Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness is a real-time strategy game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment, released for MS-DOS in 1995 and for Macintosh in 1996. It is the sequel to WarCraft: Orcs & Humans and the second entry in what would become one of the most successful franchises in gaming history.
The game continues the war between the human Alliance and the Orcish Horde, this time expanding the conflict beyond the land. Where the original Warcraft was a purely ground-based game, Tides of Darkness introduced naval and air combat, adding a new layer of strategy that felt like a significant step forward for the genre. You could now build ships to control the seas and train flying units to strike from above, which made base defense and map control considerably more complex.
Much of the credit for the game's rich world and storytelling goes to Chris Metzen, who served as designer and writer on Warcraft II. Metzen was one of the key creative figures at Blizzard, and his work here was just the beginning — he would go on to lead the design of Starcraft and later serve as Creative Director on World of Warcraft, shaping the Blizzard universe for two decades.
Blizzard also expanded the roster of units and buildings on both sides, and again designed the two factions to feel meaningfully different. The Humans and Orcs have equivalent units for most roles, but with different abilities and aesthetics — a design philosophy that Blizzard would later refine even further with StarCraft. The campaign structure improved as well, with a stronger narrative and more varied missions than in the first game.
The multiplayer support was a major highlight. Warcraft II supported up to eight players via LAN or modem, and became one of the defining competitive games of the mid-1990s, helping establish Blizzard's reputation for online play.
Visually, the game was a clear upgrade over its predecessor. The new SVGA resolution of 640x480 pixels made it one of the sharpest-looking strategy games of its time, with detailed sprite animations and a richly illustrated fantasy world. The interface was also cleaner and more intuitive, with quality-of-life improvements that made managing a large army noticeably easier.
Like Command & Conquer and Dune II, Warcraft II built on the real-time strategy foundations that Dune II had helped establish, pushing the genre forward with more units, more tactical options, and a more polished overall experience. It sold over two million copies, won multiple Game of the Year awards, and cemented Blizzard as one of the premier studios of the era.
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