Blizzard has officially announced remasters for the original Warcraft and Warcraft II. The reveal arrived during the Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct presentation by the company, and one of the surprises it teased turned out to be these brand-new remasters, which are available now.
Warcraft I: Remastered brings the 30-year-old to current audiences with a fresh coat of paint, modernized controls, widescreen support, an overhauled UI, and more upgrades. While the gameplay will remain authentic to the classic experience, benefits like health bars, higher unit selection amount, hotkey indicators, and even a gallery full of never-before-seen artwork.
Moreover, players can toggle between the classic artwork and the remastered visuals, depending on their tastes. Here"s a short description from Blizzard:
Experience the inciting war between Orcs and Humans that shook Azeroth to its core. Defend the realm as the noble Alliance, or seek to conquer it as the bloodthirsty Horde across thrilling faction campaigns or custom skirmish games. Whichever side you take, there has never been a better time to charge into the legendary battles of Azeroth’s greatest heroes in the Warcraft universe.
Next, 1995"s Warcraft II: Remastered comes in touting both the Tides of Darkness campaign and the Dark Portal expansion"s storyline. It also has modernized controls, hand-painted artwork, widescreen support, and accessibility options, just like the first game. Adding to that, uncompressed and re-balanced music from the original and even multiplayer support is here now, too, with support for up to eight players.
Blizzard has even kept support for custom maps that were made for the original game. The campaign description on the store page reads:
War between orc and humans rages on across the seas, and the fate of the world hangs in the balance as the great tacticians of the Horde and the Alliance clash. Only one thing is certain: winning this war will demand unprecedented cunning, courage, and nerves of steel.
Available via the Battle.net store, Warcraft I: Remastered comes in at $9.99, while Warcraft II: Remastered costs $14.99. A Battle Chest bundle containing both remasters, the original two games, plus the Warcraft III: Reforged edition is also available with a $39.99 price tag.