Perhaps in part from Blizzard’s marketing and pre-release promotion, players expected Reforged to be something akin to a revolutionary - or at least, significantly - new version of a classic. Warcraft III’s story went on to form the core of World of Warcraft and the hero unit concept nearly singlehandedly gave rise to an entirely new genre, MOBAs. In addition to heroes, Warcraft III redefined the RTS genre by focusing on smaller squads instead of massive swarms of units and finally, its colorful and - for its time - detailed graphics were a real evolution for the franchise. It had an engaging high fantasy story filled with larger than life, epic and memorable characters. It’s hard to overstate (speaking of hyperbole) how influential and important Warcraft III was when it was first released nearly twenty years ago.
