Once again, there’s a fan outcry surrounding Warcraft 3. Blizzard had apparently hoped that fans would be satisfied this time around.
The excitement didn’t last long. After Blizzard released a 3.0 update plus a completely new DLC campaign for Warcraft 3: Reforged over the weekend—much to many fans’ surprise—fans were initially excited. It seemed as though Blizzard was finally trying to make up for the disastrous release.
When Reforged came out in 2020, many fans were frustrated by incomplete features and broken promises. The remaster was quickly declared the worst game of all time on Metacritic. But it took only a few days for controversy to resurface around the seemingly utterly cursed remaster. The new graphics in the 3.0 update—which are actually free—are apparently not available in all game modes.
Much Controversy Over the New Graphics
With the new Definitive Edition, Reforged now includes three different graphics presets. First, there’s the original look from 2002; then the Reforged look from 2020; and now the Definitive graphics from 2026. The latter is an attempt to better preserve the original’s look while still visibly modernizing it. As a result, many units here are noticeably more blocky than in the graphics of the original remaster.
The graphics are theoretically free for every Reforged owner. You can easily switch between all three graphics settings in the options. Even if you don’t own the new Forsaken Kingdoms expansion. However, that’s only half the story, and it’s really upsetting fans right now.
Because the new graphics can’t be applied to the two original campaigns. So you can’t try out either Reign of Chaos or Frozen Throne with the new look.
The graphics set is only available in skirmishes (or multiplayer) and in the new campaign. For the original campaigns, only the graphics from the original and the original Reforged remain available.
The next fan outcry right away
This has once again caused Warcraft 3 fans to be up in arms and left them shaking their heads in disbelief. The update was supposed to be a sign from Blizzard that they hadn’t forgotten the Reforged debacle and wanted to make amends. Instead, the new campaign costs a hefty 30 euros, and the new graphics mode doesn’t cover the entire game.
According to reports from some players, not even all of the assets in the game have been rebuilt—only those visible in the new campaign. As a result, some units are said to still look the same as they did six years ago, even with the DE look. This is now causing a loud outcry. Here are a few quotes from Reddit.
“Damn it, I already bought this stupid thing because I thought it would apply to the whole game. Damn Blizzard.”
— Jeb764 on Reddit
“Wow, that’s really disappointing. I didn’t particularly like the graphics in Reforged, but I really liked the Definitive Edition style. I was really looking forward to finally getting the game and replaying the original campaigns before trying out the new one, but I just spent 30 frustrating minutes trying in vain to get it to work before I found this thread.”
– Davidn on the Blizzard forums
“This is already their third ‘global’ attempt to fix the problem, and yet they keep managing to mess it up. What’s the point of this graphical overhaul if it isn’t available for the entire game—just like the classic graphics mode wasn’t available for the new expansion either?”
– Sebs on the Blizzard Forum
So frustration is running high once again, and Blizzard has really dropped the ball here. Instead of praising the studio for not giving up on Warcraft 3, fans can now only vent their frustration once again. In Germany, some fans are also upset that there apparently won’t be a German voiceover for the new campaign. We’ll take a very close look at all of this in due time and then let you know in a review whether the campaign or update is even worth it.
