing but it's good Blizzard gives it some more attention.

[@catsosan]

Oof on this comment.

[@mortarion9813]

The Remaster's kind of a shitefest, but aye, the original WC3 art style just vibes so hard. I use the WarCraft 3 images and art styles as the basis of my mental images whenever I imagine anything WarCraft, with some adjustments to proportions and whatnot.

[@anamnezz]

No, all that you said are not true. All in game animation of W3 sucks. For example, they just made some creatures bigger to produce more powerful creatures, and so on.

[@jimvandermoolen1546]

😊😊

[@janx7104]

Hey Noah. I know internet comments tend to lack tone and feel impersonal but I just want to reach out to you and say that you have really made a big impact on me as a gamer and a writer and a creative. I really love your work and you're my inspiration in terms of word choice and sentence structure. I want you to know that I will always watch everything you make. I have lived a sheltered and abusive childhood and you mentioned how you had a similar experience in an old video if I remember correctly. I remember reading a post on your Patreon or KZbin saying that you were not satisfied with your work and were depressed. I just escaped from my abuser. Please get medicated or at least attempt to solve your depression problem. Do not give up, man.

[@bboythekidstudios]

I would very much appreciate it if you did an episode on the X-Com series.

[@tranquilghost9189]

Blizzard: What are you doing, son?! Activision-Blizzard: Succeeding you, father. History repeating itself, as always.

[@AveSicarius]

Is Bobby Kotick the Lich King?

[@hrothgargo7615]

@@AveSicarius not at all, he is Kil'Jaeden, Fucked up the land without a care in the world because he didn't understand exactly what he was using power for, has absolutely no use for the scourge he created because of ill planning, and lost A BUTT TON of resources that could have been used to stuff his pockets even further (with magic, I assume), and still thinks he is doing well to this day, even though he got more power, as he wanted, he got so much less power than he could have gotten... so, yeah, Kil'Jaeden seems about right. (Also bonus for being an actual demon)

[@mortarion9813]

@@AveSicarius Don't taint Arthas' memory with that implication.

[@AveSicarius]

@@mortarion9813 Heh, pretty hard to taint a lich bitch! Arthas gave into Bobby Kotick's fell whispers and should be remembered as the man who killed the one true king, Classic Blizzard!

[@mortarion9813]

@@AveSicarius That's... actually a pretty good response, won't lie, lmfao.

[@emdeo]

Warcraft 2 briefings are where I started learning English. What a great retrospective..

[@AlexGorskov]

Same, but wc1 for me

[@ABuffWizard]

It completely blows me away how in depth and complete the script feels. Noah, you're really a master of your craft.

[@glassisland]

I can't believe I never saw this video - I've such fond memories of WC2, and it's awesome to see you revisit the series. Love it.

[@cryohellinc]

Intro song - Castle Walls - Styx (1977)

[@erickortizfranco]

I absoultely love the way you narrate the video, you sound like a real scholar and skilled researcher. I enjoyed this video a lot.

[@coddiwomple9510]

Warcraft 2 had amazing character. The lore, story and the art style was so good for the time. Like you said, these games were punishingly difficult. There really wasn't much strategy since units all had the same stats. Winning a battle came down to who had the most guys. Although I think the Horde is stronger because the orge magi could cast blood lust boosting units past the equal stats.

[@ReinBelmont]

You missed the best feature of Warcraft 2. Being able to record new audio for your units, like a deep fart for explosions. 10/10

[@AlexGorskov]

Woah, didn't know that

[@rudolphrictor5167]

How insanely fitting that you posted this video on my birthday. I grew up playing warcraft 2 on my dad's lap since the age of 3, I played all of the games so whole-heartedly, during my teenage years of like 13-17 I played warcraft 3 and the online games for approx 6 hours a day. I played competitive DotA from some of its first, wildly unbalanced forms (Can you guys believe that butterfly used to take 6 level 4 items to make, and gave +50% IAS, 80 AGI, 120 damage and other shit? oh yeah. Slardar used to have a ranged nuke.) through until near its end and promotion to stand alone game. I played games with both guinsoo AND icefrog as they released the latest versions for the first time, and on their team, multiple times. This brought back such visceral memories it brought a tear to my eye. Thank you very much. Also, my real name is Noah aswell, lol. Love your videos dude.

[@Cifra876]

You are doing a great job, Noah! I am glad the Patreon went well and am looking forward to more videos.

[@BelatedGamer]

I just love how no one commenting has watched it yet, but we know it'll be great.

[@justrust8643]

Exactly

[@chocoman45]

"Succeeding you, father" - Arthas Warcraft:3 is so good.

[@Wesley-sk8ok]

It's always great seeing a new video go up on this channel. Now to sit back and watch it.

[@ML-mx3mm]

Another awesome retrospective. Cheers man!~

[@ltpierce1]

I have to admit, you really have something to offer. You deserve a larger audience and more publicity, It's very refreshing to see a long drawn out review ever now and then please make more vids plz

[@reng935]

Awww, I love the NE campaign in Frozen Throne. Maiev grew on me.

[@AndrewJYoung-ie8qw]

Excellent analysis on the old Warcraft games. I love the Warcraft III and expansion story. All of these Thorough Look videos are great.

[@annefrank7820]

balancing four races with unique build orders must have been a fucking nightmare

[@jbz3]

Your sound card works perfectly.

[@kyleo8276]

Enjoying yourself?

[@S-Nova0]

I love the glee you describe Warcraft III with. It truly is just a perfect game, not only for its time but even today. Its aesthetic is timeless, and has carried onto WoW but also the MOBA craze today. The story has charm and is interesting. Its graphically gorgeous and there's great use of textures and it models its cartoony characters onto a low-poly framework instead of trying to painfully escape it. Wonderful, wonderful game.

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

Eh, I don't really like WC3's art design. WC1 had the best aesthetic imo.

[@Olagfigh]

I feel the same as SkyTech RTS. WC3's art design is cartoonish crap just like WoW. WC1 and WC2 had a lot better, darker and more realistic aesthetic. The story and storytelling is way better than in two previous games but that's all.

[@mats4563]

Another great video, keep up the awesome work.

[@BrainBurnStudios]

This is such a great channel!You need more subscribers quick!!

[@FillahSuffer]

Nice dev profile pic, rare to find a hon player randomly in comments.

[@LicoriceLain]

Man, you are on fire this year. I could have sworn the Red Fraction video came out only a couple weeks ago.

[@northmetalguy]

You're doing a great job with these.

[@LUMMPYPILLOW]

Love your stuff. So impartial and detailed, David Attenborough of video game analysis.

[@KTIIbot]

Very nice video and thanks for the installation info 👍

[@patchez058]

Liked and subbed for the sounds made between words. Top notch ASMR.

[@happydan20]

Excellent as always.

[@OtavioFesoares]

Awesome video. Just as always.

[@Afroooow]

Seriously, youre the best game reviewer ive ever come across. Keep it up.

[@lihailaowai1381]

Wonderful video, love seeing retrospective analyses of gaming history. It really is amazing to take a step back and consider how gaming has transformed over the past two or three decades. I've only gotten through the Undead and Human campaigns in the past, going to have to pull out the old Warcraft III discs again. Hope to see more such gaming history analyses!

[@donkixott]

Very nice retrospective

[@Sejdr]

The first Warcraft game was such an exhillirating experience, I so loved it and was hooked on the RTSs of the days after that (C&C1-3,WC1-3)

[@El-Duderino-His-Dudeness]

I'd love to hear Noah do a full retrospective on Command & Conquer.

[@LovablePWNER]

Awesome video as always Noah! It would rock to see maybe a video on the Jedi Knight series of games and maybe touch on what changed for better or for worse with the Force Unleashed games. That or you could do whatever you want and I'd probably love it anyway.

[@CAVEDATA]

Nice video. Series got me into gaming.

[@DoctorShellbait]

Lovely video!

[@guillaumeerard]

You made my weekend!!

[@bronzeager1298]

Wow, great video. Also, really don't want to tackle the WC2 expansion now... you make it sound terrifying! I just beat the main game campaign in a recent revisit, and even that was tough.

[@josephward3125]

Hey Noah. I love all your videos I really do. You give such wonderful insight into video games, and are so much more entertaining to listen too because of you own style. There is a video game series similar in terms of strategy called Tropico. I don't know if you've heard of it, but I think you would do a wonderful commentary and analysis of it. Thanks :)

[@brogorro]

Literally yesterday i thought i'd research these games, and here you are, thanks man.

[@muskegorunner]

I would love to see a video on the MYST series

[@broadcaststsatic]

You'll get one, I don't know when, but I'm a massive, massive Myst fan.

[@AniCator]

Noah Caldwell-Gervais Awesome!

[@fucktardickis]

Noah Caldwell-Gervais awsome!

[@venaretro5444]

+Noah Caldwell-Gervais I guess you like almost genre killers.

[@classclown6ya]

5 years later

[@grimanima]

Noah, since Homeworld has been remastered this would be a perfect opportunity to do a video about it.

[@daltonsiler2046]

I've never played Warcraft games before, but it's interesting seeing it's evolution into WoW and to a lesser extent Dota. Great video as always.

[@tinysoul]

Did you ever play Sacrifice by Shiny? I loved the strange aesthetics and the backstabbing nature of the plotlines. Great video as always Noah.

[@serioush]

Please check your sound levels when editing, you have a habit of creeping up background sounds until they are louder than your voice.

[@BlackLegion12621]

Dickbutt

[@broadcaststsatic]

Peter Hanson Nah, he's right, I never have figured that part of video editing out all the way.

[@BlackLegion12621]

Noah Caldwell-Gervais I know, the character in his picture frame is named Dickbutt.

[@broadcaststsatic]

oic

[@BlackLegion12621]

=)

[@Doominator99]

I have never played a Warcraft game but this is really interesting.

[@kanesoban]

Have you considered making one of these videos for the Command & Conquer series ?

[@dangdudei1506]

Fantastic video! I can only recall good things about WC III. Just a small nitpick, Dota started originally with Aeon of Strife in Starcraft then moved to Warcraft III:Reign of Chaos.

[@sqoots863]

a blast from the past I remember I couldn't get the sounds on Warcraft 1 to play.

[@sqoots863]

I played the hell out of Warcraft 2.

[@Calico_Crow]

I know this video is from forever ago, but I cycle through and watch these ALL the time I would be SO thrilled if you made an Elder Scrolls complete retrospective like this. I'm DYING to know your thoughts on Daggerfall and Morrowind, and how they differ from Oblivion and Skyrim.

[@Demonskunk]

These are nice, I always love analytical game series'!

[@rogaldorn5486]

I never have seen an introduction, that aged that poorly XD Anyways, pretty nice video , rewatched it a cuple of times already

[@greatafricanhornedfrog2954]

I played warcraft 2 in middle school and I recall many a weekend night spent working my way through the campaign. I remember it being difficult and I took my time to build up armies, still one of my favorite games.

[@123doomdoom]

I will love this vid for sure....I just have to watch it in one sitting later.

[@JamesIreland]

This is such an incredible video. Noah is such a desert rose.

[@LordSluggo]

I replayed Tides and BTDP a few years ago, and I must be a hell of a lot better than I thought because I breezed through it in a few evenings

[@FeniXMinerva]

2:16 to 2:20 Either that’s clever editing or one of the best coincidences I’ve ever heard.

[@vintagecapgunsatyourmomshouse]

I loved everything about Warcraft 2. This game definitely had a negative impact on my schooling! I remember beyond the dark portal fondly. I did complete it, although I remember having to cheese my way throughout.

[@VarietyGamerChannel]

Good stuff.

[@Jinballify]

Absolutely worthy memory for one of the most beloved RTS series, I loved 'em back in the day and still do :) But on the spirit of this (though it might be because I just love listening to your in-depth analysis) wouldn't it be great to make a video about Westwood (and the less than good post-westwood) rts titles and the huge competition Blizzard and Westwood had in the late 90's? Also, I would highly recomment diving in to the Legacy of Kain series for a retrospective of one of the most massive and complex storyline narratives ever done fully voice-acted, at least before Mass Effect series. Most of the games are available cheap on Steam, though the first installment might be a harder bite to find, but it too has been released on PC :)

[@davidhansen5574]

love your videos man! over the last dayes and watch alot of vids without being able to stop!!! ;p thx for that experience, along time since i have felt lige that! Did you know that war craft 3 started out as a warhammer fantasy game, but Blizzard did not get the green light from games workshop, and so was war craft 3 born :P

[@gagaplex]

I beat Beyond the Dark Portal on both campaigns. Your words flatter me. My tip? Use Elves/Trolls a lot. Kill those powerful melee units before they even get into melee range. Two groups á nine ranged troops are usually enough to hold any position, a third or fourth will allow you to expand. It requires a bit of micro and turtling, but then you can expand. Catapults/ballistas for towers - avoid rushing in. Paladins for healing, but not as attackers - too valuable to waste. That's how I did it, anyway.

[@DieWeltIstSchlecht]

Thank you for freshing up childhood memories! A question: What's the name of the song in the beginning?

[@simonndg]

Really makes me feel like dusting off my disc of Warcraft II.

[@broadcaststsatic]

You should! It's a worthwhile nostalgia trip.

[@simonndg]

I just might Noah Caldwell-Gervais. Got my Prima guide all ready: imgur.com/xDxPhF7

[@harlemraider3347]

I found my WCII box the other day while I was moving. No disc inside...

[@BreadDestroyer]

YOUR SOUND CARD WORKS PERFECTLY

[@ycl260779]

I recall managing to clear both human and orc campaigns in beyond the dark portal without cheating all those years ago, and yes, it was EXTREME. One of the things I really loved about the warcraft RTS was the soundtrack. It was amazing.

[@Sethasss]

westpoint here i come :) finished eyon the dark portal when i was 16 :D that was 17 years ago :D damn im old

[@whatfruit7965]

The Beyond the Dark Portal expansion is not as hard as it seems. But it forces the player to learn to play fast you have to hit enemies quickly before they have time to ramp up with upgrades and prioritise objectives. You can't turtle.

[@1squeamishneophyte]

LOL, yeah I went to West Point on a full Warcraft scholarship.

[@NTSPTQ]

Hi, thanks for the video! Bit disappointed you didn't mention how good the soundtrack for WC2 is though ;p

[@leedscomputerservice]

I really hope you get to levels of success like LGR, MetalJesus or PushinUpRoses. These very in depth and very long reviews of games are very rare and time consuming. I applaud you for taking time making these videos despite your full time job at a pizza shop. Also I want to suggest the Infinity Engine Games next on your list... :D

[@Shmandalf]

I have Starcraft, Warcraft and Age of Empires to thank for my love of real time strategy games. Warcraft 3 was definitely the one that made it one of my favourite genres, however. Truly an RTS that stands the test of time.

[@Fnargl99]

your sound card works perfectly... heard that too many times.

[@EvGamerBETA]

Will there be a command and conquer series videos?

[@vonVince]

Thank you, it is great to see the real Warcraft getting the appreciation that it deserves - WoW has turned the series as it is today into something that isn't even really Warcraft anymore.

[@TheSoulHarvester]

lol

[@backflipmann]

Anyone knows the song he puts at the very beginning of the video? P.S. Fantastic video and narrating, that was a treat to watch!!

[@BBQDanTheMan]

Age of Empires next? :3

[@neomeo101]

***** We meet again... Love your vids! Keep it up!!! :)

[@BBQDanTheMan]

Jesse Law Will do! :)

[@MrOresko]

I started playing Warcraft 2 and beyond the dark portal, because this video, but I found the expansion quite easy to beat. I am a gold level Starcraft 2 player. Even some Warcraft 2 tides of darkness missions were harder then beyond the dark portal. In Beyond the dark portal we have a plethora of gold mines, so we don't really even have to plan right unit compositions, just spam knights or ogres every mission, and that's it. Good video anyway.

[@pauls4522]

I learned the quirks to warcraft 2 at a young age :D I usually send a boat of units in most maps with 1 builder peasant. then I build a tower and get an arrow tower. Then I lure the enemy base enemies to the tower while using footman or knights as the tank. This works through a little over half the game in both campaigns. Although Beyond the Dark portal I could not play as a 12 year old without cheating after maybe the first 5 levels. Warcraft 1 I discovered is more about battle formations to get through efficiently basically I get 3-4 footman as the meat shield, then 3 spear throwers in the back. very quick switch between the foot soldiers and spearman in battle and I can clear a big chunk of both campaigns relatively quickly. This is the only think that became a joke in warcraft 2, other than that warcraft 2 is better in every way.

[@blakdust3]

Those cut scenes were insane back then don't forget

[@LordMalice6d9]

I concur with Warcraft 2 being the first RTS a lot people ever played. It was mine as well. But Warcraft 3 particularly the Undead and Orc campaigns have always been my favorites!

[@joeschmoe3665]

Warcraft III is one of the best video games of all time, lightning in a bottle and tremendous amounts of creativity

[@onkkell]

I think a video on the history of Diablo and Blizzard North would be very interesting to see.

[@Gigas0101]

at 19:44 when you mentioned the ideas from warcraft being refined for world and warcraft, I was expecting a "retconned" after the pause.

[@thomasderosso5625]

My life would be very different if I'd gotten a West Point application for beating Beyond the Dark Portal. Still worth it, though.

[@Olagfigh]

"I admire anyone who's beaten Beyond the Dark Portal" Thank you :D But it's not that hard... just don't use attack-move command if you are playing DOS version cause it's wasn't invented yet...

[@kissingzombieschannel3708]

no ad revenue from these videos? dude i call that pure dedication...

[@WhiteZerox]

Never played the Warcraft series, other than some WoW. So this was nice to get a full retrospective. Very well done, sir!

[@ciCCapROSTi]

You mentioned Total Annihilation... a video about that and the successors would be much appreciated.

[@Redem10]

New Noah Gervais video...well here goes my plan for the next 40 minutes!

[@cranialtoxicity4434]

I noticed that your voice, articulation, and tone seemed a lot more consistent,swift and polished in this in this video. New Mic? Or new process?

[@broadcaststsatic]

I just did a lot more takes. I do whole paragraphs, and it is absolutely infuriating to get to a minute fifty-five of a two minute paragraph and flub a line-- more often than not, I was just "Close Enough" and threw it in, but since people are giving me an actual part-time income to do this now, the 'enough' in close enough ought to be more demanding. But I have sixty-five flubbed takes for this video, no joke. I also started tossing out takes even where I don't flub a line, but don't have good rhythm. And based on some comments last video, I boosted mic volume.

[@AniCator]

Noah Caldwell-Gervais Your videos are awesome and it is great that you're putting so much time into the recordings.

[@paulbushey5223]

Noah Caldwell-Gervais this is so cool to hear! I've just found your channel and have watched your older videos and now to see this makes me happy for you! The extra work is appreciated and apparent. I'll definitely be watching your next one on LA Noire once time allows. You have reason to be proud.

[@samuelsmith2707]

Warcraft 1 was the first game I ever owned and Warcraft 3 is one of my favourite games.

[@losoarosity]

I think it would be cool for you to do a video on the Age of Empires series since its been around for a long time.