10 Video Games That Revolutionized Genres

There was a time when Blizzard could do no wrong. Everybody was still playing Starcraft II and Diablo II, and the company was on top of their game. When they announced Warcraft III, everybody rushed to give Blizzard their money, making it the most pre-ordered title and, as it turned out, for a good reason.

Orcs, humans, the undead, and the night elves? The game seemed like a treat, and a treat it was. The beautiful and well-directed CGI cutscenes had set the standard for generations of games after, the main campaign allowed you to play through all four available races, and an intriguing story kept you on the edge of your seat like nothing we had ever seen in a strategy game up to that point. And all that wasn't even the best part of the game.

What really kept Warcraft III as the reigning champion of the RTS genre for many years after its release was the perfectly balanced multiplayer that not only gave the players an opportunity to compete with each other in a classic PvP and PvE battles but also allowed for custom maps to be used. And there was no shortage of those since the World Editor that came with Warcraft III gave almost endless options to customize the game. Machinimas, action-RPG style game modes, even the first-ever tower defense games were just Warcraft III maps in the beginning (yes, DotA was a map).

It's difficult to measure the impact of Warcraft III on the game industry, but one thing is for sure - no strategy was the same after.