Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness – celebrates its 30th birthday today

Just one year after its first RTS game, Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, the team at Blizzard Entertainment has launched Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, initially for MS DOS systems.

It was a continuation of the epic conflict between the Alliance led by Anduin Lothar and the Horde led by Orgrim Doomhammer. Players could once again control both sides in separate campaigns, and in addition to familiar units, some new ones were controlled by air and water.

War was also fought in multiplayer matches, which increased the number of players to eight. He left a significant contribution to the popularity of the game built-in folder editorwith which players could create and share their maps for free.

Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness was a huge success, both with critics and audiences. Critics praised the game because it managed to surpass the already high-quality Orcs & Humans, and managed to position itself as a strong rival to the competitive RTS series Command & Conquer. The audience simply grabbed Tides of Darkness, which managed to sell in the first year million copies.

In 1996, expansion followed Beyond the Dark Portalfor which the Blizzard team was not responsible. It is interesting to note that as part of the edition called Warcraft 2: The Dark Saga, this Warcraft appeared on the first PlayStation in 1997 and is actually the only part of that series that came to life on the console.

In 1999, Warcraft II was re-released Battle.net Edition with official support for Blizzard’s multiplayer service. For a long time, that version of the game was the only one available for sale, but from 2024, Battle.net sells Warcraft II Remastered for €15 with improved graphics and compatibility with modern operating systems.