“Why do you keep touching me!” Review

“Why do you keep touching me!”

No, you have not reached the cyberporn section of the magazine. You have, however, entered the world of WarCraft. The orcs are invading and you don’t have the time for such trifles. Take control of the human campaign and stop the growing power of your orcish adversaries. Or be an orcish commander out to destroy all the puny humans that stand in your way. Either way, you are fighting for control of Azeroth, and there can be only one victor.

All the original graphics, all the original sound, and even some added extras are in this Mac translation of WarCraft. Add to that a library of epic War music and the ability to network with both Mac and PC versions, and you have yourself a winner.

One of the best improvements is that the graphics run smoother on a Mac than they do on the PC. As you navigate around the map, the individual characters continue to move smoothly about their tasks. The graphics are almost exactly the same as the PC version, which, in some ways, is a disappointment. The low resolution graphics may have succeeded on the PC when WarCraft originally came out, but Mac gamers are used to good 32-bit graphics and are disappointed by anything less. One of the most enjoyable added attractions to the Mac version is the movies at the beginning and end of every mission. If you lose, you get to see burning villages and skeletons strewn about the countryside. The graphics, though passable, could have been improved upon in this version.

WarCraft does take advantage of the sound and music capabilities of the Mac. War music echoes out of your speakers, urging you on to victory. Your men are always at you beck and call, responding with a “My liege” or “What!” If you click on an orc one to many times, he’ll scream “Stop poking me!” The designers definitely had a lot of fun with the sound and music for WarCraft and should be commended on a job well done.

Reminiscent of Dune II for the PC, this game is not a revolutionary as people will have you believe. Still, all games with the overhead, real-time strategy setup have been excellent so far, so there is no reason for any of the companies to stop making them. The network feature is definitely a must for WarCraft, especially since you can network between a Mac and a PC.

The major drawback of WarCraft for the Mac is the time it took to be released. WarCraft II for the PC is already out, and the Macintosh version is not going to be ready till Fall ’96. Many companies are now releasing both Mac and PC versions simultaneously. The delay always frustrates Mac users and should be minimized whenever possible.