"The graphics are so good!"
Sitting next to him, Hannah looked at the game screen and couldn't help but praise it.
Even though she doesn't like playing RTS games, it's not like she's never played them.
She could immediately tell that the graphics of "Warcraft" were good.
"It's not just the graphics; the game's story seems interesting too!" Although Zack wasn't an expert RTS player, he had played them for a while and knew a bit about RTS games.
Following the system's instructions, Zack searched for the prophet.
When he arrived at a flag in the middle, the orc soldiers who had appeared in the CG cutscene ran out of a nearby building.
There were three of them, surrounding Thrall, who Zack was controlling. These were clearly the unit types in the game.
Patrolling, moving, attacking, holding position - "Warcraft" had more controls than typical RTS games.
But what Zack found different was the concept of soldiers and heroes.
Thrall in the game was a special hero who could level up to increase his stats and had unique skills.
As for the regular soldiers, they only had attack stats and no special abilities.
Additionally, there was a big difference between heroes and soldiers.
Next to the skill box on the right, there was a row of inventory slots.
Although there weren't any items yet, it was clear that the game supported the ability to get and use items.
But it seemed that only heroes could use them.
In the past, games like "Human War" also had some special units.
For example, siege beasts were strategic units that could turn the tide of battle.
In "Warcraft," the heroes were clearly more than that.
Being able to use skills and items could have a big impact on the battle.
And importantly, the heroes could level up and gain stats like strength, agility, and intelligence, which are usually only found in RPG games.
This made Zack think of the Three Kingdoms, like a general leading soldiers into battle.
Besides these things, the unit stats in the game also gave him some ideas.
In the past, RTS games were mostly just battles between different unit types. There was some talk about units being stronger against others.
But it was mostly just about building units and fighting.
However, even though "Warcraft" had just started, Zack could already see the difference from the stats of the three green orc soldiers.
The attack and armor stats of the soldiers and heroes were completely different.
This meant that the damage between different unit types would also be different.
While Zack was noticing these details and the differences in "Warcraft," Hannah's attention was elsewhere. As someone who rarely played RTS games, she hadn't noticed any of this.
Hannah was more interested in the hero Zack was controlling, named Thrall.
"Shouldn't your Thrall be a mage based on his main stats? Why does he look and act so strange?" Hannah asked.
Hearing Hannah's words, Zack also focused on Thrall in the game.
He was muscular, wielding a giant hammer, and riding a black wolf. Looking at his stats:
16 strength, 18 agility, 19 intelligence.
If it wasn't for the high intelligence, you wouldn't think he was a magic user at all!
"That's actually normal. After all, Thrall is an orc. It makes sense for an orc to be muscular, ride a wolf, and use a hammer, right?" Zack thought for a moment and gave his opinion.
"Yeah... that does seem reasonable, but a mage who uses a hammer? It feels so weird," Hannah said, looking at the big, burly Thrall in the game.
"He doesn't have to be a mage; it just means Thrall is smart," Zack explained.
"Alright, alright, don't worry about it. Let's just watch the game!" Seeing that Hannah was about to say something else, Zack changed the subject.
After all, these things weren't important.
And it's actually pretty realistic; most people think of orcs as big and strong.
If Thrall was a weak, pretty boy, then people would wonder if he was really an orc.
"But compared to other RTS games, 'Warcraft' has so many changes and innovations!" Zack said with some emotion.
Controlling Thrall, Zack started to progress through the story mission.
As he controlled them, Thrall and the orc soldiers would give voice responses to the player's commands.
In the battle mode, the voices were mostly the same.
But in the story campaign, Lucas had made some changes compared to the past.
The voice responses would match the current story and scene, giving the player a better sense of immersion.
As the prologue story progressed, some things were gradually revealed to Zack.
For example, the impact of the hero on the battle.
Thrall in the prologue only had two skills, mainly to avoid overwhelming the player.
One was a chain lightning skill that dealt area-of-effect damage.
The other was a scouting skill that could see through the fog of war.
As an RTS player, Zack immediately realized the importance of Thrall's skills.
In the past, RTS games were mostly about skill.
The better you were at controlling things, the better you were.
Unit match-ups and tactics existed, but weren't as important.
But "Warcraft" showed him something different: the changes that heroes brought to the gameplay.
A well-timed skill could even decide the outcome of a battle.
Of course, he didn't know if this would be the case in multiplayer mode.
Right now, he was just following the story in the game.
Since he was playing on easy mode, Zack found it pretty simple. He only lost two orc soldiers the whole time.
After rescuing an orc named Grom Hellscream, Thrall and the orcs in his tribe started sailing using human ships.
The next moment, a CG cutscene appeared on the screen, exciting Zack.
A brand-new CG! How much did this game have?
On a distant cliff, a mysterious wizard watched Thrall's fleet leave and muttered to himself, "Go! Young Thrall, travel to the land of Kalimdor. There you will find your destiny."
As the mysterious wizard finished speaking, a gentle melody played, and the scene turned into a raven flying into the distance.
The screen went briefly dark. The raven flew over the Alterac Mountains, past barren valleys, and finally arrived at a prosperous human city: Lordaeron.
In the great hall, countless voices were arguing.
The topic of their discussion was about orcs and a plague.
The elderly King Terenas was deep in thought on his throne.
At that moment, the raven flew in from somewhere and landed in the middle of the hall.
At the same time, the background music became deeper.
The strange raven caught Terenas' attention. Suddenly, the raven started to glow with an eerie green light and, to everyone's surprise, transformed into a person.
It was the prophet who had guided Thrall.
His voice echoed throughout the hall.
"Humans are in great danger! The dark power is about to return, and the world is on the brink of war!"
"Listen to me! The only hope for your people is to go west, to the ancient continent of Kalimdor!"
The ministers in the palace ordered the guards to drag the 'madman' out, but the old king stood up and stopped them.
He looked at the wizard with a serious expression. "I don't know who you are or what you believe! But now is not the time to spread prophecies. Our kingdom is troubled by conflict, but we should decide how best to protect our people! Not you! Please leave!"
The wizard slowly lowered his head, and his voice became somewhat gloomy. "I once failed to save humanity and abandoned my humanity, but this time, I won't do that again."
"If you cannot accept this mission, then I will find someone else who will."
The wizard slowly turned and left, leaving only a whisper that only he could hear.
"I have given the warning. Now, they control their own fate."
The screen went dark, and the CG ended, leading into a new game chapter.
The CG wasn't very long, about 3 minutes or so.
But it already showed a lot.
For example, the hostility between orcs and humans, and the mysterious plague spreading in Lordaeron.
And why the prophet who had contacted Thrall wanted all humans and orcs to go to the ancient continent of Kalimdor.
Zack took a deep breath, not continuing immediately.
Instead, he felt a bit of excitement and emotion.
Because it was so well-made. Even though he'd only played for less than an hour, "Warcraft" had already completely won him over in the single-player story!
Zack turned to tell Hannah how thrilled he was, but he found that she was already gone.
She had clearly gone to secretly download "Warcraft" and try it out for herself.
So Zack quietly opened the voice chat and turned on his microphone.
"Ben, what do you think of 'Warcraft'!? This game is absolutely amazing! I've never played an RTS game like this before! And the CG is incredible!"
After saying this, he left the voice chat.
He had vented his excitement. He didn't know how far Ben had gotten. To avoid getting spoiled, leaving right after saying that was a good choice.
(End of Chapter)
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